VC II Browns - Death to the Pats!!!

[Subby]

Posted for Web Ewbank

2022

Royal Achieved:

Team Performance 84
Franchise Value 100
Profit/Loss 56
Difficulty 73
Year-End Score 80

in addition to his super draft.

WR Percy Colleran retired. Colleran played 11 years (only one for Cleveland) and caught 583 balls; last year he caught 30 for 1 TD, strictly as a backup.

Joe Marais, Lincoln Wright, Juan Simmons, and Keith Young make the HOF.

We have 36 players signed, and need to use the franchise tag on Keeper Rico Rodriguez.

I would like to sign at least one of the UFA LBs (Kobeski, Martin, Porter) and CBs (Burroughs, Peters, Gordon). My top priority, though, is UFA OT Fleming, since OT Hamilton is aging.

Our stadium renovations are complete, giving us 99,900 seats and 159 luxury boxes. Despite full attendance last year, I leave the ticket prices unchanged. Our fans deserve a break.

We're the top-valued franchise, at $1.865 billion, with:

Stadium 82
Roster 100
Support 99
Economy 56

Unbelievably, the hated New Englanders have a roster strength of 21, yes, twenty-one, despite going 16-0 and 11-5 the past two seasons. And, of course, winning the FOF Bowl both years...

Johann and Paniagua stay, although we talk seriously to the latter about the need to set a higher goal for team, i.e. the goddamn FOF Bowl. With GMs like Butler and Donahoe out there...

We reject offers for Coleman, Beyer, Foster, and Wiese. I was tempted to take the #13 overall for Foster, but decided to hold off for the moment.

For the first time I can remember we have all our own picks and nothing else in the draft (33rd slot). We have $23.8 MM under the cap to work with, $27.9 after FA starts, and #34.4 afeter a few renegotiations. Our draft picks will require less than $10MM.

Well, let's step back a little bit.

Our D, stalwart though it may be, allowed 308, 286, 253 points over the last three years - weaker each year.
It's also aging, with the starters' experience at:

DE 11, 9
DT 7, 3
LB 11, 5, 3
CB 10, 7
S 11, 10

However, there's still a ton of talent in the five older starters, so it clearly isn't slash-and-burn time; more like reload. LB needs some talent, and a young stud cover CB would be nice too. This works out well, since Johann's weakness is DL.

On the other side of the ball, Royal's B-Boys are a welcome addition, we still have the three awesome wideouts, and the line, especially G, will be fine, assuming we sign OT Fleming. A dominating C would be nice, but somewhat of a luxury item. These boys scored 515 last year, 101 more than any other team. I do want to start phasing in Beyer, and to see if Lee can string together another All-Pro (he wuz robbed) season.

I consider myself a much better drafter than an FA-signer, but this year I start out bidding on a C, two LBs (not ours), a top CB (again, not ours), and two OTs.

Immediately all my bids are topped. I screw up my courage and go back in for Fleming, and another, weaker LB...eventually, after a lot of agonizing and toing-and-froing, we land Fleming, our must-sign, at $55MM for four years. Ouch.

We resign everyone who's up this year, except for a few scrubs, and our good young S Storey, who's pissed. We'll sign him later in the year. Now we are up to $40MM in cap room.

Refuse offers for Wiese and Hamilton.

Even before inspecting the draft board, we trade C Hankton, this year's #2 and next year's #3, for another of this years #1 (10 overall).

We offer up Fiala, our excellent backup QB, but the offers aren't rich enough. I think he may go in a player-for-player swap after the draft, if we don't fill our needs. He is cheap and good, but a luxury at this time, and we need to get Roger some snaps.

Contemplate some more backups-for-picks moves, but decide to wait and see how rich the draft is.

Well, it's one of the best I have ever seen, with an 8.0 C, a RB who is significantly stronger than Beyer, and a plethora of other talented young dudes at DE, WR, T, G. Hmmm.

There are a lot of decent QBs available in the scrap heap, so we re-shop Fiala, and get this year's #8 overall, as well as a #1 in 2024, for Fiala and this year's #3, #4, and #5 and next year's #2.

Then we trade our #3 RB Parten, this year's #6 and #7, as well as 2024's #2 and #4, for the #4 pick overall and a #1 pick in 2023.

This gives us the 4th, 8th, 10th, and 33rd pick in the first round.

We trade the 33rd pick, and out own first-rounder in 2023 to C'ville for Gary Sapp, a mega-impact LB. Gary is 6-2, 242, out of Arkansas State, with 118 stops and 4.5 sacks in his two years. He rates out at 61/100, 59/100, 53/93, and 96. This reminds me of the Rufus Duke deal. Deja vu all over again. He combines with 18-Wheeler and Gordon to make a formidable set of backers, as well as injecting some youth and value (he's signed through 2025) into our D. Plus, anyone named Sapp has to be a force - no pun intended.

Damn, our RB gets taken 3rd, one pick ahead of us. Now we have 3 of the next 7 picks. We wind up with:

#4 Brendan Swift, DT, 6-7, 289, Georgia
#8 Leo Sheldon, C, 6-5, 299, San Jose State
#10 Lamar Tubbs, LB, 6-3, 265, Boston College

Tubbs, with 3rd year man Dillon, gives up great LB depth, and perhaps Wheeler's understudy.
Sheldon was the guy I wanted all along.
Swift was just too good to pass on, and, with 2nd year man Tubbs, gives us youth behind Kirk and Hamiliton. Hopefully Johann was right about him.

In any case, three very large people...

We have $34 MM left for post-camp FA, and add Jumbo Bell, the young CB we needed, and fill out the rest of the roster from the scrap heap.

We reserve our young stars and proceed.

We go 2-2 in the exhibition season. DE Copeland is out for 2-3 months, CB Bell and DE Hamilton slightly dinged.

WEEK 1 Cleveland 0-0 @Chicago 0-0 Fav 3
We jump out 28-0, but they come back in Q3 with an INT return, a KO return, and a long drive.
Clark 19/25/319/2/2
Beyer 36/132/2
Rico 6/45
Porter 6/124/2
Gordon 7 stops
Wiese 2 sacks, Duncan 1, Foster an INT
Cleveland 38 Chicago 21
They got 10 first downs in all, and Beyer is starting.

WEEK 2 Cleveland 1-0 @Minnesota 1-0 Fav 4
Clark 4/10/60/0/1
Savoie 12/21/180/0/1 (need to get Roger in the two hole here !)
Beyer 24/159/3
Rico 1/-7
Foster, Gordon, Whiting 7 tackles each
Mathews 2 picks
Sacks: Duncan 1.5, Hamilton, 1.0, Kirk 0.5
Clark knee ligament out 3-5 weeks
Cleveland 27 Minn 24
OT Hamilton is probable, and we'll need him as Fleming (the $55MM man) is out 3-5 weeks.

WEEK 3 Tenn 0-2 @Cleveland 2-0 Fav 8
We start Roger, and Storey, who needs the snaps to re-sign.
Savoie 17/25/200/1/0 (see below)
Roger 1/1/17
Rico 17/33
Beyer 9/20/1
Jeffries 6/98
Butkus a PR for a TD
Gordon 7 stops
Gordon, Matthews, Derby a pick each - Matthews scores, his 6th carreer TD
Duncan 1.5, Hamilton 1, Kirk 0.5 sacks
Roger and Gordon are questionable with knee problems...gulp.
Cleveland 34 Tenn 7

WEEK 4 - Cleveland 3-0 @Baltimore 2-1 Fav 4
Since Savoie is playing well, we give him the start. The man has a 84.9 career QB rating, and 239 career TDs passing. Not exactly chopped liver.
Savoie 12/23/176/2/0 - not an artistic success, but hey, we crushed them
Beyer 19/73/1
Porter 2/24/2 talk about making them count
Wheeler 7 tackles
Foster, Derby, Peters picks
Sacks: Duncan 2, Wiese 1, Kirk 1
Cleveland 34 Baltimore 3

WEEK 5 - Pittsburgh 1-3 @Cleveland 4-0 Fav 9
Lee is back.
Clark 15/22/284/4/0 and I mean back
Beyer 22/91/1
Rico 1/24
Cole 5/116/3
Jeffries 5/100/1
Wheeler 10 stops
Hamilton, Duncan a sack each
Foster, Derby a pick each
Cleveland 38 Pittsburgh 20

WEEK 6 - Jacksonville 3-2 @Cleveland 5-0 Fav 10
Clark 18/33/293/0/3 and that was the game right there
Beyer 14/71
Cole 5/89
Jeffries 5/85
Dunk, Gordon, Foster 6 stops each
Sacks: Hamilton 2, Kirk 1
Dunk 1 INT
Jax 34 Cleveland 12

WEEK 7 - BYE

WEEK 8 - Baltimore 2-4 @Cleveland 5-1 Fav 8
Cleveland 17 Baltimore 13
Clark 10/21/177/2/1
Beyer 29/75
Gordon 13 tackles
A tight game, no turnovers, we won.

WEEK 9 - Cleveland 6-1 @ Pittsburgh 2-5 Dog 2 (Does Vegas know something we don't ?)
Clark 15/35/247/3/2
Beyer 17/41
Jeffries 8/135/3 wow
Gordon 9 stops
Kirk a sack
We were flat.
Pitt 34 Cleveland 24 the bookies were right

At the halfway mark:
Cleveland 6-2
Jax 6-2
Cinn 5-3
Balt 3-5
Pitt 3-5
Tenn 1-8

Lee has an 87.1 rating, 11/9 TD/INT
Beyer 670, 3.9, 8 TDS
Jeffries 38/590/5
Gordon 49 stops, Wheeler 42
Sacks: Duncan 7, Hamilton 5, Kirk 4, Wiese 3
Foster, Matthews, Derby 3 picks each
Cohesion is 82/100/92/97

WEEK 10 Denver 3-5 @Cleveland 6-2 Fav 1 (again a strange line...)
Clark 16/25/246/3/0
Beyer 23/103/1
Jeffries 7/110/1
Sapp 9 stops
Sacks: Kirk 2, Wiese 1.5, Duncan 0.5
Picks: Wheeler 1 (only the fourth of his career)
Cleveland 31 Denver 19
Duncan and Riley are dinged and we sit them both, signing an FA kicker
This game our big players made big plays.

WEEK 11 - Cleveland 7-2 @ Jacksonville 6-3 Dog 3
For the division lead.
We lead 17-0 at the half.
As Q4 starts, it's 17-14.
Then Clark is sacked and fumbles: Jax ball at our 28.
We hold and it's 17-17.
38-yard KR, pass misses, Beyer for 14, pass misses, Clark to Cole for 9, Beyer for 2.
Clark for 5, Beyer 4, then Beyer funmbles, and Butkus, our FA KR and 4th wideout, grabs it and runbles 19 for the score.
We hold, then Lee throws a bad ball - picked off. 24-17 with 4:57 left.
24-24. Easily.
Rico for 19. Yes, Rico. Penalty on Jax, pass to Beyer, Beyer run for 14. 1st and 10 at the 28.
A penalty pushes us back and Sweeney, our new K, misses a crucial 47-yarder. OT.
We hold, then Sweeney misses a 57-yarder.
They roll, and we lose.
Jax 30 Cleveland 24
Clark 19/37/232/0/2
Beyer 25/81/2
Dunk 11 stops
Hamilton, Copeland sacks
Whiting a pick
In two games Lee has 0 TDs and 5 INTs versus Jax.

WEEK 12 Cleveland 7-3 @Tenn 2-8 Fav 5
Clark 20/38/276/0/0
Beyer 13/62/1
Gordon and Dunk 6 stops each
Copeland 2 sacks
Cleveland 17 Tenn 6
and Jax loses

WEEK 13 Tampa Bay 9-2 @Cleveland 8-3 Fav2
Tampa coming off a 41-18 demolishing of Jax.
Clark 14/27/198/3 more like it
Beyer 16/71/1
Rico 2/17
Porter 8/122/2
Gordon 8 stops
Kirk a sack
Cleveland 34 Tampa Bay 17
Probably our best game to date, and Jax loses again.
Wierdly, we lose Sweeney, our second K, but Riley can go...
Cleveland 9-3
Jax 7-5
Cinn 7-5

WEEK 14 - Cleveland 9-3 @ Cinn 7-5 Fav 3
Another big division matchup.
Clark 16/28/218/1/1
Beyer 22/9
Gordon 16 stops
Kirk, Duncan a sack each
The game went to OT, and we lost. That's that.
Cinn 23 Cleveland 17

Cleveland 9-4
Cinn 8-5
Jax 7-6
Pitt 7-6

WEEK 15 - Cleveland 9-4 @Oakland 11-2 Dog 5
Savoie 10/18/169/0/0
Clark 10/16/125/1/0
Beyer 23/22/1 two stinkers in a row
Jeffries 8/107/1
Gordon, Whiting, Foster 5 stops each
Hamilton a sack, Dunk a pick
Cleveland 20 Oakland 10

WEEK 16 - New England 7-7 @Cleveland 10-4 Fav 11 (obviously they agree with Henry Ford)
Clark 13/30/150/0/2
Beyer 9/5 oh my
Wheeler 9 stops
Dunk a pick
New England 34 Cleveland 3
Ford said, "History is bunk." I guess now we know.
I had intended to get Roger a start, but when I saw the opponent I chose not to. Good thing - he might have joined the Trappists...

WEEK 17 - Cinn 9-6 @Cleveland 10-5 Fav 6
They beat us in a close one, so if they win here they cop the division.
Clark 12/22/200/1/1
Beyer 24/75
Foster 6 stops
Wiese a sack
Foster, Matthews a pick each
Cleveland 27 Cinn 12

Playoffs 2022
Wildcard Round

Chicago 10-6
Dallas 11-5 Fav 5
Dallas 27-11

Green Bay 9-7 Fav 3
St.Louis 11-5
St. Louis 45-15

Seattle 10-6 Fav 2
New England 9-7
New England 9-7 (not a typo)

San Diego 11-5
Oakland 12-4 -3
Oakland 43-17


Quarterfinal Round

Dallas 12-5
Tampa Bay 13-3 Fav4
Tampa Bay 15-10

New England 10-7
Cleveland 11-5 Fav 6
(see below)

Oakland 13-4
Char'ville 12-4 Fav 2
Char'ville 38-9

St.Louis 12-5
Philly 11-5 Fav 5
Philly 13-10

Our nemesis won their division (9-7) despite a negative point differential of 295-308.
Their QB was 10/10 TD/Int, their tailback scored only 7 times. Two veteran backers made 228 tackles between them, and they have a 15.5 sacker.

We have no important injuries.

Punt, punt, punt, punt.
Punt, punt. And still 5:34 left in Q1. Punt.
Then NE scores on a short pass. 0-7.
Punt, punt, punt. Pick by the Dunker at his own 18. Tackled immediately. Punt, punt. 0-7 at the half.

NE receives and...punts. Then Clark throws to NE and they run it in. 0-14.

Clark to Cole for 47. Again for 10. Beyer for 4 on the ground. Then Clark 14 to Cole for the score. 7-14.

We hold them. They hold us. NE FG. 7-17. We storm up the field and Beyer runs over from the 6. 14-17. Could this be our chance ?

They come right back 14-24. Clark intercepted in the end zone. They drive and FG - 14-27. We FG too. 17-27, and it ends.

NE 27 Cleveland 17

When will it end ?
When will it ever end ?

League Finals

New England (11-7)
Char'ville (13-4) Fav -5
Char'ville 31-24

Philly (12-6)
Tampa Bay (14-3) -6
Tampa Bay 40-10

Char'ville (14-4)
Tampa Bay (15-3) Fav 4
Tampa Bay 31-14

2022 Summary

We ended up scoring 397 (4th), allowing 307 (17th), opposed to the previous year's 515/308.

We were +4 in turnovers, in the middle of the league.

We gained 112.3 yards per game on the ground (22nd), and 236.3 in the air (5th).

We gave up 114.5 (21st) on the ground, and 208.5 (16th) in the air.

Our Power Rating was 79, third in the AFC, tied for fifth in the league.

Lee Clark had 14 starts, went 201/369/3022(16th) 20(7th)/15 for an 82.7 rating - a big step back from last year.
Roger completed the one pass he threw, for a 118.7 rating. Savoie, in one start and several good relief appearances, had 3 scores and 1 INT, and an 88.1 rating.

Casey Beyer got 1098 yards on the ground (21st) with 14 TDs (3rd) and a modest 3.3 average.
Rico was 50/178/0.
Note that Parten, who we traded, had 1134 yards and 10 TDs.

Jeffries 74/1135/7
Porter 54/928/8
Cole 47/854/4
all had good years.

Riley made 20/25 FGs, and Norris averaged 43.8 per punt.

Tackles
Gordon 108 (in 14 games)
Wheeler 80
Foster 73
Sapp 67
Dunkelberger 64

Sacks
Duncan 8.5
Kirk 8
Hamilton 8
Wiese 5.5

Picks
Matthews 5
Foster 4
Dunk, Whiting, Derby 3 each

Jeffries made 1st team All-League. Period.

Remember the rookie RB who had Olympian numbers ?
He was picked #3, and we had choice #4.
His name was Nate Borders, and he ran for 2022 yards, a league record.
It was that kind of year.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

2023

Herb says:

Performance 80
Value 100
Profit 96
Difficulty 72

Total 92

I guess that renovation helped.

Ronnie Middleton goes into the HOF. He was a stud Lions LB, with over 1500 tackles, first team 6 times, second team twice, and eight years over 100 tackles.

PROBLEM: I can't access the Browns HOF. Is this a known bug ?

Retirements: Tom Savoie, who I had thought of reupping.

And Rico. Rico Rodriguez played nine years for us, 5-9, 198, drafted #6 overall out of Clemson. He played in 144 games, starting 123, including the first 112 of his career. He gained 10633 yards and 92 TDs on the ground; he also caught 235 balls, for 2124 yards and 9 scores. When I drafted him, I thought we had a two year starter who would gain perhaps 3500 yards in a modest career. He really surprised me.

Rico was a Keeper and needs to be replaced.

We hold on to our coach and scout. Tickets prices stay the same, despite full house last year. We have 46 players signed, and are $5MM over cap. No one unsigned deserves the franchise tag. Offers for Sheldon, Coleman and Kirk are declined.

After a few very hefty renegatiations, we're $18.6MM under the cap, and we need $9MM for our draftees.

First, a deal. We pick up Nate Borders, RB, last year's OROY, for our 17 year veteran backup G Gretzky, our first round pick next year, and this year's 4th and 5th rounders. I think he and Beyer should keep us happy for a l-o-n-g time.

We also trade our 5th wideout, Kurtz, plus our 6th and 7th rounders, and next year's 5ht and 6th, foir this years #10 overall.

This gives us the #9 and #10 this year and no other picks. We pass on the 20 stage process, and on trade offers for Lee, Whiting, and Gordon. Good draft, but no one worth trading up for.

We trade our second K and two 7th rounders for a 2nd rounder next year. We also trade our 4th OT, a desperation signing last year, for a 2nd rounder this year (1, actually), and a 1st rounder next year. Some people just don't know the value of money...

#9 O.J. Briggs, LB, 6-4, 226, West Virginia
#10 Barry Peterman, CB, 6-0, 197, Nevada
2 Dwight Benson, QB, 5-11, 196, Jacksonville State

Briggs and Peterman are blue-chippers; Benson is future trade-bait and a viable backup.

We trade Peters, our 7th CB, for a 1 and a 2 next year, and Gordon, our 6th CB, for a 1 and a 3 the following year.

We fill our hand from the scrap heap.

Hard to believe, but after all this dealing our cohesion stands at 86/94/100/100. Our roster is rated 100, with next closest team, Tenn, at 76.

We get through the exhibitions 1-3, but Briggs, the rookie LB is out for 2-3 months with a bad back.

WEEK 1 - St.Louis (0-0) @Cleveland (0-0) FAV 4
Whiting and Duncan are hurt for 3-5 weeks
Clark 13/22/242/2/0 vintage Clark - not gaudy but effective
Benson (mop up) 4/4/36/1/0
Borders 29/93/3 welcome, Nate !
Jeffries 7/164
Cole 5/62/3
Foster 5 stops
Copeland 1.5, Wiese 1, Hamilton 0.5 sacks
Dunk 1 pick run back for a score
Cleveland 52 StL 10

WEEK 2 - San Francisco (1-0) @ Cleveland (1-0) FAV 7
Clark 13/20/148/2/0 again, effective
Borders 19/100/1
Porter 6/71/1
Tackles: Sapp 12, Gordon 10
Cleveland 30 SF 27

WEEK 3 - Cleveland(2-0) @Tenn Fav 2
Stegeman runs back the opening kickoff 89 for a score
Clark 8/21/140/1/0
Borders 23/155
Porter 4/71/1
Wheeler 10 tackles
Wiese, Hamilton a sack apiece
Matthews, Bell a pick apiece
Cleveland 17 Tenn 14

WEEK 4 - Cinn (2-1) @Cleveland (3-0) FAV 7
Clark 13/35/193/2/3 a bad game
Borders 15/49 a bad game
Porter 7/84/2
Sapp 11 tackles
Copeland 2, Kirk 1 sack
Stegeman runs one back for 101 this time - and a score
Our stars stink, and we still almost win.
Cinn 27 Cleveland 24

WEEK 5 - Cleveland (3-1) @Pitt (2-2) EVEN
Clark 15/27/269/1/0
Borders 26/113/2
Cole 7/125
Porter 4/114/1
Bell 7 stops
Copeland, Hamilton 0.5 sacks each
Cleveland 33 Pitt 6

WEEK 6 Cleveland (4-1) @Jax (1-4) FAV 4
Clark 14/22/260/1/1
Borders 28/59/1
Porter 3/81/1
Sapp 9 stops
Sacks: Hamilton 1.5, Duncan, 1, Copeland 1, Kirk 0.5
Matthews 1 pick
Cleveland 33 Jax 7

WEEK 7 Bye

WEEK 8 - Cleveland (5-1) @Cinn (4-2) FAV 2
Clark 13/26/262/2/2
Borders 17/5/1
Porter 5/150/2
Whiting 7 stops
Whiting, Dunk an INT each
Cleveland 24 Cinn 3

WEEK 9 - Pitt (2-5) @Cleveland (6-1) FAV 11
Clark 5/10/81/1/0
Brentlinger 14/25/160/2/0 Roger is developing
Borders 28/87
Jeffries 9/123/2
Porter 6/87/1
Whiting 6 stops
Sacks: Wiese 1, Duncan 0.5, Kirk 0.5
Dunk a pick (and what a steady player he has been)
G Hanson out 3-5
Cleveland 33 Pitt 15

AT THE HALF
Cleveland 7-1
Cinn 5-3
Balt 4-4
Tenn 3-6
Pitt 2-6
Jax 2-6

Points Scored 246 (2)
Points Allowed 109 (3)
Turnovers +5 (middle of the pack)

Clark 94/183/1595 12/6 89.3
Roger 99.2, Dwight Benson 143.7
Borders 185/661/8
Porter 39/704/9

Sapp 47 tackles
Copeland 5 sacks
Dunk 3 picks

WEEK 10 - Cleveland (7-1) @Oakland (3-5) FAV 2
Clark 14/20/202/2/0 vintage Clark again
Borders 26/16/1
Cole 5/94/2
Porter 2/29/1
Gordon 8 tackles
Sacks: Wiese 1.5, Swift 1, Copeland 1, Hamilton 0.5
Cleveland 31 Oakland 6

WEEK 11 - Jax (2-7) @Cleveland (8-1) FAV 15
Clark 15/30/331/2/1
Borders 19/113
Porter 5/153/1
We lose Foster and Porter for 3-5 weeks - Porter was on a torrid pace
Dunk 10 tackles
Kirk 1.5, Wheeler 1, Hamilton 0.5 sacks
Cleveland 30 Jax 27

WEEK 12 - Tenn (4-6) @Cleveland (9-1) FAV 11
I decide to start Roger in this game.
Roger 20/34/214/1/2
Borders 29/132/3
Cole 8/90
Gordon 7 stops
Kirk, Hamilton a sack each
Bell an INT
We lose Whiting for 3-5.
Cleveland 34 Tenn 24

WEEK 13 - Cleveland (10-1) @New Orleans (5-6) FAV 9
I leave Roger in.
Roger 13/31/238/2/3
Borders 20/127/3
Cole 4.90/1
Sapp 10 tackles
Kirk 2.5 sacks, Duncan 1.5
Roger's two wins have come without Porter. Good to know he can play. Lee's red bars are shrinking.
Cleveland 35 NO 6

WEEK 14 - Balt (5-7) @Cleveland 11-1 FAV 13
Sticking with Roger for now. We have a three game division lead.
Roger 15/29/302/2/1
Borders 21/49
Cole 6/142/1
Jeffries 4/94/1
CB Bell is out til next year. But Porter is returning.
Cleveland 14-10

WEEK 15 - Charlottesville (9-4) @Cleveland 12-1 FAV 8
Lee steps back in.
Clark 14/28/255/1/2
Borders 28/93
Cole 6/82/1
Sapp 13 tackles
Dunk 1 pick
C'Ville 20 Cleveland 10
Hard to say what went wrong here.

WEEK 16 - Cleveland 12-2 @ New England (3-10-1) FAV 7
Well, we won't be meeting them in the playoffs this year...
62-year-old Martin Force had to be restrained from going after the entire Cleveland bench.
Clark 20/32/294/2/0
Borders 26/101/1
Porter 7/100
Cole 6/94/1
Gordon 5 tackles
Duncan 2 sacks
Derby a pick
Fleming and Norris are out til next year.
Cleveland 34 NE 3

WEEK 17 - Cleveland (13-2) @Baltimore (7-8) FAV 5
We go with Roger and Beyer, and Tubbs and Swift get a start.
Roger 15/35/228/1/3
Beyer 20/89/1
Jeffries 8/158/1
Sapp 15 tackles - his red bars are now 99/100/96/98
Gordon's are 95/99/86/94
Wheeler may be making his final long haul run this season...but Tubbs and Briggs are coming on
Duncan 2, Swift 1 sack
Matthews an INT
Balt 38 Cleveland 21

Playoffs

Wild Card Round

San Diego (-7) FAV 2
Buffalo (10-6)
San Diego 27-21

Washington (10-6)
Detroit (10-6) FAV 7
Detroit 27-17

NY Jets (9-6-1)
Charlottesville (11-5) FAV 7
Charlottesville 33-7

Tampa Bay (10-6)
San Francisco (11-5) FAV 5
Tampa Bay 12-10


Quarterfinal Round

Detroit (11-6)
Atlanta (13-3) FAV 3

Tampa Bay (11-6)
Dallas (13-3) FAV 7

San Diego (10-7)
Cleveland (13-3) FAV 8

Charlottesville (12-5)
Seattle (12-3-1) FAV 5


Borders starts the scoring with a 2-yard plunge. 7-0. They come roaring back, but Peterman, our rookie CB, grabs an INT in the end zone, saving a TD.

They fumble our punt, and Porter recovers, and runs for 15 to their 2 yard line. We lose 2, and then Lee scrambles for the score. 14-0.

We hold, and we march. Borders from the 6. 21-0.
We hold, and we march. Borders from the 19. 28-0.

It ends 44-10. Cleveland !

Clark 10/15/197/0/0 plus the scramble for a score
Borders 31/203/4
Dunk 10 tackles
Kirk 2 sacks
Dunk, Matthews, Peterman a pick each


League Final Round

Atlanta (14-3)
Dallas (14-3) FAV 4
Dallas 23-17

Seattle (13-3-1)
Cleveland (14-3) FAV 4

A scoreless first quarter. I start calling a few defenses in passing situations - tired of being burned for the predictable bomb. The Hawks miss a long FG. Dunk gets hurt. Then they make a short one, after an inspiring defensive stand inside the 5. 0-3. Halftime.

Neither team can assemble a drive. We get the ball back with 5:32 left in Q3. Nada. We give up a huge pass play on 1st down. First and ten Seattle on our 33. Key 3rd down sack by Wiese and Hamilton. 49-yarder good. 0-6. We stall and punt. Sapp forces a fumble and Duncan recovers. Twenty-five yards from the lead. Clark misses. Borders for 7. This could be four down territory, even with 12:58 on the clock. I call the play:
Clark to Porter or Jeffries. Good to Porter for 17 down to the one !

Borders -2. Beyer - a Seattle penalty. First down at the 2. Borders for 1. Clark to Bell for the TD. 7-6.

We hold them but Butkus fumbles the punt and Seattle recovers on our 9. TD and 2 point conversion. 7-14.

Clark to Pearson for 5. Miss. Border with a huge 3rd down run for 7. Clark misses. Borders -1. Another miss and we punt. Seattle ball at their 14. 4:12 left. DE-fense.

Incomplete. Pass for 15. Run for 5. Pass for 13. Eventually we get the ball back, on our 20, with 34 seconds left.

I start calling long passes. To Cole for 42. Incomplete. Defensive holding. 11 seconds left. Clark to Porter for 33 and a TD ! PAT good ! 14-14 with 5 seconds left.

We get the ball. Borders for 11. Borders -2. Borders -3. Sacked. Punt.

19 yard pass. Miss. A heaven-sent intentional grounding. Back to our 44. We hold. Kirk is hurt.

We miss a 51-yarder. We hold. Seattle illegal touch. Seattle illegal contact.

Borders for 4. Lee for 5. Borders -3. Punt. Seattle holding. Ball on their 3. Fields position if we can hold.

We give up one big gainer, hold, then Butkus fumbles another punt. Seattle ball at our 39. They drive for a score.

Seattle 20 Cleveland 14

Clark 16/30/227/2/1
Borders 23/55
Sapp and Wheeler 11 tackles
Kirk 2, Duncan 1, Hamilton and Wiese 0.5 sacks
We were 3/13 on 3rd down, and lost two fumbles which led directly to two TDs. Ballgame.

We need some youth at WR, TE, FB, S, and DE, but I think we still have the talent to win.


FOF Bowl

Seattle (14-3-1)
Dallas (15-3) FAV 4
Dallas 19-14

2023 Summary

The division finished:

Cleveland 13-3
Cinn 9-7
Balt 8-8
Pitt 8-8
Tenn 7-9
Jax 3-13

Our Power Rating of 84 was tied for first in the league. We finished -3 in turnover ratio (28th).

We scored 455 (1st) and gave up 243 points (1st).

We gained 124.1 YPG (8th) on the ground, and 242.2 (3rd) in the air.

We gave up 88.1on the ground (1st), and 213.8 (22nd) in the air.

Our franchise was valued at $1,748,400,000 (1).

Stadium was 64 (8th)
Roster 100 (1st)
Support 99 (1st)
Economy 49 (18th)

Cohesion was 88/72/98/100.

Lee finished 157/296/2677 20/9 93.7 in 12 starts
Roger, in 4 starts, went 79/158/1166 8/9 67.6

Borders had 1402 (6th) yards, and 16 TDs (1st), with a 3.9 average
Beyer went 59/193/3

Porter 58/1129 (5th )/11 (tied for 1st)/
Jeffries 59/1062/4
Cole 60/942/9 (almost three 1000-yarders)

Stegeman had two KR TDs
Riley made 26/41 FGs, and Norris averaged 42 per punt

Tackles
Sapp 116
Gordon 99
Dunk 73
Foster 56
18-Wheeler 50

Sacks
Kirk 8
Duncan 8
Hamilton 6.5
Copeland 6
Wiese 4/5

INTs
Dunk 4
Matthews 3
Bell 2




[This message has been edited by Subby (edited 12-30-2000).]

[WebEwbank]

Subby will be posting my writeups, since I'm having a browser cut-and-paste issue.

Rico retired after 2022, so Darkiller gets to pick a new Keeper.

I reported being unable to access the Browns HOF, although the league and other teams were available. This was (more of) my stupidity, since the Browns are an expansion team, they aren't alphabetized...

In summary, I went 11-5 and 13-3 and did not win the Bowl (again). But only lost to NE once in the playoffs, and actually beat them once in the regaulr season.

Did pick up some decent draft picks, and traded for LB Gary Sapp and RB Nate Borders, both of whom can play a little bit.

Enjoy the NFL playoffs !

[Subby]

Ok, I posted the last two years in one post, above ^^^^^. I am going to try and get the Browns website up-to-date tonight - in the meantime it has been restored:

Click it!

[This message has been edited by Subby (edited 12-30-2000).]

[Darkiller]

Ok then,two great regular seasons.
but we still can't make it to win the damn SuperBowl...it's been a long time now. I think i'm the last one to have won it back in...2010 I guess.

Borders and his 2022 yards (league record) in his rookie season are impressive. Hopefully he can become the next Donnie Sheen.
As for the Running backs, i'd personnaly like to salute a great player on this team : Rico Rodriguez for an overachieving contribution during 9 long and successful seasons.
Rico did what we asked him to do and much more actually. His stats were very very good each and every year and that is remarkable.

Rico will probably never make the HOF but I do wish that he makes the Cleveland Browns' HOF for all he did during his decade.
He was not Donnie, he was Rico.
and that is already a lot.



[This message has been edited by Darkiller (edited 01-02-2001).]

[Darkiller]

As for my keeper now that Rico's retired, I'll wait for my turn.
I want to do something BIG in my next draft -)

[Subby]

Hey all, two things:

1) Browns website is updated, with Keeper history added (which may be wrong - please correct me if that is the case). I am working on putting together draft, award, scouting record, coaching record, and record vs. Pats history. I have done through 2011 - if someone would volunteer to bring us up to date from that point, that would be great (you can send me th einfo in a word document). If not - understood. Either way, I will post the data once it is compiled. A big thanks to Syrinx who compiled HOF data - I am still working on creating personal pages for the HOFers and will solicit write ups from their keepers in the near future.

2) Rules changes: I would like to submit two, to make things more interesting and/or challenging. First, I think we should each have one defensive and one offensive keeper. Second, a keeper should be named no later than the end of the season of a player's second year. What do you guys think? Please provide feedback. Thanks!

I definately like the idea of one Offensive/Defensive keeper, it will help cohesion and help keep some personality with the team.

Now on to see the updated page

Don't mean to dola, but Sheen was not my keeper , he was Syrinx. I did draft him but didn't have the confidence in his ability. Mudgett was my man.

The page looks great BTW, as always

[WebEwbank]

I like the idea of two keepers each.

Not so sure about the time-limit on naming them - assume you mean the keeper's second year, not the GM's. Could be a case (rare in FOF2, to be sure) where someone explodes on the league in mid-career, or does something insignificant but endearing. Generally I try to hook 'em young, but not sure about this rule change. Majority rules, of course.

I'll email you some copy for the site, which is fantastic. Perhaps an early-career press release, written by the nominating GM, at keeper-time, would be cool too...

[WebEwbank]

L-O-V-E the website. It is addictive.

Here are our composite records and winning percentages(*):

Web 63-33 .656
Royal 67-29 .698
Darkiller 53-27 .663
Subby 42-22 .656
Syrinx 42-12 .778

Further, Darkiller, Subby, and Syrinx have Bowl-ed, while Royal, Darkiller and Syrinx have Conference-d. Only I have yet to penetrate deep into the playoff.

(*) it's not an even playing field since Darkiller started with the original expansion team...and we probably have varying abilities at talent-gathering and varing proclivities for draft-pick-hoarding

[WebEwbank]

Damn, that stuff was already on the site !

I'm going back to sleep until the file arrives...

[WebEwbank]

Darkiller, I agree with your assessment of Rico.

I always had a nagging (Judeo-Christian guilt-induced) sense that he was about to crash and burn, but he was amazingly consistent year over year.

Certainly good enough to win with, except for:

The guy I SHOULDA been worried about was Clark, who you always suspected wasn't the real deal...something about his height...whatever...

[Darkiller]

Yeah Weeb, Clark wasn't my man from the start.
I know height has no implications in FOF but still i'll never draft QBs as big as he is. not my philisophy.
Look at Blaine, whom i drafted, he was in the Steve Young / Joe Montana mold and ended up being as good -maybe even better- than those two other Hall of Famers.

As for the offensive/defensive keepers, I sure do like this idea but since we're 5 playing the VCII that would mean already 10 players out of a 46 man roster that we CAN'T remove....
I think it is way too much actually.
That would translate into (only) 36 players that we can deal with in terms in management.
Plus, by keeping 10 players for their entire careers, that would considerably add to their propension at ending up in the team's Hall of Fame since these guys, no matter how good they would be, would play 10/15 years or more with the team and so would end up posting team records regardless of their real performance year in year out.

I mean I prefer having a 7 int a year CB playing for me for 6 seasons (collecting 42 career INTs) then having this average CB that has 3 INTs every year during 18 seasons (54 career INTs) and is the All time team leader just because he was a keeper...
the guys would end up in the team HOF though he was never a great player.

this is my point.
I thing we should sitck with 1 keeper (offense OR defense) and stick with him. that would mean MORE to the term "keeper".

[Darkiller]

oh and btw Sub,

the site is GREAT as usual...so cool to have our own VCII place to gather all we've done.
awesome.

[Marmel]

Could one of you guys post the link to the VC II web page. I would love to check it out.

Thanks

[Alf]

http://www.villagechallenge2.fr.st/

I am a real newbie to FOF although I'm not too bad at Fantasy Football.

I've been lurking at this forum for a week now.

Alf

[Subby]

Well, I have to say that having two keepers a piece would make roster management MORE challenging - and that's the idea, right? We are already allowed to a) negotiate the hell out of contracts and b) rape the AI in trades, so I think this might add a nice twist.

Besides, you are under no obligation to START a keeper - they could fill a backup role once they hit the downside of their careers. The challenge would be (and is now) to keep Keepers happy. We haven't run into a Keeper getting benched and souring on management, but I am assuming that we have to do everything we can to make sure Keepers are happy and thus, don't leave the team. Adding five more Keepers would increase the likelihood of this issue arising.

Well, just my two cents. Anyone heard from Syrinx lately?

[WebEwbank]

Re the keeper debate: I think two keepers each will make things more realistic, since there are usually some players (idols, guy boffing owner's daughter, guy who's partner of owner's son in Peugot dealership, guy who plays euchre with the GM, contracts which virtually rule out a trade) who aren't going to be traded in almost any event.

I haven't had serious cap problems, and if anything,our roster is too star-heavy.

I do hear Darkiller, and maybe we need a de-keeperization rule; something to the effect that a keeper who started less than 8 games the previous year, has played more than 8 years, and makes more than 8 times the minimum can be traded or released. Just a thought.

Also, I wouldn't require one O and one D: just allow two keepers per GM. This could save significant heartbreak.

I like the idea of 2 Keepers to increase challenge. While it is true we haven't won a bowl since 2010, we've been to 3 in that time frame and have rarely missed the playoffs. In my 6 years as GM, it has never happened.

I do agree with Web in that the keepers needn't be 1 OFF, 1 DEF, but just 2. I don't think there should be a dekeeperization rule as per what Web laid out though. I think if the Original nominating GM wants to, during his phase of GMing, he should be allowed to switch. This would usually mean that the keeper had been with the team 10 years anyway. Again, keepers do not have to start, just be kept on the team. This is less of an issue in FOF2 as it would be in FOF2001 as you can keep players fairly happy and a lot cheaper if they don't play in FOF2, but in FOF2001, if they're a keeper they had better be starting because you're going to be paying them either way.

Dark, I admit that this could lead to unwantables in the team HOF, but if you don't like them that much, they truly shouldn't be named keepers in the first place You don't HAVE to name 2 keepers if there aren't 2 you want as keepers after all.

[Darkiller]

that's true.

[Subby]

OK - new proposal:

1) Everyone gets two keepers. Either O or D. The catch is that they are KEEPERS FOR LIFE. I mean, really, there is no reason to have Keepers if you can de-keeperize them, right?

I vote yes...

[Darkiller]

that's fine with me if you guys think it is more challenging.

YES

[Syrinx]

Sorry about the lack of posts the last few weeks, I was on vacation.

Subby's on the clock with the next two season's, right?

I agree with the 2 keepers instead of 1. I also strongly agree with the fact that if they are keepers, they can't be "de-keepered." Once you name 'em you're stuck with them, so choose wisely.

As Royal pointed out, Sheen was my keeper. He's a perfect example of not being named a keeper in his first two years. It wasn't until he won Bowl MVP for me in his 4th season and O-Player of the Year in his 5th, that he was named a keeper.

It sounds like we have enough votes to pass this, so WebEwbank should go ahead and pick a second keeper if he wants one. I'll wait until my turn to pick a second keeper.(It looks like Jeffries will probably still be active when I get my next shot)

[Subby]

Welcome back, Syrinx

I think you are on the clock - at least the last two decades I know that I went after you...

PS. Geocities is ass-ramming me again - so the iste might be down for a bit - I mirrored it at http://www.geocities.com/fofbrowns/ if the normal link isnt working and you HAVE to have your fix

[This message has been edited by Subby (edited 01-03-2001).]

[Syrinx]

Doh! good point, well I got the file, It'll take me a bit to get back in the swing of things...

Vacation for almost 2 weeks, has created a back log of things at work which is where I also do my FOF2 stuff...

Sorry for the brain fart, I'll try to get most of the first season done tommorow.

[Subby]

Ain't work swell?

One more thing (for everyone): I want to do pages for ALL of our Keepers...but I dont have final stats for Matt Champion or Rufus Duke...if anyone has that zip file - send it on!

[This message has been edited by Subby (edited 01-03-2001).]

[WebEwbank]

Hmmm, seem to have misplaced...

Can someone email me the universe file to [email protected] ?

I'll go ahead and pick a second keeper.

I think I sent the one for Duke to you Subby, and check the 2011 or 2012 report, I'm pretty sure I wrote up a bio for him and Farmer when they retired.

I'm going to name Trevor Foster as my second keeper so that he doesn't get dismissed during his twilight years. He's been one of my favorite players.

Here is what I wrote in the 2012 Report:
The Browns have two huge retirees this year:
LB JR Farmer and LB Rufus Duke, our first retired keeper. Here are their career totals:

53 JR Farmer 2000-2011, drafted by Darkiller in round 7, a fan favorite from Arizona State
77 career starts and 175 games played, 386 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 2 interceptions and 1 TD
His career year came in 2007, the only year that he started all 16 games he played for the Browns. He collected 82 tackles and 2 sacks. He will always be remembered for being an overachiever.

57 Rufus Duke 1999-2011(Dallas 99-02, Cleveland 03-11), recieved in trade by WebEwbank. 22nd overall pick by the Cowboys in 1999, he retired due to complications from a Hyperextended Elbow suffered late in the year.
182 starts in 187 career games, 1,158 career tackles, 15.5 career sacks, 5 Interceptions, 3 TD and 2 Fumble recoveries for TD.
His career year was in 2002 for the Cowboys where he amassed 135 tackles.
He was named 1st Team LB in 2002 and 2009 as well as to the 2nd Team in 2000, 2004 and 2006.
4th all time in career tackles and holds the career Browns tackle record with 734.
We shall long remember the Defensive Duke.

I believe I sent you the 2012 zip that should have included a save for the end of 2011 and 2012, check that when you can for complete stats. If you need anything else, let me know, I should still have that file at home and will check and see if the 2011 season was saved.

[Subby]

Got it

And I have Matt Champion info, giving us information on all of our guys...

What do we do about Burt Milne?

What about him? I'm guessing that since he retired a few years back, he must have made the Team HOF, but I missed the announcement.

If that's the case, he deserves some accolades, but he wasn't a lifelong Brown and that tarnishes him a bit.

[huve]

I liked to say thats one hell of a site you guys got there wish i was in the challege.Oh well you cant get em all.


huve

[Darkiller]

Yeah I'm grateful that a guy like Subby did such a great effort in making the VCII website.

It definitely gives an extra dimension to VCII and i'm appreciative of what is being done.

I remember when I launched the VCII,
I had hopes of an on-going thing where we could play lot's of seasons but it has gone even farther that all I could have expected thanks to some great people I met through this challenge.

We have a wonderful thing going on.
I'm proud of it.
Our website doesn't hurt either

[Subby]

Thanks Darkiller!

Said forum has a new url, so if you could fix our url redirect I would be most appreciative...
http://www.geocities.com/fofbrowns/f...wns/index.html