By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The historical significance of "The Battle of Ohio" can't be denied. Paul Brown was the founder and first coach of both the Cleveland and Cincinnati franchises, which will meet Sunday for the 60th time.

But much of the shine is off this intrastate rivalry.

This all-Ohio game has been rendered largely irrelevant because only once since 1989 have the Bengals and Browns met when at least one team - other than in a season opener - did not have a losing record.

The fifth game of the 2001 season was the only recent highlight. The teams' combined winning percentage of .625 entering it was the highest for a Cincinnati-Cleveland game since Week 3 of 1989, when the Browns were 2-0 and the Bengals 1-1.

The Bengals won 24-14 on Oct. 14, 2001, but have a 5-25 record since that day.

Bengals president Mike Brown - Paul Brown's son - is the remaining link to the rivalry's heyday. Mike Brown no longer talks to the media, but his comments to the Enquirer leading up to the first Browns-Bengals game of 2001 remain pertinent two years later.

"The secret to a rivalry is getting two teams that are pretty good and playing each other when it matters for a few years," Brown said. "Then it generates a head of steam."

The Browns have won the last three games in the series, which did not exist from 1996-98because Cleveland did not have a team. The Browns won 18-0 in Week 10 of 2001 and swept Cincinnati last season, winning 20-7 in Week 2 and 27-20 in Week 11 en route to the franchise's first playoff berth since 1994. The Bengals have not been to the playoffs since the 1990 season and are a composite 55-140 since then.

Free agency has affected the rivalry, too. The Bengals have 24 new players on their 53-man opening-day roster compared to 2002.

"I think rivalries in general have lost a lot of the luster because the players change so quickly," said Bengals quarterback Jon Kitna, himself an unrestricted free agent who left Seattle after the 2000 season. "In the old days, you had the same players playing against the same guys for years and years at a time. And now, I've never even seen any of their linebackers."

Bengals radio broadcaster Dave Lapham remembers the old days. He was an offensive lineman for the Bengals from 1974-83, a span in which the team went 11-8 against Cleveland.

Lapham's first Bengals coach was Paul Brown, and his last was Forrest Gregg. Former Browns owner Art Modell, who moved the franchise to Baltimore following the 1995 season, had fired both Brown and Gregg as coaches.

"It was unspoken, but they both wanted to take a big piece of Modell whenever they could," Lapham said.

Original Bengals Bob Johnson, a center, and Bob Trumpy, a tight end, let newcomers such as Lapham know the importance of the Browns game.

"As a rookie, you were filled in immediately: Cleveland week is special," Lapham said

Now there are precious few veterans on either the Cincinnati or Cleveland roster who understand or appreciate the historical significance of the "Battle."

"I really don't have a sense of it, but I heard about in the past," said first-year Bengals strong safety Rogers Beckett, a former Charger.

Ex-Vikings and Chiefs defensive lineman Duane Clemons played in some Kansas City-Oakland and Minnesota-Green Bay games.

"I really don't believe in rivalries," said Clemons, a free agent who came from Kansas City in the offseason. "Every game is almost the same. I play every game to win."

First-year kicker Shayne Graham, a former Carolina Panther who has been with the Bengals for less than a month, said division games always mean a lot.

"But I really haven't been told a lot about it and I really don't know a lot about it," Graham said of the rivalry with Cleveland.

Defensive tackle John Thornton signed with the Bengals after playing for four seasons for the Tennessee Titans - an AFC Central rival of the Browns and Bengals for three of those years.

"Both teams being in Ohio means something," Thornton said. "... All you need is for both teams to get into playoff contention, and then it will mean more."

Bengals at Browns

Kickoff: 1 p.m. Sunday.

Where: Cleveland Browns Stadium.

Records: Bengals 0-3, Browns 2-1.

TV: Ch. 12, 7.

Radio: WCKY-AM (1360), WOFX-FM (92.5).

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E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

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