O’Donnell: In new stadium derby, humbled Browns have a big lead over the Bears
AT CRISPLY COLD SOLDIER FIELD, what transpired Sunday could best be described as “no contest.”
Not ready for “Prime” time, rookie QB Shedeur Sanders and the Cleveland Browns performed pitch-imperfect throughout a 31-3 loss to the Bears.
The sunny orange icicle was a grand tightener for Ben Johnson and his molten crew, who now flow toward the nightcap of their dramatic split doubleheader with the Packers Saturday (7:20 p.m., Fox; AM-1000).
On the turf the Browns were beat down in every phase of the game. Ride-share drivers outside gained ground with more organized efficiency.
BUT A FEW HOURS LATER, as their charter home glided into Hopkins Airport, Cleveland franchise masters could gaze down on a 177-acre plat that gives them a decided advantage over Chicago.
That tract of land, in the southwest suburb of Brook Park — gateway city to Middleburg Heights — will be the site of the Browns' new $2.4 billion stadium.
THE PROGRESSIVE TIMELINE to have the fresh Cleveland colossus up and kicking for the 2029 NFL season continued to move along late last week.
In an action precisely planned by owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam and associates, the Browns ceded the land to Brook Park to begin the process of establishing a tax increment financing district.
Later Friday, according the Cleveland Plain Dealer, necessary paperwork was filed to transfer the land back to the Browns.
ALL IS PART OF A RIGID GAME PLAN to keep the Browns in the Cleveland area and placate imperious ownership.
The financing of the stadium, according to the Browns, will come from three sources:
· $1.5 billion from the team;
· $600 million from the state of Ohio; and,
· $300 million generated from a new stadium authority, funded primarily by admissions taxes to come.
SHOVELS ARE EXPECTED TO BE in the ground no later than April. For decades from 1953 forward, most of the 177 acres housed two adjacent factories of the Ford Motor Company.
Brook Park is very much “an airport suburb” of Cleveland, comparable in tone and location to southern Des Plaines or Schiller Park.
(There is nothing analogous in America to the unique and lucrative fiefdom of Rosemont.)
WHILE THE BROWNS MOTOR FORWARD, the Bears continue to flourish on the field and flounder in the matter of a new stadium.
The staggering 51-month lag since the team announced the purchase agreement of the 326 acres that once housed Arlington Park from Churchill Downs Inc. continues to amaze but not necessarily confuse.
The business side of the Bears was considered underachieving in September 2021 and nothing of substance has changed.
THE STADIUM PROJECT APPEARED to have momentum into late 2022. But the change in non-McCaskey stewardship from Ted Phillips to Kevin Warren — followed by Warren's ill-advised stab at a “new” Soldier Field on the Chicago lakefront — smothered most of that.
The Bears' push for “property-tax certainty” has been met with general resentment from some of the everyday taxpayers of Arlington Heights, Palatine and Rolling Meadows.
That public displeasure only grows more entrenched as inflation and other economic uncertainties continue to pound mainstream America.
WHILE WARREN IS PERCEIVED as a stadium impediment by some, that thought isn't universal. A normally fair-minded individual within text messaging of George McCaskey asked:
“Do you think Ted Phillips could have gotten ownership to spend the kind of money it took to land Ben Johnson as head coach? Kevin Warren did. And if Johnson's first season ends with a playoff victory or two, don't you think that's going to make the Bears an even more attractive 'get' for officials out by Arlington?”
OVERSIMPLIFICATION?
Perhaps.
But a cold reality whatever the exit conditions at Soldier Field:
The Cleveland Browns looked awful between the lines. But right now, in the race for an impressive new stadium, they are leaving the McCaskey Bears in a lakefront slush.
* * *
THE PACKERS INITIALLY WERE POSTED as 3-point favorites over the Bears. But by midday Monday, as word of Micah Parson' torn ACL and other data emerged, that spot was trimmed to 1½ with the Bears commanding close to 90% of all first-wave money wagered.
Some sharp betting folks expect the game to kick off as either a pick 'em or with the Bears favored.
Fox will be dispatching its “A” team of Tom Brady, Kevin Burkhardt, Erin Andrews and Tom Rinaldi to call the marquee event.
It'll be a very different feel from last Jan. 5. That was when interim HC Thomas Brown and Chicago (4-12) upset the Packers (11-5), who were regrouping for a wild card assignment one week later. The final was 24-22.
Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears each week on Sunday and Wednesday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.