HE'S HISTORY

REMEMBERING BILL BELICHICK'S DAWG POUND DEMISE

LESS THAN a month after he won his sixth Super Bowl title, Bill Belichick arrived at another milestone: the 23rd anniversary of his firing as the Browns' head coach. Belichick's rocky five-year tenure, which included his cutting beloved QB Bernie Kosar, ended on Feb. 15, 1996. Of course, now Belichick has become, with little room for debate, the greatest football coach in NFL history. A look back at the hot takes from Belichick's time in Cleveland show that Browns fans didn't exactly see that coming.

AKRON BEACON JOURNAL (NOV. 11, 1993)

BROWNS PUT KOSAR BEHIND THEM

"The fans outside the practice facility, waving their anti-Belichick placards feverishly, wondered why Kosar fits in with Dallas but isn't good enough for the Browns. Belichick offered no answer. Instead, he wondered if the fans 'spelled my name right.'"

HOUSTON CHRONICLE (NOV. 19, 1993)

BROWNS' BELICHICK UNPOPULAR WITH EVERYONE

"In 14 years of covering the Oilers, I never have seen a coach work harder at being a cold fish than the Browns' Bill Belichick. He possesses the worst communicative skills of any coach I have interviewed.... Browns fans are finding out what most of the players and reporters who cover the team knew—that Belichick is an insecure control freak with a little man's mentality."

USA TODAY (NOV. 22, 1993)

BELICHICK PELTED BY BERNIE BOO-BIRDS

"During his postgame news conference, the embattled coach barely could be heard over all the booing outside. Extra police were called in, and there was some pushing and shoving to keep fans behind crowd barriers.

"There were no conciliatory remarks from Belichick. And at a time when he needed a public-relations miracle, he made the peculiar move of dipping into Buddy Ryan's playbook. Said Belichick: 'To quote Buddy Ryan, 'If you listen to the fans, you'll be sitting up there with them.' I've got to do what I think is right, and I've been doing that. I know this team is headed in the right direction.'"

PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER (JAN. 5, 1995)

LOOK WHERE MR. BILL HAS HIS BROWNIES NOW

"About two minutes before the Browns' Friday practice, he strolled into the locker room and counted down the seconds until the practice began. After Sunday's game, he stood on a podium, waved a football at reporters, and told them the game ball would be given to the fans who had hated him so much a year ago for dumping Kosar."

SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE

THE FRANCE FENCING FEDERATION OFFICIALLY ACKNOWLEDGED LIGHTSABER DUELING AS A COMPETITIVE SPORT.

THEY SAID IT

"SOMETIMES IT FEELS LIKE I HAVE REMOTE CONTROL THAT WILLS THE BALL TO GO IN THE HOLE, SO I'M GOING TO KEEP DOING THAT, BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE IT HELPS."

GOLFER HO-SUNG CHOI, whose swing has been likened to Happy Gilmore for its unusual one-legged follow-through.