Sipe gets Kardiac Kids back together

How Brian Sipe continues to lead the Kardiac Kids toward signature weekend 35 years later

By TOM REED

Northeast Ohio Media Group

BEREA

Old enough to draw Social Security, Brian Sipe forever remains a Kardiac Kid.

At age 65, the former Browns quarterback and NFL Most Valuable Player is again rallying his offense in Cleveland, getting everyone involved for a memorable weekend on the lakefront.

Sipe headlines a Kardiac Kids reunion event at the Great Northern Mall in North Olmsted today starting at 1 p.m. The quarterback and many members of the prolific 1980 offense, including Hall-of-Fame tight end Ozzie Newsome, will sign memorabilia for fees.

Organizers of the event, Ohio Sports Marketing and 4th & Goal, were thrilled to land Sipe and could have built an entire show around just him. But one of the franchise’s most popular players wanted to involve as many teammates as possible and expand the weekend beyond just a few hours of signing autographs for a pay day. Sipe and former Browns offensive lineman Robert E. Jackson have arranged for teammates to attend a dinner, golf outing and barbeque, spanning Saturday and Sunday.

“It’s nice coming to do these events, but it usually means there is no social time for us,” said Sipe, who rarely does autograph shows. “This is a chance for us to spend the afternoon meeting fans and the rest of the weekend we can let our hair down and be a team again. That’s important because that hasn’t happened since I can remember.”

Sipe not only encouraged event organizers to include other starters, but paid travel expenses for a handful of other teammates, according to several players.

Thirty-five years later, Sipe remains the leader of the Kardiac Kids.

“That says a lot about the kind of guy Brian is,” Browns radio analyst and former left tackle Doug Dieken said. “He saw this as an opportunity to get the band back together.”

Sipe has spent the past 15 years coaching at San Diego State and in the high school ranks in Southern California. For the former quarterback and Newsome, the Ravens general manager, it was often difficult to commit to an entire weekend. Sipe cannot recall the last time he spent time with Newsome.

“Ozzie won’t be coming back as the Ravens GM, but as old No. 82,” Dieken said. “It’s going to be great sitting around and chewing the fat with these guys. A lot has happened in our lives over the last 35 years and it will give us a chance to catch up on how everyone is doing.

“[Running back] Calvin Hill is coming in for the weekend. His wife said she can’t recall the last time she saw him so excited.”

There will be plenty of stories from their days on and off the field. Dieken remembers Jackson breaking his ankle in the final game of the 1983 regular season against the Steelers and making an unscheduled stop on the way to the hospital.

“Robert talked the ambulance driver into dropping by Pat Joyce’s (Tavern) to pick up a six pack,” Dieken said.

The Kardic Kids represent one of the Browns most beloved teams of the Super Bowl era in part because of their string of thrilling finishes and the organization’s lack of success since their 1999 return.The club is warmly remembered despite a devastating 14-12 playoff loss to the Raiders in which Sipe’s interception in the closing minute became known by the play’s condensed name, Red Right 88.

Although many fans associate the team with the 1980 season, Sipe contends the Kardiac Kids had their genesis the year prior.

The Browns went 9-7 in 1979 and followed it with an 11-5 campaign. It marked the best two-stretch since the 1971-72 seasons when there was still a whisper of empire surrounding the organization.

They played 25 games decided by a touchdown or less in 1979-80 – the most ever by the franchise in a two-year span. They are antithesis of the post-1999 Browns, who too often find ways to lose close games.

“We were just confident that someone would make a big play,” Sipe said. “It was just that way. It really started in 1979, that’s why we had so much focus and media attention on us in 1980. It was for two years. That’s why I think we operated better than anybody else has in that situation.

“We were front and center at a time when the city was in rough shape and people needed something to have hope in. We were the underdogs, picked to finish last and we beat the odds and did the unexpected. The fans’ hearts were aching for something like that at that time.”

Sipe was the darling of Browns’ fans, an undersized 13th round draft pick in 1972 who waited four years to become the starting quarterback. He often absorbed a beating, but stood in the pocket spraying the ball around the field, involving everyone in the offense.

“What people forget about Brian is how tough he was and what a great leader he became,” Dieken said.

Sipe said he hasn’t followed the team close enough to make judgments on why the organization has failed to develop a franchise quarterback. He offered no comments on Johnny Manziel other than to say, “it doesn’t make sense” to write off the troubled 2014 first-round pick after just two starts.

Sipe plans to return to coaching prep football in the next few years. His immediate focus is reuniting with Browns fans on Saturday and spending the rest of the weekend with old teammates.

“It’s going to be great to see Brian,” Dieken said. “Nowadays, we’re more like the Geriatric Gentlemen instead of the Kardiac Kids, but we’re going to have a great time regardless.”