This is another in a series of stories of how various Browns came to Cleveland.
CLEVELAND, Ohio – “I didn’t even know how I got to the Browns; my agent just told me to get on a plane to Cleveland.”
That was what Kevin Mack said when thinking back on the start of his NFL career in 1985.
Most fans remember Mack as part of the bullish backfield with Earnest Byner in the late 1980s. Mack once rushed for 1,000 yards. He made two Pro Bowls. He is the franchise’s No. 5 all-time rusher, behind only Jim Brown, Leroy Kelly, Mike Pruitt and Greg Pruitt.
Mack had no idea any of that was coming in February of 1985. He had been cut earlier that same day by the Los Angeles Express of the United States Football League.
“I didn’t know what I was going to do next,” said Mack. “I didn’t know if I was good enough to play in the NFL.”
Nor did Mack know about the NFL’s supplemental draft in June of 1984, where he was a first-round pick by Browns GM Ernie Accorsi. Mack’s doubts were why he signed with the USFL in the first place. That was in January of 1984, well before the NFL draft.
“I never started at Clemson until my senior year,” he said. “I didn’t get a lot of recognition. It’s hard to believe, but I was a fullback at a buck-87.”
A 187-pound fullback?
“That’s right,” said Mack. “My coach at Clemson (Danny Ford) said he thought I could at least get an NFL tryout if I didn’t get drafted.”
In his senior season at Clemson, Mack ran for 862 yards, an average of 5.7 per carry. Good stats on a 9-1-1 team that was on NCAA probation but still ranked in the top 10 in most polls.
“It wasn’t like now when guys know all about their draft status when in college,” said Mack. “The USFL offered me some money much like the NFL was paying, so I took it.”
Kevin Mack in 1986.Cleveland Plain Dealer
WELCOME TO CLEVELAND
Mack was a part-time player for the Express, rushing for 330 yards on 73 carries. He was good enough to remain with the team, but the USFL and the Express were bleeding money. Players were being cut to slash the payroll.
Meanwhile, Accorsi had scouted Mack at Clemson. He saw a fast fullback who could add weight.
“I don’t know if he would have been taken in the first round, but he’d have been drafted (in 1984),” said Accorsi. “I know, I would have drafted him at some point.”
The NFL held a supplemental draft for teams to pick up the rights to USFL and Canadian League players on June 5, 1984. Accorsi snared Mack with the No. 11 pick. He also added linebacker Mike Johnson and Gerald “Ice Cube” McNeil.
The moment Accorsi saw Mack was cut, he was on the phone with the fullback’s agent.
“I came to Cleveland in February,” he said. “I had never been there before. I knew no one. I got off the plane wearing a summer jacket and froze my butt off.”
He met with the Browns, signing a contract for “about $175,000.” The only part guaranteed was a signing bonus for “about $35,000.”
Kevin Mack (right) and Earnest Byner were close friends and dominated the Browns backfield in the late 1980s. The Plain Dealer
MACK AND BYNER
“I remember they had eight running backs in camp,” said Mack, who mentioned Boyce Green, Mike Pruitt, Johnny Davis and Byner.
“I can’t think of the other guys,” he said. “But I knew Mike Pruitt had been really good. I was worried about making the team. I wasn’t sure what they wanted me to do.”
Byner had been a 10th-round pick out of East Carolina in 1984. He made the team, and soon Mack began to follow this “veteran” around.
“One day Earnest said we could start in the backfield,” said Mack. “He could see how it could happen. We worked out at the same time. We pushed each other.”
Byner’s vision was Mack at fullback, himself at halfback. Byner knew Marty Schottenheimer wanted a punishing running game and the coach wasn’t happy with his 1984 starters.
“When I first met Marty, I thought he was tough and kind of mean,” said Mack. “I was never an overly confident guy on the field. I was always wondering, ‘Did I do that right?’”
Mack said veterans had told him to beware when someone knocked on your door and said to follow him with your playbook.
“That means it’s over,” said Mack. “So I didn’t stay in my room that much. If they knocked, I didn’t want them to find me.”
Marty Schottenheimer knew exactly what Kevin Mack needed to hear. Cleveland Plain Dealer
A FEW WORDS FROM MARTY
“Kevin was a quiet kid from a small Southern town,” said Accorsi. “We knew how good he was. But he didn’t know it.”
Mack is from King Mountain, N.C. It’s about 30 miles west of Charlotte and was a town of about 8,000 when Mack was growing up. Byner was from Milledgeville, Georgia. So the two young men had rural Southern roots and common dreams of starting for the Browns.
“We had a scrimmage against Buffalo,” recalled Mack. “I remember being on the bus, wondering if I would make the team. Then before the scrimmage started, I was nervous. It was one of the most nerve-racking times I remember.”
Schottenheimer spotted it. The coach walked over to Mack.
“Look, calm down and relax,” Schottenheimer said. “You are better than 90% of the guys on the field.”
Mack looked at the coach in a moment of disbelief.
“Just go out there, play ball and have fun,” said Schottenheimer.
“That changed everything for me,” said Mack. “It meant so much to know he had that confidence in me. He really thought I was better than a lot of those guys out there.”
How did Mack find out he made the team?
“No one actually told me,” he said. “When they took the team picture and I was still there, then I knew...”
Bernie Kosar and Kevin Mack both were rookies with the Browns in 1985.cleveland.com
THE NEW ERA
For Schottenheimer and the Browns, the 1985 season was the start of one of the most fun and successful periods since the Browns’ glory days of the 1950s and 1960s.
Schottenheimer had replaced Sam Rutigliano in the middle of the 1984 season. Accorsi had added Bernie Kosar in the 1985 supplemental draft. The Browns opened with Mack and Byner in the backfield. Veteran Gary Danielson started the first five games, then was injured.
The Browns were determined to run the ball and keep pressure off Kosar. Mack and Byner each had 1,000-yard rushing seasons. The Browns improved to 8-8.
“The next year (1986), Lindy Infante (offensive coordinator) came in,” said Mack. “We began throwing the ball. We had guys spread out all over the field. We exploded as an offense.”
Kosar took complete command. The Browns had receivers Webster Slaughter, Reggie Langhorne and Brian Brennan along with star tight end Ozzie Newsome. They were 12-4, 10-5 and 10-6 in the next three seasons. Fans know all about the agonizing playoff losses, but this was so much fun.
THE FALL AND RISE OF KEVIN MACK
Some Browns fans may remember Mack being arrested in 1989 on drug charges. Making it worse, his arrest was caught on television. Mack was eventually suspended by the NFL and served 30 days of a six-month jail sentence.
“I never ran from it,” said Mack. “I let a lot of people down. I had to answer for what I did. You can’t just ask for forgiveness; you also have to put in the work to correct it.”
Mack indeed bounced back. He played for the Browns until he was cut by Bill Belichick in 1993. Like most running backs, Mack dealt with several painful injuries during his career. After coaching at Texas Southern, he returned to Cleveland and has spent the last 14 years working for the Browns, mostly in their alumni relations department.
Now 58, Mack still appreciates how the Browns gave him a chance in the NFL then stuck with him during his 1989 arrest, then later brought him on board as part of the organization.
“Then there’s the fans,” he said. “They’ve embraced me. It means so much. I never imagined things could work out so well.”
OTHER STORIES IN THE BROWNS DRAFT SERIES
The Dreams, The Decision, The Pressure: Bernie Kosar comes to Browns
Reggie Langhone: Drafted on Grandma’s porch, Marty’s challenge
The worst draft party, the no-goal post tryout: How Phil Dawson came to the Browns
Rejected by his college coach, Greg Pruitt hid on a golf course on draft day
Brian Brennan: Alone in a dorm room, finally drafted, feeling like Minnie Mouse
Thanks to Vince Lombardi, Ernie Green became a Cleveland Brown
Riding out a tornado and power failure, Aaron Shea was in the basement on draft day
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