To my beloved Cleveland Browns:
I’ve been a loyal fan since 1964, when I watched Jim Brown, Lou Groza, and Frank Ryan take our team to championships. After 58 years of loyalty we have the right to let them know, unmistakably, that we expect them to perform on the field, be competitive, and win. Whether they do well or lousy believe me, we let them know how we feel about it.
I was born in and raised around Cleveland. We live and die with our team every year. I’ve lived through the Dawg Pound, The Kardiac Kids, Bernie Kosar, The Fumble, The Drive, the Couch debacle, and now this. If Crennel is wise, he’ll take the fans’ anger and criticism to heart; make the necessary changes to bring this team back to championship caliber. I doubt that he will be back next season, even if he makes it through this one.
Remember this: (posted on a stooler site, no less)
“The Browns entered the NFL in 1950, and they promptly won the first eight games against the Steelers, and extended that streak to 16-of-18. Then starting in 1974, the first of Pittsburgh’s four Super Bowl championship seasons, the Steelers won 15 of 18.
But if there has been one constant in this series, it’s been that the Browns have had little success in Pittsburgh since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970. During that span, the Browns are 6-28 in Pittsburgh, but each time the Browns travel here and win it’s a signal of a bad season for the Steelers.
The Browns won in Pittsburgh in 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1999 and 2003. Five of those were playoff-less seasons for the Steelers, four were sub-.500 seasons as well, and in 1989 the Browns’ 51-0 win at Three Rivers Stadium was the most lopsided defeat in Steelers history.”
“But perhaps Clevelanders can comfort themselves by remembering the post-World War II Browns – the greatest dynasty in pro football history, a team that dominated not one but two leagues and an organization that literally changed the complexion of pro sports.”
I’m sick to death of what has happened to this team in the last 40 years. Even when they win, they claw their way to the top just to fling themselves off the cliff. Cleveland Browns fans are the most loyal and tenacious in the country…just ask Art Modell.
But, I’m tired. I will start watching and cheering again when they start winning again.
It may be awhile.