Buffalo Unleashes Big Dawg

It had been nearly a year since Big Dawg barked. Each Sunday morning, he awakes peacefully in the doghouse. No intruders, no reason to get excited. No collar.

John “Big Dawg” Thompson, the hefty, undisputed leader of the Dawg Pound - the most excited group of fans in any NFL stadium had been silent since the Browns left Cleveland.

Silent, that is, until the Buffalo Bills unleashed him Sunday against the Browns’ former intrastate rival, the Cincinnati Bengals.

Bills’ owner Ralph Wilson set aside a block of seats for Big Dawg and his buddies so they could, if even for a day, walk into a stadium with a few beers stashed in their coats and lose their minds.

Just like old times.

It was Cleveland Day in Buffalo as the Bills honored the fans of the former Browns. More than 2,000 fans attended the game, and several former Browns were honored before the game. The fans sat in the end zone and were led by Thompson, who was on the field for the pregame ceremony.

After the game, a 31-17 victory for the Bills, Buffalo players, led by linebacker Chris Spielman, went to the end zone to shake hands with the Cleveland fans. Spielman is an Ohio native who attended Ohio State.

In their early years, Big Dawg, Jam Dawg, Sick Dawg and Ugly Dawg would find six people to carry a doghouse into the stadium. When they needed only two people to carry the doghouse out, security officials realized they were smuggling a keg of beer to their seats.

Own your own turf

For years, diehard Dallas Cowboy fans have worshiped the turf their team walks on. Now, they can buy it too.

Starting Monday, the recently replaced turf from the reigning NFL champions’ home stadium is going on sale at Texas-sized prices.

A simple 6-inch star of Dallas Cowboys turf will cost $24.95 while $100,000 will buy you an entire end zone.

12 million disappointed fans

Buffalo honored James Webb of Rochester, N.Y., as the 12-millionth fan to attend a game at Rich Stadium, which opened in 1973. Webb received a team jacket, autographed football and two tickets to the Bills’ last home game of the season against the Kansas City Chiefs.

If the Bills were smart, they would have used this opportunity to unload all those surplus “1993, 1992, 1991 and 1990 Super Bowl Champions” caps and T-shirts that are sitting around in the catacombs.

Facts to ponder

Denver has beaten New England nine straight times since John Elway joined the team. Sunday, the Bronocs held the Patriots to 17 yards on nine carries, New England’s fewest ever and the second-lowest yardage on the ground in franchise history. … Pittsburgh has won 10 in a row at home. … The Eagles have outgained their opponents in nine straight games with the Packers being the only team to outgain them this season. … Washington had scored all 28 times it moved inside the opponent’s 20 until Troy Vincent’s interception snapped that string. … Rohn Stark of the Panthers became the NFL’s career leader in punt yardage. Stark has 47,575 yards, surpassing Dave Jennings’ total of 47,567.