As someone who has rooted for Cleveland teams since the early '80s, as someone who was born here and will die here, I loved this doc. It evoked a lot of memories and emotions, and by no means were all them bad. I remembered how excited we were in the days before the '86 title game, when everyone thought the Browns were going to the Super Bowl, when there were hokey Browns songs on the radio, paper-mache Browns helmets on the statues downtown... stuff like that. And a lot of pride in who we are and what we're all about. I thought it did a great job capturing the love we have for our teams, our city and our area.
Of course they talked about the Drive, the Fumble, the Shot, the Mesa, the Decision, and they had to... but it's funny. Whenever I talk to people who aren't Cleveland fans those are the things they bring up. I like to point out that those were the good times- memorable teams that won a lot of games and played in great games and big games. No, the real "curse" lies in those years when all three teams suck ass, and we all know they suck ass, and we also know right from the jump there isn't a snowball's chance in hell any of them are going to do shit. That's when it really blows.
Obviously the filmmakers had an interest in Earnest Byner as a tragic hero, and he really was. He was a terrific player and clutch performer- 161 yards and two TDs in the '85 playoffs against the Dolphins, 122 yards and two TDs in the '87 playoffs against the Colts, and 187 combined yards and two TDs against Denver. He is a stand-up guy and has a huge heart. I feel badly that he felt the need to apologize. Earnest Byner doesn't have a damned thing to apologize for.
