Steelers Leave Stamp on Cleveland Stadium : AFC: In probably their final game there, O’Donnell sparks 20-17 victory over Browns.

Neil O’Donnell took the game ball home with him, realizing that he may never get back to Cleveland Stadium again.

“That’s something that is going back to my family room, and I’m going to cherish it,” the Pittsburgh quarterback said Sunday after he passed for 251 yards as the Steelers beat the Browns, 20-17.

Important as the game was to the Steelers’ playoff chase, it was tinged with nostalgia because players on both sides of the rivalry, one of the most heated in the NFL, realized they may never line up across from one another in the massive stadium again.

Brown owner Art Modell has announced plans to move his franchise to Baltimore next year, although politicians in Ohio are fighting the move in court. Modell, who dares not attend home games any more because Cleveland fans are so angry at him, watched from his Florida home; Steeler owner Dan Rooney was on hand.

“I hope there is more football here in this stadium,” said Steeler Coach Bill Cowher, who was both a player and an assistant coach with the Browns in the 1980s. “It’s too special of a place not to have football being played. I don’t even want to think about that. I can’t say enough about the mud, the gray, the openness.”

The Steelers (8-4) took a 20-17 lead on Norm Johnson’s 27-yard field goal at the start of the fourth quarter, and Pittsburgh’s defense, ranked first in the league, made it stand up. O’Donnell contributed mightily at the end, directing a 16-play drive that consumed the last 8:52 and ended inside the Cleveland 10.

“Just watching from the sidelines, you wish you could be out there on the field making things happen,” Cleveland quarterback Vinny Testaverde said. “They ran out the clock when they needed to.”

It was the fifth consecutive victory for the Steelers, who maintained their three-game lead in the AFC Central. They have won their last five regular-season meetings with the Browns.

Cleveland (4-8) has lost four in a row since news of the move to Baltimore came out.

“I wanted us to go out on a good note, and we didn’t. I’m going to miss the rivalry,” Brown offensive tackle Tony Jones said. “But we could start a good one in Baltimore. We’ll still want to go out there and beat those guys.

“I think when we play them, the tempers are still going to be the same. The fans might be different, but I think the players will be the same. They’re still going to be at the head of the list of the teams we need to beat.”

The Browns have one home game remaining on Dec. 17 against Cincinnati.

O’Donnell was 21 for 30, including a 12-yard touchdown pass to rookie Mark Bruener in the first quarter.

Testaverde, starting for Cleveland after taking a back seat to Eric Zeier for four weeks, threw for one touchdown and ran for another. He threw two interceptions.

Cleveland Stadium was sold out for the game, but empty seats were scattered throughout as 11,243 people with tickets chose not to attend.

Yet those on hand were surprisingly supportive of the Browns, who had become used to hearing jeers at home since the move was announced.

The fans had little to cheer about early, because the Browns turned the ball over on their first two plays from scrimmage. Testaverde threw his first pass to cornerback Willie Wilson, whose 10-yard return set up Johnson’s 33-yard field goal.

On Cleveland’s next play, Leroy Hoard was stripped of the ball by Myron Bell, and Williams was there again for the recovery at the Cleveland 37. This time, O’Donnell took full advantage, getting the Steelers to the end zone in two plays--a 25-yard pass to Yancey Thigpen followed by the 12-yard scoring pass to Bruener.