Adrenaline is a powerful pain reliever. So are a few post-game cocktails with teammates. Those are two lessons Mike Logan learned on Jan. 5, 2003, the day the Steelers and Browns galloped up and down muddy Heinz Field, rarely stopping to break stride in a frenetic opening-round playoff game.
Logan learned something else, too. Something even more valuable as the skies above the stadium spat snow and the football gods treated fans to a comeback for the ages: The Steelers were developing a resilience that would serve them well in the coming years. They were a group of players who didn’t give up on each other.
It was in that spirit that Logan refused to leave the locker room with more than a quarter remaining and the Steelers trailing 24-7. The defensive back had just shredded his right knee making the biggest play of his career — a diving interception of a Kelly Holcomb pass deep in Steelers’ territory.
The team’s medical staff urged Logan to immediately get an MRI. A Yinzer to his core, the Pittsburgh native and grandson of a steel worker declined. He was so caught up in the moment that he didn’t feel pain. All he wanted was to sit in front of a television monitor, watch the end of the game and wait for his teammates.
“I was on such a high from making a big play, but in the back of my mind I’m wondering, ‘What if this is it? What if that’s the last play you make as a Pittsburgh Steeler?’” Logan recalled. “Those thoughts were starting to creep in as I heard the doctors talking about the significant damage to my knee. I just tried to block it out and focus on the game.”
Logan’s faith was rewarded as the Steelers rallied with two touchdowns in the final 3:06 of regulation for an improbable 36-33 victory.
This Sunday, the Browns face Pittsburgh in what for them represents the biggest game since leaving Heinz Field shocked and heartbroken 18 years ago. If Cleveland wins, there’s a chance the AFC North rivals could meet on Wild Card weekend. But it’s hard to fathom any game in this series ever supplying the drama of one that the late Dan Rooney called the second-most exciting Steelers’ playoff win behind only the Immaculate Reception.
DK Pittsburgh Sports contacted players, broadcasters and fans for recollections of the Wild Card thriller, the legend of “Renegade” and the impact the game had on the futures of both franchises. An oral history of their memories follows:
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Stan Savran (Pittsburgh sports talk show host): That was the year of Tommy Gun. Tommy Maddox replaced Kordell Stewart and Bill Cowher later told me that the 2001 AFC Championship Game convinced him they were going to have to move on from Kordell. There was the blocked field goal and the punt return for touchdowns against the Patriots and those weren’t Kordell’s fault, but he did throw three interceptions. Cowher felt Kordell would never be able to bring a team from behind. So when they stumbled in the first couple games of 2002, they went with Maddox.
Logan: I knew it would be a physical and hard-fought game, but maybe I came in a little overconfident. They are the Browns and we are the Steelers and we run this division.
Jim Donovan (radio voice of the Browns): I really thought the Browns had a great shot because they had won a big game in Baltimore with Tim Couch and that set them up for the last weekend against the Falcons. They won that game with Holcomb coming off the bench and they got some help to get in the playoffs. All the stars seemed to be aligning.
Holcomb: All you want is a chance to get into the playoffs. I remember Jerome Bettis’ last season with the Steelers in 2005. They were doing OK, but they got hot at the end of the year and they went on to win the Super Bowl. Once you get into the playoffs, your confidence is high and everyone thinks they have a chance to go further.
Logan: (The Browns’) Brent Boyer and Joey Porter got into it at midfield before the game even started. Joey got into it with everybody, but there was a big commotion and it set the tone for the day. The Browns had added two of our former teammates, Earl Holmes and Orpheus Roye, and that just added fuel to the fire. There was trash talking going on before the game and all the way through it.
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Holcomb did not play like a quarterback making his fourth career NFL start, and first in the postseason. Browns’ offensive coordinator Bruce Arians — remember him, Steelers fans? — took an aggressive approach to play calling and Holcomb repeatedly threw deep on a Pittsburgh secondary missing Chad Scott. On the opening drive, the quarterback served notice with an 83-yard pass to Kevin Johnson to set up a touchdown and help the Browns build a 17-7 halftime lead.
He finished the day 26 of 43 for 429 yards with three TDs and an interception.
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Donovan: Holcomb was on fire. Everything he threw was right on the money.
Logan: I think we were all in shock that he was that accurate, that on point. Quarterbacks who usually come into our stadium, against our scheme, in front of our fans, usually get a little rattled and shook. We fed on that intimidation factor, but he was poised and he believed in his throws.
Phil Dawson (Browns placekicker): We used to joke with Kelly and call him ‘The Mudder’ and he proved it that day. There was no grass on that field and his uniform was brown, not white. Guys rallied around him for his toughness, for his grit, for that mentality of ‘Let’s go out in the backyard and throw the ball around.’ That’s what he did that day.
Holcomb: I had watched so much film on them that I knew what they were going to do before they did it. That’s what preparation does for you. (Couch) had been injured the week before. With him being out, I got all the first-team reps during the week and I just felt really confident about the game and the game plan. Why not throw everything at them?
Savran: I remember Holcomb really picking on (backup cornerback) Hank Poteat.
Logan: Once they started putting it on us, Kevin Johnson was talking to me as the plays were going on. He was like, ‘y’all can’t stop us’ and I really didn’t have a comeback because we really couldn’t stop them.
Jeff Reed (Steelers placekicker): When you get in games like that, you win games because of camaraderie. Every team is talented. Look at the Jets this year winning games down the stretch. Everybody gets paid. As we fell behind, our sideline was very emotional. It might have looked like guys were yelling at each other, but it was more like, ‘We’ve got this. We’ve gotten this far for a reason.’ You see that now with Kansas City. Obviously, (Patrick) Mahomes is a different breed, but they are all about ‘we’re moving on to the next play when something goes wrong.’ We had that same kind of mentality.’ There was so much positivity with guys like Jerome and Joey Porter.
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Few quarterbacks have taken a more circuitous route to their greatest NFL game than Maddox. Drafted by the Broncos as John Elway’s heir apparent in 1992, he was out of football and selling insurance for Allstate five years later. Maddox revived his career with stints in the arena league and XFL before earning NFL Comeback Player of the Year honors with the Steelers in 2002.
Given the hard road traveled, Maddox wasn’t going to allow a bad first half against the Browns, in which he threw two interceptions, to spoil his first playoff start at age 31.
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Reed: Tommy is a special guy. Everybody loved him in that locker room. If you made a mistake, he didn’t get down on you, he never panicked. He was a gunslinger and when he got hot, good luck because he could tear you apart. He was a great leader, a great person.
Alan Faneca (Steelers offensive lineman): We went in at halftime and there was a lot of high tension and hollering. A lot of ‘Let’s figure this out and get our (crap) right.’ That’s happening all over the room. I mean it’s 30 minutes and the season is over. It’s not like a regular-season loss. We talk about what adjustments we need to make and the coach gives his speech and we go out on the field.
Tommy calls the whole team together, which is really rare. Cowher would call us together right before kickoff. That was the normal thing. But Tommy gives this speech. It was like the (crap) right out of the movies. You don’t realize in the heat of the moment, but that really was one of those movie scenes. He told everyone to get their (crap) straight, and that if you didn’t believe we were going to win, take your (freaking) ass back to the locker room right now. He repeated it a couple times and stared guys in the eye.
Maddox: I felt like we needed a little something to get us going. That’s the quarterback’s responsibility. We needed guys to believe. I wanted them to see it in my eyes that we still had a chance to win. Everybody believed it, everyone was excited. That was the moment we needed to come together, lean on each other and get this thing done.
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Mike Logan returns an interception 14 yards Jan. 5, 2003 at Heinz Field.
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The Browns scored on the first drive of the second half with Dennis Northcutt catching his second touchdown pass of the afternoon to make it 24-7. Holcomb drove them to the Pittsburgh 32 on their next series and appeared ready on put the game out of reach.
That’s when a lifelong Steelers fan rescued his boyhood team from the brink. Logan stepped in front of Johnson and picked off a pass at the Pittsburgh 25. The impact of Logan's knee hitting the ground caused serious trauma. He required surgery to repair cartilage, the lateral collateral ligament, a tendon and a muscle. He also tore his hamstring while trying to get up and run with the ball.
The Steelers converted the turnover into their first offensive touchdown, a Maddox 6-yard strike to Plaxico Burress in the back of the end zone.
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Logan: I remember reading Holcomb’s eyes and telling myself, ‘I got to make a play. I’m going after it.’
Holcomb: I got fooled. I thought Logan had gone with the No. 2 receiver, who was cutting inside. When I went to throw it, (Logan) read my eyes and he picked it. Yeah, I kind of wish I had that one back because I would have hit the inside receiver.
Donovan: The Browns are playing great and they’re ahead, but there’s always that feeling over at Heinz Field that things can be going great and one little thing, one little play, one little miscue, can turn things sideways. When Kelly threw that pick, I can remember thinking ‘ugh,’ this is how it happens.
Logan: When my knee came down, I knew I was injured. I felt everything in my leg pop. It didn’t feel right. The crazy thing is my adrenaline was running so high that I jumped right up and started running discombobulated, trying to find an opening. I ran 53 yards to gain 14 yards. I remember D’Shea Townshend saying, ‘pitch me the ball.’ I was like, ‘No. If I pitch the ball and we fumble, the game is over.’ I just ran around like Keystone Kops and ended up going down.
Holcomb: I’m an offensive coordinator on my son’s high school football team now. I tell the kids that every play is important. You never know when the play that’s going to change the game is going to come up. When a play comes to you, you have to make that play. Logan made that play.
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One of the game’s biggest storylines did not come to light until after it was over. Browns defensive coordinator Foge Fazio, the former Pitt coach, was stripped of his play-calling duties in the second half by Butch Davis.
Instead of getting after Maddox and playing press coverage, which worked brilliantly in the first half, Davis instructed his defense to sit back and guard against big plays. The strategy backfired as the Steelers quarterback found his rhythm in a hurry-up attack.
Maddox threw touchdown passes to Burress, Jerame Tuman and Hines Ward over the game’s final 20 minutes. He finished the day 30 of 48 for 367 yards. Fazio, who died in 2009, never coached another game for the Browns.
Davis could not be reached for comment through Florida International, where he now coaches.
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Bill Hillgrove (radio voice of the Steelers): Maddox was tearing them apart and Davis kept telling Foge, ‘we’re staying in Cover 2’ which for the Browns proved fatal.
Donovan: That was so bizarre that it would happen in the middle of a playoff game. Foge was very open about it. He went up to the defensive players and said, ‘Hey, I just got fired.’
Holcomb: I always tell people when you go into prevent-defense mode, it prevents you from winning games. We just stopped being aggressive. I don’t understand why coaches stop doing what they’re doing when they’re successful. Foge Fazio, rest his soul, his M.O. was to come after people. That’s the reason Tommy was not playing well early because we were getting pressure on him and we were hitting him. You start giving pro quarterbacks time to make plays and they are going to start finding people. That’s what happened.
Maddox: As they got the lead, they began to play a little different. But also as we stopped huddling up and played more uptempo. It took away some of (the Browns’) abilities to be aggressive because they couldn’t change their personnel. I think it was a combination of the two.
Savran: It was a number of years later and I was talking to Foge, God rest his soul, and I knew him from his days at Pitt. Butch Davis told him to back off the blitzing, play a little bit of a prevent defense. Foge was beside himself in opposition. He had really stymied Maddox for 2-1/2 quarters and it was Butch Davis who said let’s back off.
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Another second-half storyline was evident to everyone in the stadium. With the Browns holding a 12-point lead early in the fourth quarter, hundreds, if not thousands, of Steelers fans begin leaving Heinz Field. Maybe, it was the cold weather. Maybe, it was thought of losing a fifth home playoff game since 1992. Maybe, it was not wanting to stick around to see the Steelers beaten by the Browns.
As the furious comeback started, some supporters tried to return only to be denied re-entry.
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Jim Regan (Steelers season ticket holder): I’ll admit it. Me and my two brothers were among those who left. It was like, ‘I’m cold, this sucks, let’s go.’ We got outside the stadium and we were walking to our car when we heard this roar from the crowd. I turned to my brothers and said, ‘I hope we just left the greatest comeback we will never see.’
Dawson: That’s when we started feeling good on our sideline. We were almost pinching ourselves a little bit. We couldn’t believe it. It had the makings of a fairytale experience. I remember Browns fans making their way down behind our bench to the newly-opened seats. It was turning into a pretty cool deal. There were even Browns fans trying to get their hands on Terrible Towels to wave around and start celebrating.
Maddox: We all saw people leaving. In a weird sort of way, I think it helped us. The sight of something like that can affect you in one of two ways: It can demoralize you or it kind of gets your juices flowing. With us, I think it pissed us off and got us going again.
Regan: We got back to the car and pulled out the keg and a radio. We’re pretty close to the stadium and we can hear the roars getting louder. We ended up sitting on the steps of an abandoned house across from Graybar Electric. It started out with just me and my brothers. By the end, there must have been 10 or 12 others who had left the game just going crazy.
Faneca: I remember for a couple years after that, you would bump into a fan and they would admit that they left early and couldn’t get back into the stadium.
Regan: I definitely learned my lesson after that. We never walked out of another game unless it was a total blowout.
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The playoff game is famous for another bit of Steelers’ lore. Although the stadium game-ops crew already had been playing the Styx song, “Renegade,” it became the club’s de facto anthem that day. In fact, it was played twice during the second-half comeback.
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Maddox: I remember them playing it vividly. Your sideline feeds off the energy in the stadium, and you could feel the fans getting really worked up and the players could feel it, too.
Hillgrove: You don’t mess with ‘Renegade.’
Faneca: From that game forward, it really meant something. It began to carry a lot of weight and it gave you the chills. The hair on the back of your neck stands up and you know it’s ‘go time.’ That was the start of it.
Holcomb: Oh, 'Renegade.' I do not like that song.
Reed: I’m actually part of the ‘Renegade Tailgate,’ which takes its name from the song. They welcomed me with open arms. I don’t do everything they do, but I go on cruises and when I come in for a game, we go out and have some fun. There’s something about that song that makes you want to turn on your super-human powers to succeed.
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Kelly Holcomb walks off the field after the game Jan. 5, 2003, at Heinz Field.
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In the game’s final minutes, the Browns unraveled. They committed three defensive penalties on one drive, allowing the Steelers to cut the deficit to five points with 3:06 left.
Cleveland’s inability to run the ball — the Browns finished with 38 yards rushing on 28 attempts — didn’t let them grind out the clock. But they likely would have won the game if not for a Northcutt drop on a third-and-12 with 2:49 remaining.
Given a reprieve, Maddox led Pittsburgh on a six-play, 61-yard drive, culminating in a Chris Fuamatu-Ma’afala touchdown run and a two-point conversion from Antwaan Randle El, who earlier had returned a punt for a TD. The Browns’ last-ditch effort ended at the Pittsburgh 28 with receiver Andre King unable to get out of bounds as time expired.
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Donovan: It was devastating at the end. It was helpless. You just knew the defense couldn’t stop them.
Savran: The ball hit Northcutt in the hands. If he catches that ball, it’s a first down and the game is probably over.
Holcomb: We wouldn’t have been in the game if Dennis didn’t make the plays that he made. He caught two touchdown passes and had a long punt return. It didn’t come down to that one play.
Donovan: It’s totally like Earnest Byner (and the Fumble against the Broncos). Northcutt had such a big game, but couldn’t make the play at the end.
Faneca: It was a slow build in the second half, and then we just caught fire. We kept getting the ball back and scoring. We kept getting stops. We had all the momentum. When Fu scored at the end, I just jumped on his back and drilled him. The coaches were giving me so much (crap) the next day. They really thought I was going to hurt him. I laid into him because I was so excited.
Holcomb: I tell people this all the time: That game changed lives. It could have changed my life. We win that game and we’re going to Oakland the next week and we were on a hot streak. Who knows what happens? You wonder where your futures go. You just ask for an opportunity to play one more week.
Dawson: To this day, I’ve never talked to a teammate about that game. I have never watched it. Just didn’t want to see it.
Maddox: Kelly played a great game. If not for that drop on the Browns’ second-to-last drive, it gets talked about as one of the greatest playoff performances in Browns’ history. Unfortunately, it probably gets overshadowed a bit because they ended up losing.
Dawson: I know a lot of people played high school football and they had a coach that wouldn’t let you talk on the bus if you lost. College is a little less strict. In the NFL, you’ve got a bunch of grown men going to and from work. But that bus ride home, I don’t remember a single guy talking. I think everyone was sitting there a little disappointed, but mostly in shock.
Savaran: Cowher was totally drained in his post-game press conference. He had lost some significant playoff games at home, including the previous year against the Patriots, so this was big. It was a really big win for him.
Maddox: Coach Cowher talked, Joey Porter did his thing and then it got real quiet in the locker room. Everyone was happy, but exhausted and ready to sit down for a second.
Logan: I ended up waiting to get the MRI until the next day. I went out with the fellas with a knee brace on to party a little bit. I remember my dad saying, ‘You can’t be out partying.’ I said, ‘Pops, I got to enjoy this victory a little bit.’
Donovan: We finished up doing the news and it’s a real bad day — freezing rain, snow, the whole wintery mix. So we’re walking to our car to drive home and I’m commiserating with our camera guy and there’s this old gentleman in a really nice black overcoat. He’s shuffling along and he’s going so slow that we kind of catch up to him. I look over and it’s Dan Rooney. I say, ‘Congratulations, Mr. Rooney.’ He looks at us and says, ‘You probably deserved to win that game.’ There’s no limo waiting for him. There’s no security guards around him. He had both hands in his pockets. That’s the beauty of the Steelers’ family and the organization and the Rooneys. They are no bigger than anyone else.
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The Browns lost three games to the Steelers that season by combined nine points. The two division rivals looked to be on the same trajectory heading into the next few years.
But Davis decided to retool the Browns' roster, releasing veterans such as Holmes, to go with a younger lineup. Eighteen years between playoff appearances suggests that might have been the wrong decision.
Meanwhile, the Steelers kept the nucleus of their club intact. After a disappointing 2003 campaign, they draft Ben Roethlisberger and two years later won the Super Bowl.
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Dawson: It sure felt like we were going to be back sooner rather than later walking off that field. Little did we know a couple decades would go by. You hear stories about Dan Marino getting to the Super Bowl in his first year and him thinking, ‘I thought it was supposed to be hard to get here.’ Well, he never got back.
Holcomb: The fallout from that loss is we didn’t keep the guys together. If we would have just added some pieces, we had a good football team. It was heartbreaking.
Maddox: We added a player or two from the end of that season until we won the Super Bowl in 2005, and the majority of the team was kept together. You know, it’s easy to say when you’re behind in a game, ‘Hey, we got to keep going, we can’t give up.’ But when you have been through situations like that together and you see how it can turn out, it really makes your resolve that much stronger.
Reed: We were exhausted, drained, but we were still riding the high. It was a good shock. We had no business winning that game, but we found a way, and those kind of wins make you a really scary team. When we went to the Super Bowl in 2005, everyone had counted us out three or four weeks before the regular season ended, and we didn’t lose again.
Maddox: There was a Super Bowl reunion a few years ago and we were sitting around and we got to talking about that Browns playoff game. I think for anyone who was involved in it, it will always be a special game, the kind that doesn’t come along too often. For all the ups and downs in my career, that’s one I’m thankful to say I was a part of.
