Cleveland Browns

After the New England Patriots victory over the Philadelphia Eagles at the Super Bowl, Patriots' defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel signed on as the 11th head coach for the Browns and first African American coach in the team's history. The telecast was the first ever to receive a TV-M (now TV-MA) rating under the TV Parental Guidelines that had been established at the beginning of that year, and many fundamentalist and evangelical Christian groups stridently objected to the film's being shown on network television at all, due to scenes of nudity and the use of vulgar language which were not edited out of the TV production. Savage was previously an administrative member for the Baltimore Ravens and the Browns before 1995. In February of 1997, the film was shown on television in the United States, being carried by NBC in two parts, on consecutive Sunday and Wednesday evenings (February 23 and 26). On January 6, 2005, it was announced that Phil Savage signed on as general manager. From the total of nine lists, four were drawn up primarily by Marcel Goldberg, a corrupt Jewish assistant to the SS officer in charge of transporting Jews, Crowe wrote. As Super Bowl XXXIX approached, there was much speculation over who would become the new head coach. Oskar Schindler was in jail for bribing the Secret Service commander Amon Goeth when the famous list was being drawn up and had little involvement in it, according to a New York Times report.

Offensive Coordinator Terry Robiskie was named interim head coach for the remainder of the season. "Schindler had nothing to do with the list," the author writes in the new biography of the German businessman. Despite a 2002 AFC Wild Card qualification, the team saw a dismal record during the next two seasons leading to Butch Davis' resignation in December 2004. Crowe has questioned in a new book the authenticity of the facts portrayed in the movie. Palmer was suceeded by former University of Miami coach Butch Davis. However, the Holocaust historian David M. To date though, the franchise has not lived up to its lofty early expectations, with Palmer being dismissed after the 2000 season and Policy leaving the team in 2003. Following the critical and box office success of Schindler's List, Spielberg founded and continues to finance the Shoah Project, a non-profit organization with the goal of providing an archive for the filmed testimony of as many survivors of the Holocaust as possible, so that their stories will not be lost in the future.

The team returned with high hopes and expectations, featuring solid ownership, solid general management in the form of former San Francisco 49ers president Carmen Policy, and head coach Chris Palmer. It is also considered to be Steven Spielberg's greatest directorial accomplishment by many viewers and critics; the former vote it consistently among the top ten (#6) movies on the Internet Movie Database Top 250, while the latter voted it #9 in the American Film Institute's 100 Greatest Movies series. In death he would turn over the team to his son, Randy. In the years since its release, Schindler's List has risen in status to be considered one of the greatest movies of the 1990s, if not of all time. Lerner would usher in the team's rebirth in 1999, but would die in October 2002 - four years to the day he was awarded the new Browns franchise. Thalberg Memorial Award. In early 1998 the National Football League began its search for an owner for the reborn Browns, finding one later in the year in Al Lerner, a former limited partner of the original Browns and a friend of Art Modell. Nominated for twelve Academy Awards, this movie won seven, including the coveted Best Picture and Best Director awards for Spielberg, which many of his supporters felt he had been unfairly denied for prior productions, although he had previously received the Irving G.

Modell would in turn be granted a new franchise for Baltimore, the Baltimore Ravens, and the Browns' history, records, awards and archives would remain in Cleveland, to be given to the new franchise when awarded. Critically acclaimed, the film won praise for depicting—often in exceptional, graphic detail—the horrible brutality of the Holocaust. In early 1996, the National Football League announced that the team would be 'deactivated' for three years, and that a new stadium would be built for a new Cleveland Browns team that would begin play in 1999. Its tagline was simply, "Whoever saves one life saves the world entire" a quote from the Talmud. Virtually all of the team's sponsors immediately pulled their support, leaving Cleveland Stadium devoid of advertising during the team's final weeks. Modell was forced to resign from the membership (and in many cases, leadership positions) of local civic and charitable organizations, and would literally be forced to leave the city - never to return. It starred Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler, Ben Kingsley as Itzhak Stern, and Ralph Fiennes as Amon Goeth. The announcement was met with unprecedented resistance from Browns fans, with over 100 lawsuits filed by fans, the city of Cleveland, and a host of others. It was produced almost entirely in black and white (with a color prologue and epilogue, a red coat in two scenes, and color candle flames in another).

After seeing new stadiums built for other major teams, after years of complaining that a new stadium would be necessary to sustain the viability of the franchise, and despite years of sellouts and profitability, in November 1995, Modell announced he would relocate the Browns to Baltimore, Maryland for 1996. The movie was directed by famed director Steven Spielberg, who later spoke of the making of the movie as affecting him deeply. Cleveland City Council offered Modell an indoor stadium that would seat 68,000. Modell was upset that the new stadium would be too small, so he decided to put his own money into renovation of the old Cleveland Stadium. Tagline: Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire. Team owner Art Modell complained that he wanted a new stadium in the late 1980s. (www.imdb.com). The AFC Championship games against the Broncos produced some famous moments, including The Drive(1987) and The Fumble(1988). Though many believe it to be Director Steven Spielberg, it is actually the shadow of Liam Neeson who portrayed Oskar Schindler in the film.

In 1986, 1987 and 1989 the Browns would come one step short of a Super Bowl appearance, in each case falling to the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game. In a final shot, a man places a flower on the grave, and stands contemplatively over it. The 1980 team, known affectionately as the Kardiac Kids lost a heartbreaking AFC Semifinal to the Oakland Raiders. The camera pans, revealing a long line of people. Though the team won division championships in 1971, 1980, 1985, 1986, 1987 and 1989, the team would fail to maintain their past success in winning league championships. The actors portraying the major characters in the film pass by the grave, and place stones on it, while the actual persons they portrayed walk beside them doing the same. While the realignment would greatly benefit the Steelers, the placement of the Browns into the AFC's Central Division would not be as good. The film ends in Israel, at the grave of Oskar Schindler, in the present day.

The 1970 AFL-NFL merger would see the Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Colts (the original, AAFC Colts were disbanded in 1950, with a new franchise being awarded for 1953) in the new American Football Conference aligned with the 10 teams of the American Football League. The next morning, a Russian dragoon arrives, and announces to the Jews, "You have been liberated by the Soviet Army!". Despite the change in leagues and what many football fans saw as a graduation to "the big league," the Browns simply resumed their dominant position among pro football teams, appearing in the next six NFL championship games, and capturing three championships during the 1950s. One more person." He then leaves. After the 1949 season the AAFC merged with the rival National Football League, with the Browns joining the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Colts as members of the older circuit. He would have given me one.. In either event, the Browns were extremely successful in the early part of their existence, dominating the new All-America Football Conference, winning all four of its championships including with a landmark 1948 season in which they went unbeaten and untied - 24 years before the 'first' perfect team, the 1972 Miami Dolphins. I could have gotten one more person for this.

Brown was uncomfortable with the idea of having the team named after him, stating publicly that the team was named after boxing champion Joe Louis who was known as the "Brown Bomber ". He pulls the Nazi Party pin from his lapel, and cries, "This is gold. The team was to be named the Cleveland Panthers, but a semi-pro team was using that name and threatened to sue if the AAFC club used it as well. McBride then named the team after its first head coach, Paul Brown. They give him a letter, explaining to others that he is not a criminal, and they also give him a ring, engraved with the Talmudic quotation, "Whoever saves one life saves the world entire." Schindler is wracked with guilt, seeing his car, and realizing he could have bribed ten more people from Goeth for it. The Cleveland Browns were founded in 1946 under owner Arthur McBride. He packs a car in the night, and bids farewell to his workers. See the Franchise History entry below for full details of the move. As a German, a Nazi, and a "profiteer of slave labor" (his words), Schindler must flee the oncoming Soviet Army.

Some, however, consider the 1996 Baltimore Ravens and the relocated 1995 Browns as one continuous entity, often using the term The Modell Franchise to denote it (after its long-time owner, Art Modell). He runs out of money just as the war in Europe comes to an end. For that reason, official records and Pro Football Hall of Fame players are attributed to the Browns and not to the Ravens. Once the workers arrive in Czechoslovakia, Schindler institutes firm controls on the Nazi guards assigned to the factory, permits the Jews to observe the sabbath, and spends the rest of his fortune bribing Nazi officials. In an agreement between the city of Cleveland and the National Football League, the name, colors and history of the Browns were to remain in Cleveland, while the relocated club would technically be a new league franchise, the Baltimore Ravens. Those who went to Auschwitz were soon returned by a train which was sent to Schindler's camp, after Schindler bribes another Nazi official. In some accounts there may be confusion regarding the team's history due to unusual and unprecedented actions taken following the relocation of the original team to Baltimore, Maryland following the 1995 season. Except for a railway mishap, in which one of the trains carrying women was accidentally redirected to Auschwitz, all the people on Schindler's list arrive safely at the new site.

The Cleveland Browns are a National Football League team based in Cleveland, Ohio. This list of "skilled" inmates was Schindler's List, and for many of the inmates of Plaszow camp, being on the list meant the difference between life and death. Eric Turner. So that his workers can be kept off the trains to the killing centers, Schindler, with Stern, assembles a list of his workers. Vinny Testaverde. Goeth acquiesces, for a payoff in the order of millions of Reichsmarks. Webster Slaughter. Goeth remarks sarcastically, "It will take about four weeks for me to do the paperwork -- that ought to be fun." Schindler prevails upon Goeth to let him keep his workers, so that he can move them to a factory in his old home of Zwittau-Brunnlitz, Czechoslovakia, away from the Holocaust - now fully underway in Poland.

Brian Sipe. To Amon Goeth's considerable consternation, and to Schindler's horror, an order arrives from Berlin commanding Goeth to exhume and destroy all bodies of those killed in the ghetto razing, to dismantle the Plaszow, and to ship the whole population to Auschwitz. Andre Rison. With the second appearance of the girl in red, Schindler makes a further transformation into an altruistic angel whose primary motive is not profit, but rather to save the lives of his workers. Michael Dean Perry. The first time she appears, Schindler changes from a cold-hearted businessman interested only in profit into a person struggling to do the right thing; he makes his first attempts to covertly assist his workers and save them from persecution and death afterwards. Frank Minnifield. Film critics and scholars have suggested the appearance of the girl in the red coat is a "marker" used by Spielberg to denote the transformation of Schindler's personality.

Eric Metcalf. The color of the coat stands out, because it is the only object that appears in color throughout the entire film (except for two instances of a candle flame); the rest of the movie is filmed in black-and-white, except for the final present-day coda. Clay Matthews. It is during the clearing out of the ghetto that Spielberg introduces a character known as "the girl in red": a young girl wearing a red coat. Kevin Mack. Schindler is now, though reluctantly, sheltering people who have very few skills in his factory. Bernie Kosar. He meets Goeth, befriends him, and convinces him to let him keep his workers for considerable bribes and payoffs.

Kelly Holcomb. But, he now faces the more immediate problem of how to run his factory without his workers. Leroy Hoard. Schindler watches the massacre from the hills overlooking the ghetto, and is profoundly affected. Robert Griffith. In due course, Goeth razes the Krakow ghetto, sending in hundreds of troops to clear the cramped rooms and shooting anyone who refuses or cannot leave. Bob Golic. In one scene, he decides not to shoot a young boy for not properly cleaning his bathtub, but then, after reflecting, decides that he must be firm, and shoots him in the back as he walks away.

Hanford Dixon. Goeth is the focus of the film's depiction of Nazi sadism and inhumanity, not only taking pleasure in murder and torture, but considering it an integral part of his job, a matter of duty. Tim Couch. He then, in the next breath, orders that everything she requested be done. Ernest Byner. In one of the most sickening scenes in the film, a Jewish engineer explains that a foundation has been improperly laid, and for this he has her shot in the head. 76 Lou Groza. At this point, an SS officer named Amon Goeth arrives in Krakow to initiate construction of a labor camp, Plaszow, and to take over control of the Ghetto.

46 Don Fleming. One old woman exclaims, "We are their work force! Why would they want to kill their own work force?". 45 Ernie Davis. Where exactly the "unessential" people are sent is a matter of rumor among the Jews; a few suggest that they are taken off to concentration camps, but people hearing this reject the idea as ridiculous. 32 Jim Brown. Schindler becomes aware of what is going on, and seems embarrassed by the whole arrangement, but takes no action to stop it. 14 Otto Graham. This last point is key, and Stern uses his considerable skills to make sure as many people as possible are deemed "essential" by the Nazi bureacracy, even children, the elderly, and the infirm - people who would otherwise be rounded up and sent away.

Gary Baxter. Workers in Schindler's factory are allowed outside the ghetto, and are certified as "essential workers," guaranteeing that they will not be rounded up at night by the Gestapo. Kellen Winslow Jr. Schindler gets his money and starts the factory; he keeps the Nazis happy and enjoys his new-found wealth, while Stern actually operates the factory and uses his position to help his fellow Jews, who have now been confined to a ghetto within Krakow. Lee Suggs. He takes particular pleasure in telling them that they must take him at his word, and that no court would ever uphold a contract between a German and a Jew. Dennis Northcutt. Schindler makes the Jewish businessmen a deal they cannot refuse: they will loan him the money for the factory, and he will give them a small share of the pots and pans produced.

William Green. He hasn't the money to buy it, and his administrative skills are dubious at best, but he finds through his contact Itzhak Stern, a functionary in the local judenrat (Jewish Council) who in turn has contacts with the now underground Jewish business community. Braylon Edwards. With his military sponsors in his back pocket, he sets out to acquire a factory for the production of enamelware, mainly cookery. Trent Dilfer. He becomes a friend to the SS and Police Leader of Krakow, Julian Scherner, and quickly calls in favors as Schindler begins to establish himself as a businessman in the Krakow region. André Davis. Schindler makes a very good impression with the occupation authorities early on, being a member of the Nazi Party and lavishing gifts and bribes upon the army and SS officials now running southern Poland.

Andra Davis. Schindler, a heretofore unsuccessful businessman from Germany, has come to Poland with the hope of using the now abundant slave labor force of Jews and Poles to manufacture goods for the German Army. Antonio Bryant. As this is happening, a newcomer has arrived in Krakow; his name is Oskar Schindler. Joe Andruzzi. The film's action starts with crowds of Jews from all over the country, hasidic, assimilated, rich, and poor, detraining in Krakow, and submitting their names to German officials waiting on the station platforms with typewriters and lists. Bill Willis. Jews living in occupied Poland are ordered to relocate to population centers.

Paul Warfield. The Polish Army has been defeated by the German Army in the initiating event of World War II in Europe. Ozzie Newsome. The movie begins with a depiction of a Jewish prayer. Marion Motley. The title refers to a list of the names of 1,200 Jews whom Schindler hired to work in his factory and kept from being sent to the concentration camps. Bobby Mitchell. The movie, directed by Steven Spielberg, relates the tale of Oskar Schindler, a German entrepreneur who was instrumental in saving the lives of over one thousand Polish Jews during the Holocaust.

Mike McCormack. Schindler's List is a 1993 movie based on the book Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally (the book was later renamed Schindler's List as well). Dante Lavelli. Molen, Steven Spielberg for Amblin Entertainment / Universal Pictures. Leroy Kelly. Producer: Branko Lustig, Gerald R. Lou Groza. Editor: Michael Kahn.

Otto Graham. Composer: John Williams. Frank Gatski. Writing credits: Thomas Keneally (novel), Steven Zaillian (screenplay). Len Ford. Cast: Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Caroline Goodall. Joe DeLamielleure. Director: Steven Spielberg.

Paul Brown. Jim Brown.