I wasn't sure what to call them, but since these folks were such fairweather fans I though it might be better to give them a generic name like "Browns fan club". But yeah, I may go back and switch that out.
THE DAWG POUND DYNASTY: AN ALTERNATE HISTORY OF THE NFL
- Thread starter Pellegrino
- Start date
I wasn't sure what to call them, but since these folks were such fairweather fans I though it might be better to give them a generic name like "Browns fan club". But yeah, I may go back and switch that out.
PART FIFTY ONE: SUPER BOWL XLVI, FIRST HALF
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“I remember feeling somewhat uncomfortable as I stood there and waved to the crowd. I was regarded as one of the most successful players in the history of Canadian football by many football fans, but I had two games in the NFL in 2008. Two. Although I won the second game, giving the Browns their only victory for the 2008 season, I still felt somewhat uncomfortable by being invited to the ceremony. I had been voted the “50th greatest Brown of all time”, beating out Tom Brady. Well, I knew that there was no way anyone could objectively say that. But I decided to go Hey…free tickets to the Super Bowl! Well, as I was walking off the field I remember we passed the Giants sideline and I saw Tom Brady. And man, was he ticked off. He was ready to tear the Browns apart! I saw him literally pacing like a caged lion! I remember thinking to myself he is going to be out for blood here. Well, he was. The Giants came out swinging. And Tom Brady was on fire in the first quarter. He was single handily manhandling the Browns. But the thing is…Tom Brady is a legendary quarterback. The best I’ve ever seen. If anyone can singlehandedly defeat an NFL team, it’s him. But he probably should have let the Giants help out a bit.”
- Former Browns Quarterback Anthony Calvillo
From the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary “The Dawg Pound Dynasty”
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SUPERBOWL XLVI
Courtesy of ABC
Aired February 5, 2012
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT.
AL MICHAELS: We are ready to kickoff one of the most eagerly anticipated Super Bowls ever as the Browns will be kicking it away. And there he is: Chris Kluwe, ready to kick it off for the Browns…Kluwe having been the Browns punter since 2005.
CRIS COLLINSWORTH: And it is interesting to think that Kluwe, despite playing for the Browns for seven seasons, never played for a championship team.
AL MICHAELS: Kluwe having been drafted in 2005, just three months after the Browns last championship.
(We now see Ricky Williams in a Giants uniform pacing as he awaits the opening kickoff).
CRIS COLLINSWORTH: And veteran Ricky Williams, who signed a one year contract with the New York Giants and has hinted that this might be his final season in the NFL, is back to receive.
AL MICHAELS: The veteran Williams has been such a valuable addition to the Giants special team this season, having come in second in the NFC in kickoff return and third in punt return…and the Browns have had trouble early in the season covering kicks…
(We see the kickoff and the mad scramble of Browns players running downfield)
AL MICHAELS: And its Williams…trying to work it back to the middle…gets past the first wave and here he goes!!!
(We see Williams with a clear path to the end zone)
AL MICHAELS: And its Williams…inside the thirty! Williams is going to take it all the way for a touchdown! And no flag…ninety three yards! And boy what a start for the New York Giants here in Indianapolis as Ricky Williams scores another touchdown to put the Giants up 6-0!
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“It was a horrible start for the Browns. First play of the game and Ricky Williams, the one and only living Curse of the Bongbino himself, returns the kickoff for a 93-yard touchdown. Then the Browns quickly turn the ball over after three errant passes from Tim Tebow don’t come anywhere near their target. Then Brady gets the ball. You could see the anger and rage on his face as he took the field. He was a man on a mission once he got the ball. Ten yard pass to Johnson. Twelve yard pass to Victor Cruz. Six yard pass to Calvin Johnson…then the juke.”
- Andy Moeller, former tight ends coach of the Cleveland Browns in 2008.
From the NFL Films documentary “The Dawg Pound Divorce: Tom Brady and the Cleveland Browns”
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SUPERBOWL XLVI
Courtesy of ABC
Aired February 5, 2012
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT.
AL MICHAELS: And it’s third and nine for the Giants on the Browns sixteen yard line...Brady out of the shotgun…snap..Brady is back to throw…the rush…he steps up into the pocket and runs with it!
CRIS COLLINSWORTH: And he dives for a first down!
AL MICHAELS: Guess who he avoided!
CRIS COLLINSWORTH: Urlacher!
AL MICHAELS: Urlacher! Wow! Well we knew Tom Brady was fired up here but wow!
CRIS COLLINSWORTH: And who says Tim Tebow is the only quarterback who can run in this game?
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Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel- “The Ultimate Dawg – Former Browns Linebacker Brian Urlacher reflects on his time in Cleveland”
From August 23, 2013
Portions of a Armen Keteyian interview with Brian Urlacher.
Courtesy of CBS
Armen Keteyian: Brian, the Browns looked poised to crumble under the pressure early against the Giants during Super Bowl 46. Ricky Williams returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, followed by Tim Tebow struggling badly in the Browns opening offensive drive, followed by Tom Brady and the juke. Were the Browns rattled?
Brian Urlacher (laughing): Well, I won’t lie. I wasn’t really happy with myself that I let Tom Brady, the slowest quarterback in the league, juke me for a first down.
Armen Keteyian: That play was followed by a six yard pass to Calvin Johnson, which put the Giants up 14-0 in the first quarter. Was there a sense of panic on the Browns sideline?
Brian Urlacher: Well, I was pretty disappointed in myself, and I guess I had my head down when I got to the sidelines, but I could tell Coach Kingsbury was struggling to suppress a smile. I was thinking to myself, “aw shit, Coach has gone off the deep end.” But then he pulled us together and said something that just revitalized the defense.
Armen Keteyian: What did he say?
Brian Urlacher: He rallied us together and said “He’s trying to do this by himself! That fucking asshole thinks he can do this all by himself! Well fuck that guys! Let’s Crush that idea right here and now!”
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“It was just looking like it was going to be an execution…but then…I started to see it. Tom Brady is the undisputed leader of the Giants. Never been any question of that. He’s one of the few quarterbacks in the league who is allowed to call his own plays from the line of scrimmage. But he had the Browns on the ropes and he couldn’t contain himself. He wanted to stick the knife and he wanted to be the guy who was holding that knife personally. The Browns scored a field goal to finish off the first quarter and then Brady took charge again and I could see it…Brady to Johnson. Brady to Cruz. Brady to Cruz. Brady to Johnson. We were in the second quarter and Adrian Peterson hadn’t even touched the football yet! I saw Adrian Peterson turn to the Giants sideline at one point with a frustrated look as he threw his arms up in the air. “What’s up with this?” I could see him mouth to Coach Saban. Saban looked uncomfortable as he realized that Brady was pushing forward with another pass play. He called a timeout and tried to reign in this wild stallion that was looking to tear apart the Browns singlehandedly. And…well, we all know how that went. The world was suddenly introduced to an obscure rookie who would quickly establish himself as the greatest cornerback to ever play for the Cleveland Browns.
Jon Gruden on ESPN Radio (July 11, 2012)
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“You have a world class showman standing right next to you and you are going to pass on that?! Don’t be a Tom Brady, Richard. Release me. Release the Kraken!” -
Elrich Bachman (T.J. Miller) From the HBO series Silicon Valley.
Aired June 1, 2014
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“New York Giants-A Rough Go”
Uploaded to Youtube.com by user whazhapnin34397
1,567,443 views
(We see a clip taken from Super Bowl XLVI, with Tom Brady and the Giants offence jogging to the sidelines as Giants coach Nick Saban has just called a timeout. However, the original audio is muted and some dialogue from an online game has been dubbed over the audio of the Super Bowl broadcast. The dub links up with the action on the video surprisingly well.)
(We now see the Giants players huddling around Coach Saban)
PLAYER #1: OK guys, these eggs have given us a lot of trouble in the past…
(We now see several players nodding their heads as Saban is talking)
PLAYER #1: Does anyone need anything off this guy or can we bypass him?
(We see offensive lineman Carl Nicks talking to Saban as he can be seen pointing towards the field)
PLAYER #2: Um, I think Leeroy needs something from this guy…
PLAYER #1: He needs those shoulders? Isn’t he paladin?
PLAYER #2: Yeah, but that’ll help him heel better. He’ll have more mana.
(We now see Coach Saban rub his eyes, clearly frustrated as he is talking)
PLAYER #1: Christ. OK, uh…what we’ll do…I’ll run in first and gather all the eggs we can kind of just blast them all down and (inaudible)
(We now have a close up of Adrian Peterson who is nodding his head in agreement)
PLAYER #1: I will use intimidating shout to kind of scatter them so we don’t have to fight a whole bunch of them at once. When my shout’s done I’ll need Anthony to come in and drop his shout too so we can keep them scattered and not fight too many. Um, when his is done Baz of course needs to run in and do the same thing…
(Shot now turns to the Cleveland sideline where Tim Tebow is in a kneeling position. He is in the middle of “Tebowing”, or praying on the sideline.)
PLAYER #1: We’re going to need divine intervention on our mages so they can A.E., so we can of course get them down fast ‘cause we’re bringing all these guys, I mean, we’ll be in trouble if we don’t take them down quick. I think this is a pretty good plan…
(Shot not returns to Saban and the Giants sideline, where Coach saban is talking directly to Adrian Peterson)
PLAYER #1: We should be able to pull it off this time, what do you think Abdul? Can you give me a number crunch real quick?
(We now see what appears to be Adrian Peterson talking to Saban and Nicks. For the first time we notice Tom Brady, who looks pissed off as he shoots angry glances to the Browns sideline. He visibly looks distracted as the time out winds down and as the players get ready to return to the field)
PLAYER #3: Uhhh…gimmie a sec…
(The players now return to the field. The Giants offense lines up as Brady get’s ready to call the play)
PLAYER #3: I’m coming up with 32.33, ah, repeating of course, percentage of survival.
PLAYER #1: Uh, it’s a lot better than we usually do.
(We now see Brady take the snap from the center)
PLAYER #4 (Leeroy): Alright chumps! Let’s do this! LEEEE-ROY JEEEENKINS!
(We see Brady go back to pass. He is under pressure and forces a pass to Calvin Johnson. The pass is picked off by Browns cornerback Richard Sherman)
PLAYER #2: Oh my God. He just ran in…
(We see Sherman with the football as he easily breaks a tackle from Calvin Johnson)
PLAYER #1: Save him!
PLAYER #3: Oh geez!
PLAYER #1: Stick and clean!
PLAYER #5: Jesus…
PLAYER #1: Let’s go…let’s go!
PLAYER #3: Stick to the plan bro, stick to the plan!
PLAYER #2: Ah jeez! Ah fuck!
(We see Richard Sherman literally run over Giants guard Carl Nicks, who clearly is injured on the play)
PLAYER #1: Do divine intervention! Hurry up! Shout!
PLAYER #2: I can’t cast! I can’t move!
PLAYER #5: Am I lagging guys? What the hell?! I can’t aim.
(We see Richard Sherman strong arm the Giants tight end, as he pushes his way towards the end zone)
PLAYER #1: Oh my God.
(Inaudible shouts can be heard between the players as Sherman breaks the last tackle and runs towards the end zone)
PLAYER #5: I don’t think you can cast with that shit on!
PLAYER #1: Oh my God!
(More inaudible shouts from the various players as Richard Sherman reaches the end zone)
PLAYER #1: Goddammit Leeroy! Goddammit!
(We now see a stunned Nick Saban on the sideline)
PLAYER #2: Leeroy, you moron!
PLAYER #3: This is ridiculous!
PLAYER #5: I’m down…how did we die of this?!
PLAYER #1: Why do you do this shit Leeroy?!
(More inaudible video game shouts as we see Richard Sherman celebrating in the end zone. We now see Tom Brady clearly cursing to no one in particular as he angrily pulls off the strap to this helmet)
PLAYER #4 (Leeroy): It’s not my fault!
(We now see Adrian Peterson glaring upward, presumably at the Jumbotron. He starts to say something)
PLAYER #3: Leeroy, you are just stupid as hell!
PLAYER #4 (Leeroy): At least I have chicken.
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“That pick-six did nothing to bring Tom Brady back to earth. He was just this wild animal out there. He was still hot as a pistol though, connecting with Johnson on a sixteen yard pass on his very next pass. But it was clear that his emotions were taking over. He wanted to turn this into a slugfest. That was smart. No NFL team could match up with us in a slugfest. He knew that. The Giants were George Foreman. The Browns were Muhammad Ali. But the thing was we couldn’t let them rope-a-dope us into giving them a chance. We needed to keep the pressure up without burning ourselves out. I think Coach Saban got a little worried about that happening. He needed to bring things back down a notch. So he made the fateful and controversial decision that will remain a topic of debate for years to come.
He pulled Tom Brady.”
- Former Giants tight end Jake Ballard
From the Fox Sports documentary “Brady and Tebow”
I realize that some of you football fans might not be as familiar with MMORPG or World of Warcraft...so the Youtube/Super Bowl clip is based on a youtube video of Leeroy Jenkins playing WOW which can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkCNJRfSZBU
It's times like these that make me wish Leeroy Jenkins, Leon Sandcastle, and Jerry Ricecake were all real people.
Admiral Halsey
Banned
You know I know Saban can be a control freak when it comes to his teams but him pulling Brady is an ASB move. No coach in his right mind would pull their star quarterback in a situation like that unless they want to get fired.
Haha, thanks. Had a lot of fun with that one.
Now to find a way to shoehorn Leon Sandcadtle into this TL
As we will discover in the next update, Brady isn't benched for more than a few snaps. Moves like that are rare, but hardly unprecedented, in the NFL. But the psychological impact on the team during half time is where this move will be most noteworthy. Keep in mind Adrian Peterson is getting pissed, Nick Saban is trying to reestablish control, and for some it looks like Brady was benched right before he was set to go into beast mode. The a Giants locker room will be a shitstorm during the half
FDW
Banned
Haha, thanks. Had a lot of fun with that one.
Yeah, I once toyed around with making Animesque NFL a few years ago (as a sort of Comedy story), and then there's an NFL QB's on Facebook crossover I've been mulling over with CthulhuFhtagn. (Speaking of which, you ought to do a TTL version of that)
That sounds like it would be awesome! Let me know if I can help out if you guys ever do it!
PART FIFTY TWO: SUPER BOWL XLVI, SECOND HALF
__________________________________________________________
SUPERBOWL XLVI
Courtesy of ABC
Aired February 5, 2012
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT.
AL MICHAELS: And it’s third and three for the Giants as Tom Brady takes the snap…and he’s going for it! Brady rushes down the middle!
CRIS COLLINSWORTH: And he’s hit hard by Brian Urlacher, but not before he gets the first down for the Giants.
AL MICHAELS: Well, even with the pick-six, this is looking to be a big day for Tom Brady…
CRIS COLLINSWORTH: And Brady is slow getting up…
______________________________________________________________
“I could see that Tom really had his bell rung in that last play. He was slow getting up, and we had already lost Carl Nicks to an injury. I needed to get Tom out of there for a few snaps. That was all. It wasn’t that big of a deal, despite what you guys think.”
- Giants head coach Nick Saban
From the Fox Sports documentary “Brady versus Tebow”
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Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel- “The Ultimate Dawg – Former Browns Linebacker Brian Urlacher reflects on his time in Cleveland”
From August 23, 2013
Portions of a Armen Keteyian interview with Brian Urlacher.
Courtesy of CBS
Brian Urlacher: I remember thinking to myself: aw hell, not again. Brady ran for a second first down on me?! This guy hadn’t run for a first down all season and now he has two on me in the first half?! But I didn’t think anything about the hit. It was a good hit, yeah. But I am sure he’s been hit harder. I won’t lie. I was surprised they pulled him after that.
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“I literally could feel that hit from Mr. Lerner’s suite. It literally shook the suite. It sounded like a Barry Bonds homerun. This sickening cracking sound and then…this loud thud as Urlacher brought Brady down to the ground. For a few seconds…I thought…I thought that I just watched the end of Tom Brady’s career.”
- Former Browns Quarterback Anthony Calvillo
From the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary “The Dawg Pound Dynasty”
______________________________________________________________
You know, the issue wasn’t so much, was Tom Brady shook up or not. That game was wearing me out just watching it! It was a grinding, physical affair! I will be honest, had I been the Giants coach at the time, I would have pulled Brady as well! They already lost Pro Bowler Carl Nicks to an injury, and if you watch the game from that point on you could see the difference in the Giants offence. The comparison to “The Rumble in the Jungle” was appropriate. The Giants were George Foreman. They had averaged 43 points in the ten games prior to the Super Bowl! That is unheard of! But the Browns were very much the Muhammad Ali of football. They had this impenetrable defense that gave every team in the NFL fits. In the eight games leading up to the Super Bowl the Browns had held each of their opponents to under 21 points! That is just as impressive! The loss of Nicks was devastating for the Giants though. People forgot that one of the main reasons the Giants offense was so good was because the Giants offensive line was so good. With Nicks injured it punched a hole in that O-line, and suddenly Brady was taking more and more punishment. The Giants wanted to turn the game into a slugfest…but not this kind of slugfest! Saban saw that was happening and he decided to have the Giants step back to the middle of the ring and wave the Browns in. He wanted them to fight him on his terms. And he needed a healthy Tom Brady if he were going to do that.
Jon Gruden on ESPN Radio (July 11, 2012)
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“You know, when I played for the Lions in 2008 I had the opportunity to watch Kurt Warner win a Super Bowl from the bench. Even though that had been my first season with the Giants that wasn’t my first Super Bowl, and I knew that I had to be ready to take the field at a moments notice if anything happened. When Brady went down hard after a three yard run, Coach Saban told me to go out there. I had three snaps. Hand off to Adrian Peterson…shovel pass to Jake Ballard…incomplete pass to Victor Cruz. That was it. We then followed it up with a field goal and I was done. In two Super Bowls that is my stat line. But every year I get asked about it.”
- Former Giants backup quarterback David Carr
From the Fox Sports documentary “Brady versus Tebow”
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“I really couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The Giants, a team that had so much talent, began to implode. They started to bicker and argue with each other on the sideline. When Brady was pulled for David Carr you could see his angry reaction on the sideline. He didn’t argue with Coach Saban, but you could see he wasn’t happy. By the time the first half ended, the Giants were a team in absolute disarray.”
- Andy Moeller, former tight ends coach of the Cleveland Browns in 2008.
From the NFL Films documentary “The Dawg Pound Divorce: Tom Brady and the Cleveland Browns”
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“No man, there wasn’t any shoving going on in the locker room during half time. I don’t know where you guys come up with this stuff. Yeah, we were not happy with how we were playing. Even though we had a 17-10 lead going in we knew we were not playing the way we wanted to be playing. And yeah, a few times we got emotional. We were fired up! But we didn’t go to blows and at no time did I have to come between Megatron and Adrian Peterson.”
- Former Giants tight end Jake Ballard
From the Fox Sports documentary “Brady versus Tebow”
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Despite holding the legendary Giants offense to an almost human seventeen points going into the fourth quarter, the Browns still trailed 23-13 and were in desperate need of another miracle run from their controversial quarterback. But after three quarters Tebow was in the midst of what was on pace to become the worst Super Bowl performance ever for a quarterback: 9 for 21, 123 yards and two interceptions for a quarterback rating of 22.6. And despite Brady’s aggressive start, the Giants had elected to play conservatively in the second half, with short passes and runs up the middle in an attempt to eat away at the clock. It was a style of play contrary to what had made the Giants so successful up to that point: but for the third quarter it appeared to be working. The Giants made two field goals to raise their lead to 23-10 before the Browns were able to cut the lead ever so slightly after Ryan Succop kicked a 59-yard field goal in the closing seconds of the third. Now it was up to Tim Tebow and the miracle Browns to find lightning in a bottle one last time. Now it was time to see if the unreliable arm of Tim Tebow could be counted on to find lightning in a bottle one…last…time.
But in all the controversy over Tim Tebow’s arm, it seemed that everyone, including the New York Giants, forgot something else. Something just as important to the Cleveland Browns: Tim Tebow’s legs.
From the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary “The Dawg Pound Dynasty”
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SUPERBOWL XLVI
Courtesy of ABC
Aired February 5, 2012
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT.
AL MICHAELS: And with just over a minute left in the game the Browns have one last shot here to tie things up.
CRIS COLLINSWORTH: Well I know fans in Cleveland won’t want to here this, but win or lose; they have really done something special here today in Indianapolis. A lot of people didn’t think that the Browns would be able to stand in there with, what many feel, is the greatest football team of all time. But the Browns have closed the gap here to 23-20-
AL MICHAELS: I don’t think there were a lot of people who expected this game to be even remotely competitive.
CRIS COLLINSWORTH (laughing): Well, once again, the Browns were a 40-1 underdog at one point.
AL MICHAELS: And Tebow takes the snap at first and ten…pressure from the Jason Hatcher…Tebow stays on his feet…airs it out…down the field…it is caught by Antonio Gates on the Giants thirteen yard line! And the Browns are out of timeouts here but they are in field goal range!
(Replay of the pass)
CRIS COLLINSWORTH: Oh my goodness! I have to say Al, nobody by Antonio Gates or Calvin Johnson catches that ball. It was badly overthrown but somehow Antonio Gates goes up for it like a basketball player and makes an incredible one handed catch-
AL MICHAELS: And he literally catches the ball with his helmet!
(The replay ends and we see Tim Tebow trying desperately to scramble the players to line up as the clock ticks down).
CRIS COLLINSWORTH: And the clock is ticking here as Tim Tebow tries to rally the Browns offensive together so that they can spike the ball…
AL MICHAELS: This is a mess. They need to get organized here.
CRIS COLLINSWORTH: Twelve seconds left here in the game…defiantly inside of field goal range for Ryan Succop…
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“You can’t have an undefeated team in the Super Bowl without having the ghosts of the Miami Dolphins making an appearance.”
- Hall of Fame Quarterback Dan Marino
From the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary “The Dawg Pound Dynasty”
____________________________________________________________
SUPERBOWL XLVI
Courtesy of ABC
Aired February 5, 2012
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT.
AL MICHAELS: And with twelve seconds left in the game Tim Tebow spikes the ball to give th-
CRIS COLLINSWORTH: No he doesn’t! He’s taking into the end zone! Tim Tebow is running it in and…touchdown!!
AL MICHAELS: Oh my God!! Oh...my...goodness!! The Cleveland Browns take the lead with two seconds left on the clock after Tim Tebow pulls a Marino like fake on the Giants and psyches out the entire defense with the fake spike!
CRIS COLLINSWORTH: Of course it would have to be a play made famous by Dan Marino to preserve the record of the undefeated ’72 Dolphins. But in defense of the Giants defense, Tim Tebow psyched both of us out as well…
(Replay comes on)
CRIS COLLINSWORTH: Look at this…wide receiver Donald Driver is standing here and I don’t even think he was expecting this miraculous run from Tim Tebow! And the Giants defense is just frozen here. You can see Tim Tebow literally running past linebacker Philip Wheeler who is just standing there watching him! He is literally no more than three feet from Tim Tebow and he is just stunned by what is happening!
AL MICHAELS: Well the Browns have caught the Giants sleeping here in the final seconds of the game to pull off the most improbable upset in sports history…say it with me folks…the Cleveland Browns…world champions!
PART FIFTY TWO: SUPER BOWL XLVI, SECOND HALF
__________________________________________________________
SUPERBOWL XLVI
Courtesy of ABC
Aired February 5, 2012
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT.
AL MICHAELS: And it’s third and three for the Giants as Tom Brady takes the snap…and he’s going for it! Brady rushes down the middle!
CRIS COLLINSWORTH: And he’s hit hard by Brian Urlacher, but not before he gets the first down for the Giants.
AL MICHAELS: Well, even with the pick-six, this is looking to be a big day for Tom Brady…
CRIS COLLINSWORTH: And Brady is slow getting up…
______________________________________________________________
“I could see that Tom really had his bell rung in that last play. He was slow getting up, and we had already lost Carl Nicks to an injury. I needed to get Tom out of there for a few snaps. That was all. It wasn’t that big of a deal, despite what you guys think.”
- Giants head coach Nick Saban
From the Fox Sports documentary “Brady versus Tebow”
______________________________________________________________
Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel- “The Ultimate Dawg – Former Browns Linebacker Brian Urlacher reflects on his time in Cleveland”
From August 23, 2013
Portions of a Armen Keteyian interview with Brian Urlacher.
Courtesy of CBS
Brian Urlacher: I remember thinking to myself: aw hell, not again. Brady ran for a second first down on me?! This guy hadn’t run for a first down all season and now he has two on me in the first half?! But I didn’t think anything about the hit. It was a good hit, yeah. But I am sure he’s been hit harder. I won’t lie. I was surprised they pulled him after that.
______________________________________________________________
“I literally could feel that hit from Mr. Lerner’s suite. It literally shook the suite. It sounded like a Barry Bonds homerun. This sickening cracking sound and then…this loud thud as Urlacher brought Brady down to the ground. For a few seconds…I thought…I thought that I just watched the end of Tom Brady’s career.”
- Former Browns Quarterback Anthony Calvillo
From the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary “The Dawg Pound Dynasty”
______________________________________________________________
You know, the issue wasn’t so much, was Tom Brady shook up or not. That game was wearing me out just watching it! It was a grinding, physical affair! I will be honest, had I been the Giants coach at the time, I would have pulled Brady as well! They already lost Pro Bowler Carl Nicks to an injury, and if you watch the game from that point on you could see the difference in the Giants offence. The comparison to “The Rumble in the Jungle” was appropriate. The Giants were George Foreman. They had averaged 43 points in the ten games prior to the Super Bowl! That is unheard of! But the Browns were very much the Muhammad Ali of football. They had this impenetrable defense that gave every team in the NFL fits. In the eight games leading up to the Super Bowl the Browns had held each of their opponents to under 21 points! That is just as impressive! The loss of Nicks was devastating for the Giants though. People forgot that one of the main reasons the Giants offense was so good was because the Giants offensive line was so good. With Nicks injured it punched a hole in that O-line, and suddenly Brady was taking more and more punishment. The Giants wanted to turn the game into a slugfest…but not this kind of slugfest! Saban saw that was happening and he decided to have the Giants step back to the middle of the ring and wave the Browns in. He wanted them to fight him on his terms. And he needed a healthy Tom Brady if he were going to do that.
Jon Gruden on ESPN Radio (July 11, 2012)
____________________________________________________________
“You know, when I played for the Lions in 2008 I had the opportunity to watch Kurt Warner win a Super Bowl from the bench. Even though that had been my first season with the Giants that wasn’t my first Super Bowl, and I knew that I had to be ready to take the field at a moments notice if anything happened. When Brady went down hard after a three yard run, Coach Saban told me to go out there. I had three snaps. Hand off to Adrian Peterson…shovel pass to Jake Ballard…incomplete pass to Victor Cruz. That was it. We then followed it up with a field goal and I was done. In two Super Bowls that is my stat line. But every year I get asked about it.”
- Former Giants backup quarterback David Carr
From the Fox Sports documentary “Brady versus Tebow”
___________________________________________________________
“I really couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The Giants, a team that had so much talent, began to implode. They started to bicker and argue with each other on the sideline. When Brady was pulled for David Carr you could see his angry reaction on the sideline. He didn’t argue with Coach Saban, but you could see he wasn’t happy. By the time the first half ended, the Giants were a team in absolute disarray.”
- Andy Moeller, former tight ends coach of the Cleveland Browns in 2008.
From the NFL Films documentary “The Dawg Pound Divorce: Tom Brady and the Cleveland Browns”
___________________________________________________________
“No man, there wasn’t any shoving going on in the locker room during half time. I don’t know where you guys come up with this stuff. Yeah, we were not happy with how we were playing. Even though we had a 17-10 lead going in we knew we were not playing the way we wanted to be playing. And yeah, a few times we got emotional. We were fired up! But we didn’t go to blows and at no time did I have to come between Megatron and Adrian Peterson.”
- Former Giants tight end Jake Ballard
From the Fox Sports documentary “Brady versus Tebow”
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Despite holding the legendary Giants offense to an almost human seventeen points going into the fourth quarter, the Browns still trailed 23-13 and were in desperate need of another miracle run from their controversial quarterback. But after three quarters Tebow was in the midst of what was on pace to become the worst Super Bowl performance ever for a quarterback: 9 for 21, 123 yards and two interceptions for a quarterback rating of 22.6. And despite Brady’s aggressive start, the Giants had elected to play conservatively in the second half, with short passes and runs up the middle in an attempt to eat away at the clock. It was a style of play contrary to what had made the Giants so successful up to that point: but for the third quarter it appeared to be working. The Giants made two field goals to raise their lead to 23-10 before the Browns were able to cut the lead ever so slightly after Ryan Succop kicked a 59-yard field goal in the closing seconds of the third. Now it was up to Tim Tebow and the miracle Browns to find lightning in a bottle one last time. Now it was time to see if the unreliable arm of Tim Tebow could be counted on to find lightning in a bottle one…last…time.
But in all the controversy over Tim Tebow’s arm, it seemed that everyone, including the New York Giants, forgot something else. Something just as important to the Cleveland Browns: Tim Tebow’s legs.
From the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary “The Dawg Pound Dynasty”
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SUPERBOWL XLVI
Courtesy of ABC
Aired February 5, 2012
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT.
AL MICHAELS: And with just over a minute left in the game the Browns have one last shot here to tie things up.
CRIS COLLINSWORTH: Well I know fans in Cleveland won’t want to here this, but win or lose; they have really done something special here today in Indianapolis. A lot of people didn’t think that the Browns would be able to stand in there with, what many feel, is the greatest football team of all time. But the Browns have closed the gap here to 23-20-
AL MICHAELS: I don’t think there were a lot of people who expected this game to be even remotely competitive.
CRIS COLLINSWORTH (laughing): Well, once again, the Browns were a 40-1 underdog at one point.
AL MICHAELS: And Tebow takes the snap at first and ten…pressure from the Jason Hatcher…Tebow stays on his feet…airs it out…down the field…it is caught by Antonio Gates on the Giants thirteen yard line! And the Browns are out of timeouts here but they are in field goal range!
(Replay of the pass)
CRIS COLLINSWORTH: Oh my goodness! I have to say Al, nobody by Antonio Gates or Calvin Johnson catches that ball. It was badly overthrown but somehow Antonio Gates goes up for it like a basketball player and makes an incredible one handed catch-
AL MICHAELS: And he literally catches the ball with his helmet!
(The replay ends and we see Tim Tebow trying desperately to scramble the players to line up as the clock ticks down).
CRIS COLLINSWORTH: And the clock is ticking here as Tim Tebow tries to rally the Browns offensive together so that they can spike the ball…
AL MICHAELS: This is a mess. They need to get organized here.
CRIS COLLINSWORTH: Twelve seconds left here in the game…defiantly inside of field goal range for Ryan Succop…
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“You can’t have an undefeated team in the Super Bowl without having the ghosts of the Miami Dolphins making an appearance.”
- Hall of Fame Quarterback Dan Marino
From the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary “The Dawg Pound Dynasty”
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SUPERBOWL XLVI
Courtesy of ABC
Aired February 5, 2012
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT.
AL MICHAELS: And with twelve seconds left in the game Tim Tebow spikes the ball to give th-
CRIS COLLINSWORTH: No he doesn’t! He’s taking into the end zone! Tim Tebow is running it in and…touchdown!!
AL MICHAELS: Oh my God!! Oh...my...goodness!! The Cleveland Browns take the lead with two seconds left on the clock after Tim Tebow pulls a Marino like fake on the Giants and psyches out the entire defense with the fake spike!
CRIS COLLINSWORTH: Of course it would have to be a play made famous by Dan Marino to preserve the record of the undefeated ’72 Dolphins. But in defense of the Giants defense, Tim Tebow psyched both of us out as well…
(Replay comes on)
CRIS COLLINSWORTH: Look at this…wide receiver Donald Driver is standing here and I don’t even think he was expecting this miraculous run from Tim Tebow! And the Giants defense is just frozen here. You can see Tim Tebow literally running past linebacker Philip Wheeler who is just standing there watching him! He is literally no more than three feet from Tim Tebow and he is just stunned by what is happening!
AL MICHAELS: Well the Browns have caught the Giants sleeping here in the final seconds of the game to pull off the most improbable upset in sports history…say it with me folks…the Cleveland Browns…world champions!
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Admiral Halsey
Banned
Of course the Browns won. I was really hoping you would've had the Giants win it since it would've made a better ending IMO.
Well, I won't lie, I saw early on this scenario where an undefeated Giants team led by Tom Brady got upset in the Super Bowl. It seemed to fit well with the theme of this TL of turning everything we knew about OTL on its head.
I know there are some that think this was one SB to many, but this Cleveland win will not be retconed. It fits with the overall theme of this TL to well. I haven't ruled out revisiting some things in the final edit of this TL. Possibly doing a retcon on the Cleveland win over Tampa Bay in the Superbowl or doing some retcon with Terrell Owens and the Eagles beating the Browns in the Superbowl (which could feed into the "curse" theme of later chapters). But this Super Bowl win is not going anywhere.