Finishing off last year's business:

The Johann Award goes to Samuel "Sammie" McKnight.

My first keeper will be A.J. Germaine; I'll choose the second at the end of this season.

Herb's Score is 100/100/100/73/97 - the exact score we've registered for the past four years.

We've won four consecutive Bowls, a franchise record, with a composite record of 55-3 over the last three years.

* * * * * * * *

2034

We still have the most valuable property in the league, at $2.7 billion, with a roster rated 100.
I raise tickets slightly for luxury boxes, as we are running at 100% attendance. Last year our profit was $943MM, up from $587MM the previous year.

Scout and Coach certainly remain (are you nuts, Web ?).

HOF additions are

Anthony Battle (82%) played 18 years at QB for Detroit and San Diego. He was incredibly resilient, at one point starting every game for 12 years in a row, a record that may never be broken at any level. He passed for over 50,000 yards, fifth all time, but sported only an 81.3 rating and two first-team awards.

Ronnie Gitlin (82%) worked eighteen years at G for San Diego and Pittsburgh. He garnered one second-team award, and failed to start only 16 games in his entire career.

Bennie Misner (81%) served 15 years at DE for Chicago and Cincy, with one second-team award, and a total of 137 sacks and 557 tackles.

Greg Wilson (86%) played 15 years for three teams at DT, registering 127 sacks and 715 tackles. He earned one first and three second-team awards.

Adam Fortmann (80%) played 13 years at TE for four teams, going 565/7098/52. If you thought Battle and Gitlin were injury-proof, The Fort played in every single game of his career and failed to start only one.

All in all, a very mediocre crop, basically a bunch of lifetime achievers with limited peak value.

Back in Cleveland, Kurt Wiese retired. This Keeper played key roles on many Bowl squads and seemed to get his sacks in bunches.

Our only FA is a S unworthy of the franchise tag, especially as we're 50M over cap. Trade offers are refused.

Dumping CB Hoskens, RB Maurer and QB Kramer clears some space. Hoskens brings the #7 overall, and Maurer the #31 overall and another first, after we throw in a 2, two 3s, and a 4.
Kramer is good for the #19 this year and a 1 and a 2 two years down the line. This gives us four first rounders this year, but we'll be making more moves soon.

Now only $7.8MM over cap, we don't get involved in 20-step. Six of the top ten FAs are Tes, and QB Hogendoorn is very skilled and very very expensive. He would look great in brown in orange.

We dump KR Hampton and WR Becker (for 2s more or less), and renegotiate until we're $32MM under cap, with about $25 needed for rookie signings. Then we dump DE Givens for two 1s and a 2, throwing in a 1 and a 6, and the two stop-gap DTs we picked up last year: also for 2s more or less. Now we are 40MM under.

We have the 7, 10, 19, and 27 overall picks, planning to trade up. We need a DT, a C, and some young DBs and DL depth.

As it comes out, there is neither a C or DT worthy of the Browns available. So...

We trade 13-year C Sheldon, hurt last year, and our #19 overall for Burt Carlson, arguably the best C in the league, and a 4-year vet.

We trade the #7 overall and a host of the 2s we accumulated to Buffalo for DT Keith Bennick, another 4 year guy with a lot of upside.

Whoa Nellie. The top-rated DE slips to #10 and we grab him...

1 (10) Kelvin Ward DE, 6-2, 288, Illinois
1 (27) Brent Nelson LB, 6-1, 257, UCLA

After signing them, we have $25MM in space, and 48 players signed.

We sign Larry Hardeman, a hot FA KR, as well.

After camp, we sign everyone in their walk year that we think deserves it, except LB Still, a franchise possibility next year. At $8.9 under cap, we could use some depth, but can't afford it.

We go 1-3 in the exhibitions. E Welch is out 2-3 months, CB Robbins and WR Armour 3-5 weeks.

WEEK 1
Cleveland 0-0 @ Green Bay 0-0 FAV 2
Ainsworth 16-27-0
McKnight 15-37-248-2-2
Lewinsky 5-109-1
Vance 3-48-1 his first pro TD
Still, Briggs 11 stops each
MVP Still
L Cleveland 14 Green Bay 24

WEEK 2
Cleveland 0-1 @ Tampa Bay 1-0 EVEN
Ainsworth 21-82
McKnight 12-21-152-3-1
Henderson 5-75-2
Freitag 1.5 sacks
MVP The Greek
Briggs out 3-5 weeks
W Cleveland 26 Tampa Bay 0

WEEK 3
Jax 1-1 @ Cleveland 1-1 FAV 6
Ainsworth 27-187-3 welcome back Derek
McKnight 17-33-196-1-1
Greek 7 tackles
MVP Ainsworth
W Cleveland 37 Jax 6

WEEK 4
Cleveland 2-1 @ Pitt 2-1 FAV 2
Ainsworth 23-144-1
McKnight 16-24-185-2-1
Parrish 7-10-2-0
Greek 9 tackles
Woodson 3 sacks, Riley 2, Ward 1.5
S. McKnight BROKEN FOOT OUT 3-5 WEEKS
MVP Ainsworth
W Cleveland 41 Pitt 24

WEEK 5
Baltimore 3-1 @ Cleveland 3-1 FAV 5
Ainsworth 24-118-1
Parrish 11-18-103-1-0
Sapp 9 tackles, The Greek 7 and a pick
MVP The Greek
W Cleveland 17 Baltimore 10

WEEK 6
Cinn 1-4 @ Cleveland 4-1 FAV 12
the scout want to start McKnight but I play it safe
Ainsworth 23-81
Parrish 18-28-288-0-3 paying his dues - this kid could start for most teams right now, though
Leweinsky 8-127
Henry out 3-5 weeks
Lies, The Greek 7 tackles each
MVP The Greek
L Cinn 27 Cleveland 12

WEEK 7
The Bye

WEEK 8
Pitt 4-2 @ Cleveland 4-2 FAV3
Sievers 21-68-1
Sammie 9-22-187-1-0
Lies 10 tackles
Banks 2 INTs
Riley, Woodson 1.5 sacks each
don't know if Derek misssed the plane or what ?!? not hurt, evidently...
MVP Banks
W Cleveland 25 Pitt 3

WEEK 9
Cleveland 5-2 @ Baltimore 4-3 DOG 5 (what do they know in Vegas ?)
Ainsworth 23-88
Sam 9-24-118-0-0
Sapp, Banks 8 tackles
Riley 2.5 sacks (55.5 sacks in 58 career games - signed off the scrap heap last year)
MVP Reedy
W Cleveland 9 Baltimore 6

Midway

Cleveland 6-2
Jax 5-4
Pitt 4-4
Balt 4-4
Tenn 4-4
Cinn 3-5

PF/PA 181-100

Sammie 9TD 5 INT 76.2 rating

Derek 727 yards 5 TD

WEEK 10
KC 4-4 @ Cleveland 6-2 FAV 5
Derek 34-158-3
Sammie 15-22-206-1-0
Sapp, Banks 6 tackles
MVP Carlson
W Cleveland 31 KC 13

WEEK 11
Cleveland 7-2 @ Cinn 3-6 FAV4
Ainsworth19-121-1 plus 7-58-1 in the air
Sammie 18-22-269-2-0 ! plus 14-78-1 on the ground
Hendu 3-114-1
Lies 8 tackles
MVP McKnight
W Cleveland 45 Cinn 17

WEEK 12
Cleveland 8-2 @ Jax 6-4 FAV3
Ainsworth 21-147-0
McKnight 23-37-275-5-1
Henderson 6-82-2
Switft, The Greek 8 tackles
Swift, Grembo 2 sacks apiece
MVP McKnight
W Cleveland 36 Jax 26

WEEK 13
Minn 7-4 @ Cleveland 9-2 FAV4
Ainsworth 24-153-1
Sammie 3-6-50-1-0
Parrish 9-21-92-1-1
Lies 12 tackles
MVP Ainsworth
MCKNIGHT OUT 3-5 WEEKS WITH BROKEN FOOT (HIS 2nd THIS YEAR)
W Cleveland 27 Minn 17

WEEK 14
Cleveland 10-2 @ Tenn 5-7 FAV4
Ainsworth 23-110-1 and 4-77-1 in the air
Antoine 18-24-243-3-0 oh my goodness
The Greek 7 tackles
Swift 2 sacks
MVP Ainsworth
Griffey, Ward out 3-5 weeks
W Cleveland 38 Tenn 28

WEEK 15
Cleveland 11-2 @ Oakland 9-4 EVEN
A playoff preview ?
Derek 19-35
Antoine 16-30-171-0-3 back to earth
Sapp 5 stops
L Oakland 17 Cleveland 6

WEEK 16
Buffalo 5-9 @ Cleveland 11-3 FAV8
Sam probable but we play it conservative
Ainsworth 17-20 two stinkers in a row
Parrish 18-32-262-3-3
Swift 8 stops
Riley 2 sacks
W Cleveland 34 Buffalo 27

WEEK 17
Tenn 7-8 @ Cleveland 12-3 FAV7
A rout - my favorite storyline...
Ainsworth 27-195-1 welcome back to the land of the superstars
Sammie 13-18-183-2-0
Freitag 2.5 sacks
MVP A.J. "Apple Juice" Germaine
W Cleveland 39 Tenn 7

FINAL DIVISION STANDINGS

Cleveland 13-3
Balt 10-6
Cinn 8-8
Jax 7-9
Tenn 7-9
Pitt 5-11

* * * * * * * * * * *

Playoffs

Wild Card Round

Baltimore 24
Denver 27

Oakland 14
Indy 28

St Louis 14
Minnesota 23

Philadelphia 16
Greensboro 25

Quarterfinal Round

Indy 20
Miami 27

Minnesota 21
NY Giants 14

Greensboro 3
Houston 41

Denver 11-6 @ Cleveland 13-3 FAV 4

It was 38 degrees and raining steadily, but every single seat at Kosar Coliseum was filled with a screaming fan. They got their money's worth, with a tight game, knotted at 17-17 after three quarters, but weren't able to watch their hometown heroes advance. Sadly, it was the three drive-killing interceptions which spelled d-e-f-e-a-t, but the crowd ended the game acknowledging that they wouldn't have even been here without McKnight, who broke bones in both his feet this season, by chanting "SAMMIE we love yuh" for 45 minutes straight. The tall Texan, usually so stoic and laconic, stood at the 50-yard line, with blood, swaet, tears and raindrops pouring off his head, until he asked for a microphone, and said, "Next year, baby", before trotting slowly off the field.

Ainsworth 19-133-1
Sammie 16-28-219-1-3
Henderson 7-101-1
Briggs 8 stops
L Denver 27 Cleveland 17

League Finals

Denver 28
Miami 20

Minn 17
Houston 27

The FOF Bowl

Denver 10
Houston 35

PF 437 (2)
PA 236 (4)
Power Rating 77 (4)

Offense
Ground 148.9/game (1)
Air 211.8 (16)

Defense
Ground 99.1 (5)
Air 202.5 (15)

Turnovers +10 (tied for 7th)

TE Billy McWilliams, in his first year starting, had a BPct of 42.8, while Germaine led the interior linemen at 37.3. Finch allowed only 2 sacks in 16 games.

Tackles
Lies 88
The Greek 81
Banks 70
Swift 60

Sacks
Frietag 13.5
Riley 11.5
Swift 11
Woodson 9.5

Picks
Greek 7
Hutchins 5
Banks 4

Chandler was 32/40 FG and 43/44 PAT.
Reese averaged only 40.2, but place 25 inside the 20.

No kicks were run back for scores, but Hardeman put up a decent 25.1 average for Kos.

Receiving
Lewinsky 68-911-7
Henderson 57-809-11 (3rd in scoring)
McWilliams 36-508-1
Lyon 25-354-2
Ainsworth 22-237-3

Running
Ainsworth 341-1666(1)-4.8-12(tied for 3rd)
Sievers 53-193-3.6-6
McKnight 55-337-6.1-1

Passing
McKnight 150-266-56.3-2069-20 TD-6 INT-97.0(3)
Parrish 98-171-57.3-1321-10 TD-10 INT-77.1

Ainsworth won the OPOY and 1st team RB
Chandler won 2nd team K
Vanderclute, Scarlett, Etaton and D.J.Givens (19 sacks) won awards among our alumni

The Johann trophy has to go to Derek Ainsworth for his consistency this year.
He had 13 good games out of 16 appearances (one no-show).
In four seasons he has racked up 6451 yards and 59 TDs on the ground - totals better than any of the last four RB HOF inductees achieved in their four maiden voyages.