cleveland browns
John Zorich went to his first Cleveland Browns game as a 2-year-old in 1959 and was there for the team's last title in 1964. In 1985, he bought season tickets in the Dawg Pound, where he and his wife, Monica — who is from Southern California — watched the Drive. John Elway's 98-yard, game-tying touchdown in the 1987 AFC Championship Game on Jan. 11 left the couple devastated.
We took the lead 20-13 with five minutes to go. Then the kickoff — Denver fumbles and recovers it, and it ends up at the 2-yard line. At that point in time, everybody in the Dawg Pound was talking like we're going to the Super Bowl. It was in Pasadena, California, and Monica's parents still lived there. We said, 'If [the Browns] go to the Super Bowl, we were going to go.' The Drive came right toward the Dawg Pound, unfortunately. It's like falling off a cliff in slow motion. I don't know how else to explain it. You knew it was happening, but you didn't want it to. There was still hope in overtime. We exchanged the ball a few times. Even when they did kick that field goal, it did not look good. It was more than just a game. The life was taken out of us. But we did go to California a few years later. — as told to Jason Brill
