25 years of Browns 2.0 began with bumbling leadership in 1999 | Jeff Schudel

Aug. 26—It is difficult to believe, yet true; this will mark the 25th season since the Browns returned to the NFL as an expansion team in 1999. That is exactly half the time the original Browns played in Cleveland from 1946-95.

That first season is painful to recall because of all the high hopes that came from being without the NFL for three seasons. In retrospect, they were unrealistic hopes fostered by former Browns president and charlatan Carmen Policy.

The 1999 Browns were run by people who were clueless about putting a team and organization together. Chris Palmer was too inexperienced to be the head coach of an expansion team and the late Dwight Clark knew nothing about drafting players or selecting castoffs in the expansion draft.

Policy hired Clark to be the Browns' executive vice president and director of football operations in 1999 because Clark had a similar title with the 49ers.

The Browns had the first pick of the 1999 draft and used it on quarterback Tim Couch from Kentucky. OK. That one made sense.

The NFL gave the expansion Browns 11 picks in 1999. The first clue Policy, Clark and Palmer had no idea what they were getting into was revealed when they picked zero offensive linemen with their next 10 picks.

Policy and Clark were always about flash and glamor, which explains why they ignored the offensive line. One didn't have to be an NFL coach to know any offensive lineman made available in the expansion draft probably wasn't very good. But the Browns' 1999 brain trust didn't see it that way.

Two picks after the Browns chose wide receiver Kevin Johnson with the first pick of the second round, pick 32 overall (this was before the Houston Texans entered the league), the Carolina Panthers drafted offensive tackle Chris Terry. He became an immediate starter at right tackle and ended up playing nine seasons in the NFL.

The Washington Redskins drafted offensive tackle Jon Jansen with the 37th overall pick in 1999. Jansen became an immediate starter and was an anchor at right tackle with Washington, never missing a game until he finally missed one in 2005.

Meanwhile, here are the names of the Browns starting offensive linemen in 1999: Left tackle Lomas Brown, left guard Jim Pine, center Dave Wohlabaugh, right guard Scott Rehberg and left tackle Orlando Brown.

Ty Detmer was the Browns' quarterback for the first game of the expansion era — a Sunday night game at Cleveland Browns Stadium against the rival Pittsburgh Steelers.

The football-starved fans were pumped. They swallowed all the hype Policy fed them. Policy made everyone believe he was smarter than everyone else in the NFL. He made everyone believe because of his leadership the Browns were on the fast track to being a contender.

The Steelers and their coach, Bill Cowher, showed no mercy. The Browns were trampled, 43-0, The Steelers had 33 first downs. The Browns had two. The Browns had 31 net passing yards and 9 — no typo — rushing yards.

Detmer attempted only 13 passes. He completed six of them. Couch played late in the game and was 0-for-3 passing.

Instead of regrouping to get ready for the next game, Palmer announced Detmer was being benched and that Couch would start against the Titans in Week 2. Couch left Kentucky after his junior year. He wasn't ready to start for the defending Super Bowl champions, let alone a shocked expansion team.

Policy, Clark and Palmer ruined Tim Couch. Couch was sacked 56 times in 1999 and 166 times in his injury-plagued five-year career, all with the Browns.

One might think Clark would have learned not to ignore the offensive line in the draft, but no. The Browns had 13 picks in 2000 and did not take an offensive lineman until they drafted tackle Brad Bedell in the sixth round with the 240th pick. Bedell was cut after starting four games in two years

Browns quarterbacks — Couch, Doug Pederson and Spergon Wynn — were sacked 40 times in 2000. The Browns finished 3-13 after going 2-14 in 1999 and Palmer was fired.

The Browns had the first pick in 2000 and used it on defensive end Courtney Brown. The Redskins picked third and used it on left tackle Chris Samuels.

Brown had 17 sacks in five seasons with the Browns. Samuels played 10 seasons with the Redskins and was voted to the Pro Bowl six times.

The horrible start by the expansion Browns caused turmoil and turnover to be the theme at team headquarters in Berea for more than 20 years. At long last, there seems to be stability with general manager Andrew Berry and coach Kevin Stefanski in charge.

I didn't know that

... until I read my Snapple bottle cap.

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