Cleveland, OH
Browns legend has a new shot at the Hall of Fame via seniors candidacy
One day after the Pro Football Hall of Fame announced its 52 candidates for the Class of 2026 with only one player with Cleveland ties, the Hall’s Seniors Blue-Ribbon Committee announced its list of 34 candidates, one that includes four more former Browns players, including one of the most beloved ever by Cleveland’s fanbase.
Additionally, three former coaches tied with the franchises’ history are up for induction next year.
The senior candidates are Clay Matthews Jr., Jim Marshall, Carl Banks and Everson Walls.
Out of those four, Matthews was the only one who truly made his best and largest contributions with the Browns, making him one of the Dawg Pound’s favorites.
The former outside linebacker played his first 16 seasons with Cleveland (1978-1993), before ending his career with the Falcons. A four-time Pro Bowler and one-time second team All-Pro, all as a member of the Browns, Matthews’ best season came in 1984 when he logged 126 combined tackles, 12 sacks, three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. He topped the 100+ tackle mark eight times in his career. Matthews was the Browns first-round pick in 1978 (12th overall) out of USC.
Matthews was inducted in the Browns Ring of Honor in 2019. Matthews has reached the finalist stage of the voting process one time (2021), and has also made it to the semifinalist round four times.
Banks, also a linebacker, played two seasons for the Browns (1994-1995), reuniting him with then head coach Bill Belichick, who previously served as his defensive coordinator with the Giants. He was included in the Hall’s All-1980s team.
Likewise, Walls spent his last season and a half in the NFL with Cleveland in 1992 and 1993, after a stellar nine-year career with the Cowboys and two and a half years with the Giants. A four-time Pro Bowl selection, Walls came in fifth in the voting for Defensive Player of the Year in 1982.
Before arriving in Cleveland as a fourth-round pick (44th overall) out of Ohio State, Marshall had a brief one-year stint in the CFL, in 1959. He only lasted one season with the Browns before being traded to the expansion Vikings, with whom he would stay for the 19 remaining years of his pro career, appearing in four Super Bowls for Minnesota.
Matthews, Banks, Marshall and Walls add their names to Lomas Brown, the only former player with Cleveland ties announced yesterday among the 52 candidates to be enshrined in next year’s Class. Additionally, two former head coaches and one former team president — Marty Schottenheimer, Bill Belichick and Mike Holmgren — could be inducted in the Hall as part of the 2026 Class, through the coaches and contributors category.
Cleveland, OH
Tornado touched down in Wayne County on Tuesday night
CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – The National Weather Service confirmed an EF-0 tornado touched down in Wayne County as severe thunderstorms raced through Northeast Ohio Tuesday evening.
The Wayne County tornado touched down and lifted at 9:56 p.m.
It traveled .11 mile with a width of 75 yards and peak wind of 85 MPH, NWS confirmed.
Tornado warnings were issued in these counties:
- Cuyahoga
- Geauga
- Holmes
- Lake
- Stark
- Wayne
19 News reached out first responders in the areas where tornado sirens were set-off, but there was no significant damage reported.
However, thousands of people remain without power Wednesday.
Check the outage maps by FirstEnergy, Cleveland Public Power, and AEP for the latest developments.
Get the latest on the severe weather on the 19 First Alert Forecast webpage
Copyright 2026 WOIO. All rights reserved.
Cleveland, OH
Many dealing with damage after severe weather rolled through northeast Ohio
CLEVELAND — A line of storms blew through northern Ohio Tuesday night, spurring Tornado Warnings, especially in the Cleveland area.
Gusts of 74 miles per hour were recorded hitting the region, and many are waking up without power on Wednesday morning, with some debris to clean up.
The storms prompted a Flood Warning overnight, and high water remains to be an issue in some areas.
As of Wednesday morning, more than 30,000 people were without power, mostly in Cuyahoga, Geauga and Lake counties. Cleveland Metropolitan School District announced some schools are closed due to power outages as well.
In an update early Wednesday, Cleveland Public Power said it has worked through the night and restored power to approximately 75% of customers.
“Our crews are facing challenges such as uprooted trees and aluminum siding as well other debris blown into powerlines. We appreciate your patience as they work as quickly and safely as possible to restore power,” Cleveland Public Power wrote in a post on Facebook.
The National Weather Service reported multiple trees down, including a tree that went through a house in Wayne County. There are also massive trees blocking sidewalks and roadways, including in Shaker Heights.
Over in Willoughby Hills, fire and police warned of high water from the Chagrin River, creating flood hazards. Some roads were closed in the area, including Bishop Road and White Road. Flooding was also reported along SOM Center Road. The river crested at about 15 feet at 4 a.m. Wednesday.
“Police, Fire and Service Departments are actively working to address these issues and assist residents,” Willoughby Hills Police said. “Please use extreme caution while driving. Do NOT attempt to drive through water of unknown depth.”
(Willoughby Hills Fire Department)
To the western side of the state, Toledo also faced some damage from the strong storms.
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Cleveland, OH
Cuyahoga County takes a beating during Tuesday night’s severe weather
CUYAHOGA COUNTY, Ohio — Tuesday night’s storm ravaged various parts of Cuyahoga County, including Shaker Heights, Cleveland and North Olmsted.
Tornado Warning issued for 3 Northeast Ohio counties
During our travels throughout the county, we saw a massive tree uprooted out of a field near Woodbury Elementary.
The tree stood inches from South Woodland Road and luckily snapped in the direction of the field rather than the residential homes on the other side.
Over in Cleveland on West 54th Street and Courtland Avenue, police blocked off a section of that intersection due to a downed tree that fell near a playground.
There was also a telephone pole that snapped and was hanging over the top of the road.
In North Olmsted on Birch Circle, there were several downed trees in front yards.
“Oh, it was a mess the second, I mean, coming down and seeing those four trees lying up. There’s three in the front here just lying on their side all over the driveway, and all the neighbors outside, wondering what to do, you know, where to start,” Taylor Wright told me.
Wright wasn’t home at the time of the storm. Neither was his partner, Candace Kepler.
Kepler said she was down the street at Target when the store started making announcements to take shelter.
“They made an announcement saying that everybody needed to be escorted to the tornado hall, and they made us all just leave our shopping carts and everything. We all went to the back of the store and huddled in this little metal hall in the back of Target,” Kepler said.
For 35 minutes, Kepler said she was stuck inside the store, worrying about her teenage daughter who was home alone.
“She was pretty scared because she saw the trees come down,” Kepler said. “I wanted to leave, but they wouldn’t let me leave, so I just kept her on FaceTime and tried to see if our neighbors… they came over and grabbed her, so that was good. Just keeping her safe was really just a priority.”
Luckily, their daughter is safe and sound, and so are they.
“Had you seen anything like it before?” I asked Wright.
He said, “Not this bad, especially not around here. This was the worst I’ve seen it over here with trees for sure.”
As of 8:30 p.m., Kepler and Wright were without power.
They were anticipating that it would come back on by 9:30 p.m.
Meanwhile, neighbors are already acting fast to chop the downed trees into pieces.
“They were in the neighbor’s driveway, so I grabbed my chainsaw, and then Sam, our neighbor, his kid came over with one, and we just got them all picked up, chopped them all up, and put them all in the tree lawn,” Wright said.
Stick with News 5 as we continue to monitor the latest on storm damage.
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