Top 10 Most Hated Cleveland Browns
The Steelers and Browns have been playing one another since dinosaurs walked the earth. The two teams are natural enemies like cats and dogs (although Steelers and Browns is more analogous to sharks and seals or lions and gazelles).
I have followed this storied rivalry since the late 1960′s, I have seen both teams win their fair share of these contests. Over that time, I have developed a hatred for certain Cleveland Browns players. Here is my list of my top 10 most hated Cleveland Browns.
#1 – Joe “Turkey” Jones
“Turkey” Jones will always be public enemy #1 in Pittsburgh. For those of you who are too young to remember Turkey Jones and the play that made him infamous, let me take you back down memory lane.
It was October 10, 1976, and the Steelers were playing their arch-rival, the Cleveland Browns. The Browns had signed Turkey Jones to their roster specifically to try to injure Steelers’ quarterback Terry Bradshaw. Prior to that game, Jones had been a prisoner in a maximum security penitentiary. The Governor of Ohio gave him a pardon so he could join the Browns to play against the Steelers. The Governor made a secret agreement with Jones; hurt Bradshaw and win your freedom.
The Steelers were beating the Browns 79-3, when the Browns sent in Turkey Jones to do his dirty work. Jones knew that he could never get past the Steelers’ vaunted offensive line, so he waited until after the refs had blown a play dead and Terry Bradshaw was walking back to the huddle. Jones had to make sure that Bradshaw and the other Steelers’ backs were turned, since no Brown would ever challenge a Steeler face-to-face. When he knew that Bradshaw wasn’t looking, Jones sprinted towards Bradshaw, picked him up in the air, turned him upside down, and slammed him head first into the ground. A loud applause rose among the unwashed Cleveland fans. Simultaneously, Steelers fans and the rest of the civilized world looked on in utter shock and horror.
As Bradshaw hit the ground head first, most fans thought that his spine would snap. Bradshaw’s body spasmed violently as he writhed in pain. But before anyone could react, Turkey Jones proceeded to stomp repeatedly on the helpless Bradshaw’s throwing hand in an attempt to injure him further. Finally, he gave Bradshaw a brutal kick to the face before he was apprehended by the police.
Due to the secret arrangement between Jones and the Ohio Governor, Jones was released by the Cleveland police as soon as they got him safely away from Municipal Stadium. Turkey Jones has lived in a Browns-owned mansion in Shaker Heights ever since, and he draws a secret pension of $1,000,000 per year that is paid for by the Cleveland City Council.
You may find very different versions of this story in other places like ESPN, NFL.com, Google, Wikipedia, etc. This is due to the Cleveland Browns’ propaganda machine successfully revising all written (and video) accounts of the incident. But we here at Steelers Today remember the true story.
#2 – Joe “Turkey” Jones
YouTube removed the video of the play that I had here. But trust me when I tell you that it was the dirtiest play in NFL history. Curse you, Turkey Jones!!!!!!
#3 – Joe “Turkey” Jones
See #1 & #2.
#4 – Joe “Turkey” Jones
Did I mention that after kicking Bradshaw in the face, Jones proceeded to spit on him?
#5 – Joe “Turkey” Jones
A coward’s coward.
#6 – Kellen Winslow Jr.
Winslow is the antithesis of everything the Steelers stand for. He is arrogant, self-centered, self-aggrandizing, soft (though he pretends not to be), and he has never accomplished anything on the field. He has spent much of his career on the injured list. I believe one of those injuries occurred while being tackled by the Pittsburgh Steelers’ kicker (but I could be wrong). The others were thinly veiled excuses to avoid having to play the Steelers.
#7 – Braylon Edwards
See “#6-Kellen Winslow Jr.” Same guy, different jersey number.
#8 – Ozzie Newsome
Newsome was unstoppable as a player. That is reason enough to hate him. But now he is General Manager of the only team that Steelers fans hate more than the Cleveland Browns, the Baltimore Ravens. If it weren’t for Turkey Jones, Ozzie Newsome would be much higher on this list.
#9 – Eric Metcalf
To this day, I still don’t think a Steelers special teams player has ever tackled this guy. He wasn’t much of a running back, but he was a terror on kickoff and punt returns. We hate you Eric Metcalf!
#10 – Webster Slaughter
I’ll give Slaughter the greatest compliment I can ever give a Browns player; I wish he were a Steeler. Slaughter was good. Very good. When Slaughter was playing, he was the Browns player that I worried most about.
Addendum: #11 - Joshua Cribbs
I know that this article originally only included the top 10. However, based on what Joshua Cribbs has done against the Steelers in recent years, I have gone back and added his name to the list. We hate you, Joshua Cribbs!!!!!!!!
Honorable mention
Brian Sipe, Michael Dean Perry, Bob Golic, Bernie Kosar, Paul Warfield
*Editor’s note: As with much of what we write at Steelers Today, this article is intended to be humorous. Several readers have informed us that they thought it was serious. Turkey Jones was not a convict who was hired to hurt Terry Bradshaw. He was simply a professional football player. While he did slam Terry Bradshaw on his head, he never kicked him in the face or spit on him. We apologize to Mr. Jones if anyone else didn’t realize that the article was a joke.
Pretty sure that guy’s name is Eric Metcalf, not Terry.
1Thanks Jay. You are absolutely right. It was Eric who played for the Browns. I am showing my age here, but Terry Metcalf was Eric’s dad. He also was a professional football player.
Good catch. Sorry about the error. But I’ll never forgive you for forcing me to reveal how old I am.
2I think you already revealed your age by chosing Turkey Jones as numbers 1-5 of your most hated Brownies.
3Okay, good point. So, would anyone believe me if I said that I was 23 years old? No really, I am.
4Get over the fact that you will never win a Super Bowl, not even by injuring the other team. After 30 years, you have to admit that you still suck and can’t even win a game by trying to mortally wound or kill the Quarterback of the World’s Best Football Team of all times.
5I was at the game in Cleveland on 10/10/1976 and saw the hit on Bradshaw. Funny but I don’t remember it as described above. Unlike Jack Lambert, Joe Jones was not known to be a dirty player. He claimed he did not hear the whistle, which is understandable given the level of noise in old Cleveland Muny. Jones grabbed bradshaw, spun him around and threw him. The fact that he landed on his head was mere happenstance. A good throw none the less. A little know fact is that the Gator dance was invented that day.
6first of all the BEST TEAM OF ALL TIME IS THE SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS JUDITH and second of all ARE YOU A PROPHET? CAN YOU TELL THAT THE BROWNS WILL NEVER WIN A SUPER BOWL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????????????????????????????oh,and super bowl xliii should’ve been CARDINALS VICTORY SO THE STEELERS WOULD’VE HAD 5 SUPER BOWL RINGS JUST LIKE THE SF 49ERS SO #$%%^ OFF!!!!!!!! BECAUSE THERE WERE SO MANY BAD CALLS IN SUPER BOWL XLIII!!!!!!!!!!!
7Guys, quit picking on us Browns. With owners, and managers like ours - Modell, Lerner, Policy etc., - who needs enemies? Enjoy your six rings. You’ve got an owner with a heart of gold who could’ve made a few trillion dollars more if he had chosen some other line of business. But Papa Rooney likes and loves football, and will take care of the town and the Steelers before anyone, save the Lord and his Momma Mary themselves. Much as I hate the Steelers, I know you’ve got a great club. All the best!
BTW Turkey Jones is the nicest dude this side of the Mississippi, and I have met him, believe me, you can’t hear him talk, he’s so soft spoken!
8thanks for the memories, i had forgoten how much i enjoyed seeing hillbilly bradshaw get k/oed he still has nothing but bad to say about cleveland can you somhow ad the rest where he is quivering on the ground, better yet send it to his freinds at fox sports, im still laughing and bookmarked your site, thanks turk jones
9I think we could add Joshua Cribbs to this list now
10One of my most cherished sports moments, directly as a result of this one play, was coincidentally being in Ohio the day fans discovered the Browns had moved and seeing an unshaven, crying cab driver on the news cursing Art Modell. Clear evidence of the curse on the Browns and their fans, who cheered the play. I heard, although not verified, that the Steelers duct taped Bradshaw into his seat for the trip home because they couldn’t trust a doctor in Cleveland.
11you seriously were happy to see the browns move?? you must not be a true fan(a grade A asshole forsure tho). I hate the steelers but i like them to be good, just boring otherwise. when both teams are good battling it out thats when its at its best! f the bengals f the mavens squeelers and clowns were the titans of old and I for one cant wait til those days return
12I’m a Browns fan and I think this ‘article’ is a riot! Funny, funny stuff. Nice work.
13i do realize its been along time since anyone commented on this but i figured i would anyways. You obviously don’t know Joe “Turkey” Jones or you wouldnt hate him over a dumb football game 30 years ago. he is one of the nicest ppl i have ever met. and you know to be honest when i met him i had no idea who he was but its highly offensive to see you talking about him like this. you should be ashamed of yourself. browns may not win much or even at all but at least their fans are not acting like you.
14Bird,
15It’s all in fun. I’m sure that Mr. Jones is a great guy. This was totally meant to be humorous. Please don’t take it seriously or personally.
I’m a Browns fan and the allegations against the Governor and Ohio and Joe “Turkey” Jones are more than mildly amusing. Great job! I’m still laughing. Though I think it was more like $1.5 million. I think this is the type of banter Browns and Steelers fans need. It’s so easy to get frothing at the mouth mad at the shots that come back and forth from the two sides. A little lighthearted fun is good for the rivalry. And I couldn’t agree more about Winslow and Edwards. Glad we got rid of them. As for Turkey Jones, I remember that game vividly because I was eight years old at the time and from the time I became a football fan, (the age of 5) to that point, I don’t remember any happy moments for me watching Browns-Steelers games. All I remember was my dad cursing at football-until that day. If ever a violent action could make one man happy that was it. He was all smiles. Ha! That was the first happy NFL moment for me and a victory over the hated ones from Pittsburgh. It was about the only thing I had to cheer about from 1973-1985 when Kosar became a Brown.
Most Hated Steelers:
James Harrison- Another cheap shot artist. What is it with the Steelers and Kent State linebackers? You guys act like Kent is Penn State or something.
161) Lambert- His list of cheap shots would take up too much space on my computer and it would crash. However, I still rue the day he went to the Steelers and didn’t go to his favorite team growing up, the Browns.
2)Dirt Winston- One of those guys who wasn’t that great of a player but was always talking trash. I always thought his name was perfect for a Steeler.
3) Lynn Swann- trash talking ballerina. Made me cry several times watching Super Bowl games with his ridiculous catches.
4) Bradshaw- The guy was just too good. Shouldn’t have been allowed to play in the NFL. In all seriousness I do feel bad about his concussions having effects today. I grew to like and respect the guy a lot since he joined FOX. Honest guy. Still hate him.
5) Franco Harris- was very glad when he retired. Wasn’t the best back I ever saw, but so damn tough to stop.
6)Roethlisberger- I hate him because he’s good and he’s just not a very nice guy. (And I’m serious about that last part).
7) Hines Ward- Always smiles when he is delivering cheap shots. Great player.
9) Mean Joe Greene- The name says it all.
10) Cleveland Crosby-I know I know he never really played for Pittsburgh. But legend has it that after he was drafted by the Browns the guy showed up to training camp (or mini camp) in a Steelers shirt. And a guy named “Cleveland” no less.
HAHAHAHA I love the story lol it was very amussing for a Browns Fan like myself to read as i know the true story… haha i mean i wouldve been upset if my “prize” QB (Bradshaw) got his ass slammed too… and wound up with a concusion ha.. but hey it is what it is but i will say the part of bradshaw being in prison was enjoyable to read, But if you wana talk about hated players…
17-(Rape)lisberger……explains its self.
-Harrison…. Wana talk about taking cheap shots??