Josh Cribbs: A Link to Cleveland's Past, and Hope for the Browns' Future

Cleveland sports fans recall the distant past like it was yesterday. There was so much to celebrate; there were so many reasons to be proud.
 
In the 1940s and ’50s, Cleveland was home to champions. The Browns and Indians were winners, and the mood of the city reflected it.
 
Neighborhoods were close-knit. Shopkeepers waved at customers and called them by name. Factories were humming. Schools were teeming with students. Streets were busy. Homes and highways were springing up everywhere.
 
America had won a war. A can-do spirit permeated every walk of life.
 
The Browns were a big reason why. In the Forties they won four consecutive championships in the upstart All-America Football Conference, then trumped it by winning the NFL title in 1950, their first year in the league. They would add two more by 1955. 
 
Cleveland was Browns Town, and the love affair ran so deep that it remains that way today, 45 years removed from the team’s last championship. Cleveland cheers its Indians, and the Cavaliers’ success in recent years has given fans reason for hope, but the city still holds its collective head the highest when clad in orange and brown.
 
Otto Graham. Marion Motley. Lou Groza. Jim Brown. Frank Ryan and Gary Collins, forever linked because of one glorious afternoon in 1964. Brian Sipe. Ozzie Newsome. Bernie Kosar. The mere mention of such revered icons causes Browns fans stand a little taller—just as they do today, thanks to a player shaped in the same mold.
 
Josh Cribbs is the new face of the Cleveland Browns. He’s the link to their storied past and the promise of a glorious future.
 
This undrafted former quarterback out of Kent State has become one of the NFL’s bonafide stars by playing the game the way it was meant to be played—with guts, grit, determination, mental toughness, and pride. It’s everything Browns fans ever wanted from their heroes, or ever will.
 
Josh Cribbs gets it.
 
A season ago, Cribbs said some of his teammates quit in a loss to Denver. It was a chilling indictment, because it came from the one player who never lets up, never takes a play off.
 
There’s Cribbs, returning kicks. There he is again, at receiver. Now he’s behind center, in the Wildcat formation. Wait—there he is again, returning a punt. But wasn’t that just him, making a bone-jarring tackle on special teams?
 
In the Browns improbable win over the Steelers, Cribbs did all those things, and more. He rushed for 87 yards. He caught a pass for nine. He returned kicks for 104 more, including a 55-yard punt return that left fans wondering why anyone still kicks to this guy—even as they high-fived and hugged and jumped out of their seats like a fighter pilot who just hit the ejector button.
 
His play inspired others. The defense shut down the defending champions and sacked Ben Roethlisberger eight times. Eight times! The offensive line, defiantly sporting short sleeves and bare arms on a bone-chilling night, sent Steeler defenders sprawling onto the frozen turf. Rookie Chris Jennings either outran or ran over people, grinding out 74 yards and scoring the first rushing touchdown by a Cleveland running back in over a year.
 
But it was Cribbs who dazzled a national TV audience, Cribbs who rose to the occasion and lifted the lowly Browns to a win that, for the moment, salvaged the remains of a forgettable season.
 
If that wasn’t enough, after the game he said all the right things.
 
When asked about the Steelers’ two-hour drive back to Pittsburgh, he smiled. “That’s a lonely ride,” he said. “I’ve ridden that ride for five years now, and it's time for them to hear that engine all the way home while they look at the stats and say, ‘Dang, how'd they do it this time?’”
 
How satisfying is that, Cleveland?
 
Cribbs was quick to praise his teammates for their effort, and later credited the people of Cleveland and Northeast Ohio with helping the players never lose sight of what it means to be a member of the Browns.
 
“This is for the fans, for supporting us and bearing with us through this terrible season,” he said. “We’re not going to give up. We’re going to finish the season strong, and look forward to great things in the future."
 
With Cribbs, you know it was coming from his heart. Which is precisely why he’s stolen ours.