August 6, 1999
The return to an old city…a debut in a new one…and a salute to the past.
That's what's on the schedule this weekend as the NFL kicks off its preseason - in preparation for its 80th regular season - with two nationally televised games in cities separated by 14 times zones.
In Canton, Ohio -- the birthplace of pro football -- and Sydney, Australia - the capital of New South Wales - NFL football will be played. In each city, for different reasons, interest will be high.
In Canton, it's the debut -- call it re-debut -- of the Cleveland Browns, the first expansion team with a history. The Browns, who produced so many memorable NFL moments from 1950-95, will play their first game as the new Browns in the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Game on Monday night, August 9 against the Dallas Cowboys (ABC-TV, 8:00 PM ET).
It will be the first time the Hall of Fame Game - normally played on Saturday afternoon - will be on a Monday in prime time. And the game will include the NFL's new instant replay system.
It is appropriate that the new Browns return on Monday night. In 1970, the "old" Browns took part in the first NFL Monday-night game ever (a 31-21 victory over the New York Jets on September 21 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium). This is Monday Night Football's 30th season.
The weekend - Canton will celebrate with an 11-day festival that brings an estimated $12 million local economic impact - is highlighted with the induction of the Hall of Fame class of '99.
Televised live by ESPN2 beginning at 1:00 PM ET (with highlights on the Monday-night telecast), the induction ceremonies will be packed with nostalgia and symbolism. Enshrined will be Eric Dickerson, Tom Mack, Ozzie Newsome, Billy Shaw and Lawrence Taylor.
Newsome spent his entire 13-year career with the Browns. The former tight end, who is the NFL career leader at the position with 662 catches (for 7,980 yards), thinks it is the perfect year to be entering the Hall.
"Getting the opportunity to go in when the Browns are going back on the field makes it that much better," he says.
Shaw's induction comes at a perfect time too. This is the 40th season of the former American Football League teams. And Shaw, named to the AFL's all-time team, will be the first Hall member to spend his entire career with an AFL club (Buffalo Bills from 1961-69).
There will be so much history recalled in Canton during the weekend that the coach of the team that will face the Browns - and when was the last time the Dallas Cowboys were considered the other team? - will take his players on a tour of the Hall of Fame the day of the game.
"I want them to see what has been done and what's possible," says Cowboys head coach Chan Gailey.
As one more added touch to the weekend, the Cowboys and Browns will hold open-to-the-fans practice sessions at Fawcett Stadium, site of the game, on Sunday. Fans will receive specially-created commemorative cards auto-graphed by a Browns or Cowboys player.
On the other side of the globe…there is no pro football history, so the Denver Broncos and San Diego Chargers are ready to create it.
On Saturday (actually Sunday in Australia, which is 14 hours ahead of the U.S. east coast), American football will be introduced to the land of Australian Rules Football, or "footy," as the Aussies call it.
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