2014 Year in Review: The Cleveland Browns

A look back at the Top 50+ most memorable moments or stories during the year 2014, in relation to the Cleveland Browns.

By Chris Pokorny@DawgsByNature Dec 31, 2014, 1:06pm EST

January 2014 In a search that included Ben McAdoo, Dan Quinn, Todd Bowles, Adam Gase, James Franklin, Gus Malzahn, Ken Whisenhunt, Josh McDaniels, and others, the Browns appeared to finally "settle" on Bills defensive coordinator Mike Pettine, a guy who helped institute the "Play Like a Brown" mantra from Day 1. (Rob Foldy-USA TODAY Sports)
January 2014 Everyone thought that assistant GM Ray Farmer was going to be hired away by the Miami Dolphins, but a few days after the Browns hired Pettine, Farmer announced that he was taking his name out of Miami's GM race so he could stay with the Browns. It was a rare trail of positive news for the Browns, who had poor reputations surrounding GM Michael Lombardi and CEO Joe Banner. (Ron Schwane-USA TODAY Sports)
February 2014 The Browns hired former Bills linebackers coach Jim O'Neil to be their defensive coordinator, former Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan to be their offensive coordinator, and retained Chris Tabor as their special teams coach. (Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports)
February 2014 The highly anticipated Super Bowl game was a shocker as the Seattle Seahawks destroyed the Denver Broncos by a score of 43-8. For Seahawks fans, Broncos haters, and general fans who like seeing great defensive efforts, it was a sight to see. For others, it was a game we'd soon like to forget in terms of entertainment. (Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)
February 2014 February 11 brought us the most shocking headline of the season: out of no where, and after they had already hired a head coach, GM Michael Lombardi and CEO Joe Banner were fired by team owner Jimmy Haslam. Haslam was reportedly disgusted with the toxic reputation Lombardi and Banner had, including the embarrassment of the front office being referred to as The Three Stooges. They were replaced by Ray Farmer as GM and Alec Scheinar as team president. (David Richard-USA TODAY Sports)
February 2014 In late-February, the news broke that during their coaching search in January, the Browns tried to pull off a major trade that would have brought 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh to the Cleveland Browns. Harbaugh and the 49ers denied the rumors, but team owner Jimmy Haslam acknowledged that inquiries were made. Some believe that Banner and Lombardi's failure to bring in Harbaugh after firing Rob Chudzinski was a primary reason for their dismissal. (Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports)
February 2014 Joe Banner is still out of work, but Michael Lombardi quickly caught on with the New England Patriots as a scouting assistant to Bill Belichick. At the NFL Combine, Lombardi was in a booth for the Patriots with documents that clearly showed the Browns logo on the back of them. Cleveland said they would investigate, but no further news came from the matter.
February 2014 After 8 years with the Browns, the team released linebacker D'Qwell Jackson, who was viewed as a leader in the locker room. Upon being released, Jackson tweeted, "I'm humbled by the support I've received today from my teammates and the Cleveland community. You guys will always have a place in my heart." Jackson eventually signed with the Indianapolis Colts. (Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports)
March 2014 Despite being two years older than the departed D'Qwell Jackson, the Browns' first big signing of free agent was 11-year linebacker Karlos Dansby, who signed a four-year, $24 million deal. Dansby, who came over from the Arizona Cardinals, was coming off his best season as a pro and was brought in to be the new leader of Mike Pettine's defense. (Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports)
March 2014 Right after Dansby, the Browns' next big signing was a local one: former Glenville star Donte Whitner signed a four-year, $28 million deal. The news also meant that the Browns were opting not to re-sign former strong safety T.J. Ward, who was coming off of a Pro Bowl season. (Ron Schwane-USA TODAY Sports)
March 2014 The Browns pulled off a rare move by NFL standards these days: making a semi-lucrative offer to Bengals wide receiver Andrew Hawkins, who was a restricted free agent. The Bengals had a week to match the offer, but chose not to because it would have been too expensive for their cap. A few days later, the Browns signed running back Ben Tate to a cheap two-year contract that would make him their starter. (Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports)
April 2014 In March, the Browns made another rare move by NFL standards by placing the transition tag on center Alex Mack, who was set to become a free agent. Eventually, in April, the Jaguars bit and made a 5-year, $42 million deal to Mack, including $18 million fully guaranteed over the first two years of the deal. The big key to Mack's offer was that it included an opt-out clause after the 2015 season. The Browns quickly matched Jacksonville's offer, retaining the rights to Mack...for now. (Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports)
April 2014 The fictional movie Draft Day, which centered around the Cleveland Browns, opened at $9.75 million at the box office. It would go on to make $29.5 million at the box office, a little above its $25 million budget. It was a bit eerie how much the film's wacky draft day trades and quarterback situation paralleled what actually happened to Cleveland during the 2014 NFL Draft two months later. (Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports)
April 2014 The Browns have gotten a lot of things right in terms of public relations moves, but not this one: removing Bernie Kosar from the preseason broadcasting booth and replacing him with Solomon Wilcots. Kosar defines the spirit of a Browns fan and offers analytical commentary that you won't find anywhere else. Not having him this preseason was a detriment to the broadcasts. (Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports)
May 2014 The first round of the 2014 NFL Draft got off to a wild start for the Browns. Wide receiver Sammy Watkins was on the board at No. 4 overall, but Cleveland traded four spots back with the Buffalo Bills. The Bills then selected Watkins, but had to give up their first-round pick in 2015. At No. 8 overall, the Browns threw a major curveball at everybody by taking cornerback Justin Gilbert. (Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports)
May 2014 Love him or hate him, when the Browns passed on quarterback Johnny Manziel at No. 8 overall, it was a bit of a surprise. Then, Manziel kept falling...and falling...and falling. When Cleveland was announced as trading up to No. 22 overall and being on the clock again, the tension was built up unlike any other draft moment I've ever been a part of. When Roger Goodell announced that Manziel was the pick and then he came on stage doing the "money sign," he was ready to "wreck this league." At the time it happened, this was the most exciting moment of the year 2014 for many Browns fans. (Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports)
May 2014 If Day 1 of the draft was as high on a cloud as Browns fans could get, Day 2 saw fans absorb the biggest sucker punch in the gut that one can fathom. Just an hour before the second round was due to begin, ESPN broke the news that star wide receiver Josh Gordon was facing a one-year ban from the NFL. So many questions emerged about whether the Browns knew of the news, and if so, why they passed on Watkins (or any wide receiver) for Gilbert. (Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports)
May 2014 The rest of the Browns' draft saw them take OG Joel Bitonio, RB Terrance West, ILB Chris Kirksey, and CB Pierre Desir. Cleveland acquired more ammunition to be fully stocked of picks in the 2015 NFL Draft as well. (Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports)
May 2014 The Browns extended the contract of cornerback Joe Haden through the 2019 season, with his deal being worth a reported totalof $68 million with $45 million guaranteed. In terms of total value, it would've made him the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL. (Ron Schwane-USA TODAY Sports)
May 2014 Out with the old and in with the new: the Browns released wide receiver Greg Little and signed veteran Miles Austin. This might not have seemed like a big signing at the time, but Austin's ability to stay healthy and make clutch catches was one of the keys to the team's offensive success over the first half of the year. (Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports)
May 2014 At the end of May, more bad news broke out for Josh Gordon: he was issued a speeding ticket and one of the passengers in his vehicle was cited for having marijuana. Although Gordon was reportedly clean, it was another sign of Gordon hanging out with the wrong crowd, especially given the one-year ban he was facing. (Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports)
May 2014 The Browns announced a new online ticket registration system for training camp. With large crowds expected to see Johnny Manziel, fans also began wondering whether future training camps would still be held in Berea or not.
June 2014 If there was ever a sign that Johnny Manziel would be under a microscope for the rest of his career, this was it: the infamous inflatable swan. Is it a big deal that he's having fun in his spare time? No -- but with the image he has, you just knew this "inflatable swan" would follow him throughout the season.
July 2014 Just as it appeared the tide may have been turning for Josh Gordon and his impending appeal regarding a reported violation of the NFL's substance of abuse policy, once again another huge setback raises seemingly every red flag there is to raise. Gordon was arrested in Raleigh, NC at the beginning of July for driving while impaired. (Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports)
July 2014 LeBron James came home! Wooooooooooooooooooo!!! (David Richard-USA TODAY Sports)
July 2014 The Cleveland Browns announced that they would be featuring a live dog mascot in 2014 named "Swagger." Although the name seemed pretty awkward at first (fans suggested names like Otto or Kosar), I have to admit that it grew on me a bit as time went on. (Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports)
July 2014 It was announced that Pilot Flying J was expected to fully repay every victim of the fraud, a cost of more than $56 million, as well as a $92 million penalty to the government. Although not confirmed that Jimmy Haslam is out of danger, Pro Football Talk said, "There's no way Pilot Flying J agrees to pay $92 million and to fully cooperate with the prosecution if Jimmy Haslam remains a target." (Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports)
August 2014 The renovations at FirstEnergy Stadium were unveiled in August with a fancy new scoreboard, sound systems, and escalators to improve the logistics of fans getting to their seats. (Erik Drost on Flickr)
August 2014 After an offseason-long battle with Johnny Manziel and several preseason games, head coach Mike Pettine announced that Brian Hoyer would be the team's starting quarterback in 2014. (Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports)
August 2014 Josh Gordon's one-year ban was upheld as his appeal hearing was unsuccessful. Gordon's appeal hearing focused on "A" cup and "B" cup samples -- one tested under the limit, while the other tested just above the limit. The difference didn't matter for Gordon.
September 2014 The Browns were literally being kicked in the face of the season opener against the Steelers, being down 27-3 at halftime. Magically, in the second half, it was all Browns as Cleveland went on a 24-0 run to tie the game at 27-27 with 11:15 to go in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately, the comeback came up just short as the Steelers' Shaun Suisham kicked a game-winning, 41-yard field goal as time expired. (Jason Bridge-USA TODAY Sports)
September 2014 At last, some justice for wide receiver Josh Gordon: due to the NFL's new drug policy that was approved, Gordon's one-year ban was being reduced to a 10-game suspension, meaning he would be eligible to return in Week 12 of the 2014 season. (Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports)
September 2014 Back in Week 2, the Saints were still thought of as an explosive, Super Bowl contending team. Cleveland got off to a hot start in their opener, as they had a 16-3 lead in the first half. After two touchdowns to Jimmy Graham, the Saints had the lead. The Browns later faced a 24-23 deficit with 2:46 to play, backed up at their 4 yard line. With just 0:13 left at the 39 yard line, the Browns still needed a lot of yards to get into Billy Cundiff's range for a field goal. Brian Hoyer dropped back and heaved the ball up, and the camera panned to a wide open Andrew Hawkins -- the Saints blew a coverage -- who caught the pass and fell down at the 11 yard line. Billy Cundiff kicked the 31-yard game-winner to give Mike Pettine his first head coaching win. (Ron Schwane-USA TODAY Sports)
September 2014 Week 3 wasn't as kind to the Browns. Cleveland had a 21-17 lead in the fourth quarter, and Brian Hoyer connected with Taylor Gabriel on a wide open deep ball. The play went for 70 yards, but Gabriel fell down to prevent the touchdown. Cundiff's 36-yard field goal attempt was blocked. With 5:00 to go, the Ravens cut the lead to 21-20. With 2:09 to go and facing a 3rd-and-7, one first down would've sealed the game for Cleveland, but Hoyer's pass for Andrew Hawkins was a tad off target. Joe Flacco connected with wide receiver Steve Smith for 32 yards in the two-minute drill, helping set up Justin Tucker's game-winning, 32-yard field goal as time expired. The Browns went into the bye week with a 1-2 record. (Ron Schwane-USA TODAY Sports)
October 2014 Week 5 started miserable for the Browns as they were down 28-3 in the first half to the Titans. Miraculously, Cleveland ended the game on a 26-0 run, capped off by a Brian Hoyer 6-yard touchdown pass to Travis Benjamin in the corner of the end zone with a minute to play. It was the single largest road comeback in NFL history, which meant that Hoyer and Benjamin got to have their jerseys on display in the NFL Hall of Fame. The win put the Browns record at 2-2.
October 2014 In Week 6, the Browns got their revenge on the Steelers. Pittsburgh had a 3-0 lead after the first quarter, but Cleveland went on a 31-0 run and ultimately came out on top 31-10. Jordan Cameron caught a 51-yard touchdown pass and Ben Tate ran for two touchdowns as the Browns improved to 3-2 on the season. (Ron Schwane-USA TODAY Sports)
October 2014 With the fun of beating Pittsburgh came with what ended up being the worst injury news of the year: center Alex Mack not only missed the first snap of his career, but broke his leg, which ended his season. The Browns' offense was never the same. (Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports)
October 2014 In Week 7, the first game without Alex Mack proved to be an awful one for Cleveland's offense: the Browns averaged 2.3 YPC, and Brian Hoyer completed less than half of his passes against the winless Jaguars. Jacksonville only led 10-6 mid-way through the fourth quarter, but safety Jordan Poyer muffed a punt inside the ten yard line with six minutes to go, which helped spark a 14-0 run by the Jaguars to close out the game. Jacksonville won 24-6, dropping Cleveland to 3-3. (Phil Sears-USA TODAY Sports)
October 2014 The Dawgs By Nature staff visited Berea in October, hosted by Kevin Jones of Browns.com. Be sure to check out our post about this (link is below in the timeline).
October 2014 In Week 8, the Browns found a way to win ugly, beating the winless Raiders by a score of 23-13. Three first half field goals were all the Browns could muster before two second half touchdowns, helped in part by turnovers created by the defense, put the game away. The key turnover came when safety Donte Whitner forced a fumble on running back Darren McFadden and the ball popped right into the arms of cornerback Joe Haden. The win improved the Browns to 4-3. (Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports)
November 2014 In Week 9, the Browns could not stop rookie receiver Mike Evans, who caught two touchdown passes, the second of which gave the Buccaneers a 17-16 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Mid-way through the fourth, Brian Hoyer found wide receiver Taylor Gabriel for an improvised 34-yard touchdown pass after a life-saving block by running back Terrance West. The Browns held on for the 22-17 win to improve to 5-3. (Ron Schwane-USA TODAY Sports)
November 2014 In Week 10, Cleveland played their only prime time game of the season against the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday Night Football. The Browns played their best game of the season -- Ben Tate, Isaiah Crowell, and Terrance West each rushed for a touchdown en route to a 24-3 beatdown. Andy Dalton played one of the worst games of his career, completing 10-of-13 passes for 86 yards and 3 interceptions. The 6-3 record put the Browns in sole possession of first place in the AFC North. (Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports)
November 2014 Week 11 saw Ryan Mallett make his first career start in the NFL, and he got going early with a 2-yard touchdown pass to J.J. Watt. It took awhile for the Browns to get started, but they were tied 7-7 and were on their way to going up 10-7 or 14-7 at the half before an Isaiah Crowell fumble. In the second half, the Browns couldn't do anything offensively and Houston just tacked on field goal after field goal. The 23-7 defeat sunk the Browns' record to 6-4. (Ron Schwane-USA TODAY Sports)
November 2014 After complaining about playing time most of the season and only getting 2 carries for -9 yards against his former team, the Browns cut running back Ben Tate. (Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports)
November 2014 Cleveland's return game had been the worst in the NFL, and many fans and media members were hoping that the team would bring Joshua Cribbs back. Ray Farmer said the team did not have an interest in Cribbs, who eventually signed with the Indianapolis Colts and promptly ripped off several big returns. (Ron Schwane-USA TODAY Sports)
November 2014 In Week 12, the Browns had 475 yards of offense in the return of Josh Gordon. Leading 23-14 heading into the fourth quarter, Brian Hoyer kept throwing interceptions and missing wide open receivers to keep the Falcons in the game. With 0:44 left, Matt Bryant kicked a 53-yard field goal to give the Falcons a 24-23 lead. Just when it seemed like the Hoyer era might be coming to an end, Hoyer led Cleveland down to the 19 yard line with several clutch passes, the last of which set up Billy Cundiff's game-winning field goal from 37 yards out. The 26-24 win improve the Browns' record to 7-4. It was their final win of the 2014 season. (Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports)
November 2014 While he may or may not have done anything wrong, Johnny Manziel was back in the headlines after a reported "fight" at The 9.
November 2014 In Week 13, Cleveland's offense struggled against the Bills' defense, but they held a 3-0 lead mid-way throug the third quarter. After the Bills went up 7-3, Terrance West fumbled on the next offensive play, which was returned for a touchdown to put Buffalo up 14-3. In the fourth quarter, Mike Pettine inserted Johnny Manziel into the game to try to provide a spark, and he instantly led a touchdown-scoring drive. It wasn't enough -- the Browns lost 26-10 -- but it fueled speculation that a quarterback change could be coming. (Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports)
December 2014 Brian Hoyer remained the Browns' starting quarterback for Week 14 against the Colts. Cleveland's defense played outstanding against Andrew Luck -- after a fumble recovery for a touchdown and a pick six, the Browns led 21-7. Hoyer could not sustain drives on offense, though, and Indianapolis was slowly able to chip away at the lead. Finally, with 0:32 left, Andrew Luck hit T.Y. Hilton for the go-ahead score. The 25-24 loss sent the Browns to 7-6 on the year but devestated the locker room. This one should not have ended in a loss. (Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports)
December 2014 The debut of Johnny Manziel as a starter sparked nothing in Week 15, as he looked uncomfortable and out-of-sync throwing two awful interceptions. The Bengals ran the ball 45 times for 244 yards down the throat of the Browns' run defense, blowing out Cleveland in their home finale by a score of 30-0. The only defensive stop came when a Browns fan denied Bengals running back Jeremy Hill on his leap into the Dawg Pound. The loss sent Cleveland to 7-7 on the year and took them out of playoff contention. (Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports)
December 2014 The debut of Johnny Manziel as a started sparked nothing in Week 15, as he looked uncomfortable and out-of-sync throwing two awful interceptions. The Bengals ran the ball 45 times for 244 yards down the throat of the Browns' run defense, blowing out Cleveland in their home finale by a score of 30-0. The only defensive stop came when a Browns fan denied Bengals running back Jeremy Hill on his leap into the Dawg Pound. The loss sent Cleveland to 7-7 on the year and took them out of playoff contention. (Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports)
December 2014 In Week 16, Johnny Manziel had to leave before the end of the first half with a season-ending hamstring injury, meaning the coaches barely got to evaluate him in 2014. Brian Hoyer tried to lead a second-half comeback -- he connected with tight end Jordan Cameron for an 81-yard score in the fourth quarter, the team's biggest play of the season. The Panthers got a touchdown of their own to take a 17-13 lead, though, and that's how the game ended, dropping the Browns below .500 with a 7-8 record. (Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports)
December 2014 Josh Gordon was featured in way too many of these headlines in 2014, each one for negative news. The day before the Browns' final game, the team announced they were suspending Gordon for missing the team's walk-through practice. The news puts the team at a crossroads with what to do with Gordon. It's also big news because the suspension could keep Gordon under contract for one additional year -- news that would be good for Cleveland, but bad for Gordon. (Ron Schwane-USA TODAY Sports)
December 2014 Undrafted rookie free agent Connor Shaw was called off the practice squad to start at quarterback due to injuries for the Browns. Cleveland's defense was holding tough against the Ravens, holding a 10-3 lead heading into the fourth quarter. The defense finally caved as Baltimore ripped off 17 points in the final quarter to win 20-10. The Browns finished at 7-9 and watched all three division rivals make the postseason. (Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports)
December 2014 Immediately following the team's final game of the season, team owner Jimmy Haslam stated that head coach Mike Pettine and GM Ray Farmer would absolutely be retained for the 2015 season. (Ron Schwane-USA TODAY Sports)

In celebration of the year ending, I present to you, "2014 in Review: The Cleveland Browns." Please go through the photo gallery above, and make sure you hover over the pictures. I have put custom descriptions for each picture's caption.

If you don't feel like going through the whole list, listed below is the draft I came up with when conceiving this gallery. From the draft to collecting the pictures and writing the captions, this probably took me 5-6 hours of work, so please share your comments below on some of your favorite moments of the year, or if you feel I left any moments out.

Have a Happy New Year, everybody!

2014 Year in Review: The Cleveland Browns

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