CLEVELAND — It has been nearly four years since the Cleveland Browns were featured on one of the flagship games in the National Football League: Monday Night Football, but that run comes to an end today when they travel to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey to battle the New York Jets.
Although many of the Browns’ skill-position players on both sides of the ball have never played on the Monday Night Football stage, the coaches recognize it is a unique opportunity for the team.
“In the National Football League, anytime the lights come on, it is a special game,” Browns coach Freddie Kitchens said. “It is either a Thursday night, a Sunday night or a Monday night.
“You are kind of the only show in town whenever everyone is watching, so you want to put your best foot forward with your peers watching.”
A lifelong football fan, Kitchens remembers staying up late to watch the Monday Night Football games on television while growing up in Gadsden, Alabama, even if he had to break a rule or two in order to see the action.
“I would just sneak and stay up,” Kitchens said. “I remember Bo Jackson and Brian Bosworth. That is probably the game that I remember the most. I remember the Bears going to Miami undefeated and losing in 1985. There are some games that stuck out to me more than others, but yeah, you would always watch it.
“My parents would go to bed. At the time, they would go to bed early. I would stay up and watch. I was supposed to be doing homework or whatever, which I am sure my grades showed that.”
And Kitchens was not the only one in the Browns’ locker room who made Monday Night Football appointment viewing.
“It is always an exciting game,” center JC Tretter said Friday. “It is something you grew up watching on TV. It is a prime time game, so it is a lot of eyes. Your family and friends who you grew up with are going to be watching you play, and it is a great opportunity and exciting.”
Excitement over the national spotlight aside, Kitchens knows the Browns have to play well to defeat the Jets and even their record at 1-1 heading into next week’s Sunday Night Football game against the Los Angeles Rams at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland on September 22.
And by playing well, Kitchens wants to see a drastic reduction in penalties after the Browns were flagged for 18 violations in last week’s 43-13 loss to the Tennessee Titans.
“It is about us,” Kitchens said. “It is not about the outside world. It is not about the lights being on. Everything goes through kind of us from the standpoint of how do we prepare and how do we play. We just want to continue to prepare well, play well and be a tough, physical, smart football team.
“Anytime you have success, people seem to be more together, but when you realize it, more than anything, is after you come off a loss. I think over the last two weeks, we have experienced some things that you either are in together tight or you are not.
“I think we have a bunch of guys in that locker room that care about each other, and they are going to be tight and not willing to let each other down. I am looking forward to seeing it.”