Sunday, December 12, 1999
Browns-Bengals: 'A game for the city'
Last game at Cinergy heightens Battle of Ohio
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The Battle of Ohio began when upstart Cincinnati beat the established Cleveland Browns in 1970, and Bengals coach Paul Brown left the Cinergy Field turf with a fist in the air and a victory over the team that fired him.
Call it Symmetry Field. Upstart Cleveland is here today for Cinergy's last NFL game with Paul Brown Stadium and the 21st century looming next door.
“This is a game for the city,” said Bengals defensive end John Copeland.
Bengals President Mike Brown, Paul's son, called it a day for the past and future. For the struggling teams, it's an almost surreal day caught between emotion and reason.
Capacity crowd of 60,398. Mounted police. A quarterback duel between Browns homecoming hero Tim Couch and Bengals lame duck Jeff Blake in what should be his last home appearance in stripes.
Throw in a Bengals coaching staff that can't afford a loss to an expansion team and there is almost the atmosphere of a playoff game.
“If we were 16-0, and they were 0-16, it would still be a playoff atmosphere because it's the Browns,” said Bengals kicker Doug Pelfrey, a Northern Kentucky native who grew up coming over the river to watch the Reds and Bengals. “It always means a little more to the players, the coaches, the owners.”
As in all good rivalries, the bloodlines are close.
Pelfrey, a Kentucky product, and Couch's favorite receiver at Kentucky, Craig Yeast, now play in Cincinnati. Norwood High grad Marc Edwards starts for the Browns. Western Hills High's Rodney Heath starts for the Bengals.
Pelfrey joked, “half the Browns' fans will be kind of rooting for me and Craig Yeast because they're from Kentucky and they'll be rooting for Couch.”
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