It wasn't supposed to be this hard. The Cleveland Browns were supposed to have been better than 3 and 13, but that is how the won-lost statistics ended. It has been a long time coming for a truly winning football team in Cleveland, but the wait will have to be longer.
The Cleveland Browns on the field are the second edition of a historic franchise. When the later owner Art Modell pulled the team out of Cleveland in 1995 and moved his franchise to Baltimore to become the Baltimore Ravens, the dagger was driven deep into Cleveland's heart.
However, Cleveland fought to hold on to the team history, colors, and name. So when the NFL granted Cleveland a new franchise four years later, there was a feeling the city had battled so hard, surely, Cleveland would be destined to play playoff football. But the times have been hard for this second coming of the Cleveland Browns.
After a dismal 3-13 season, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam fired general manager Ray Farmer and head coach Mike Pettin. "Here we go again," is the cry rolling from the upper deck of Cleveland Browns First Energy Stadium. The lament rolls down the steps into the streets of Cleveland and the crying sound permeates the asphalt and concrete.
Cleveland is crying about the dismal season, but also about the hard job of finding replacents for Farmer and Pettine and many on their team. We have weathered much in the 16 years of the new Cleveland Browns. The crying comes on the heels of heartbreaking losses of the first Browns team, the one which played in Cleveland before they were renamed the Ravens which eventually went to a Super Bowl championship.
I was in the upper deck of the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium on a bone-chilling January day in 1987 when the Browns lost to the Denver Broncos in the final seconds of a game which would have put the Clevelanders into the Super Bowl had the Browns won. My friend, Otis Howard, and I earlier begun celebration of an expected Browns win for the AFC Championship.
"We're going to the Super Bowl if we can just hold on," Otis and I repeatedly said to each other while we drank bourbon from a flask we had brought alone. The wind whipped hard off the frozen Lake Erie, which was a football's throw from the stadium. The temperature was so low on the thermometer, it had to be in the single digits or close to it. Still, Otis and I pulled on that bourbon and sang to each other in the upper deck.
My friend, Otis Howard, and I shivered in the upper deck of the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium when the city's football lost a heartbreaking game in the contest which would forever be referred to as The Drive.
But something happened on the way to the Super Bowl. It was later nicknamed The Drive because quarterback John Elway of the Broncos picked apart the Browns defense and engineered a picture-perfect textbook offense in the final seconds to put the Broncos on top and dash all of Cleveland's hopes.
That is some of the deep background which hangs over this town like a dark cloud. It is not just this season of 3 an 13. It is a lot of the last several years. Still, I am optimistic the Browns can find their way because there is no playoff in being pessimistic.
I am a Clevelander. I have supported Cleveland sports teams since I was old enough to know the difference between a football, a baseball, and a basketball. My parents, who are now gone, loved the teams and I inherited that love for my hometown representatives on sports fields of competition.
So I am throwing my support behind the Cleveland Browns again. Really, I am throwing my prayer on them. I am not beyond pleading for them to win. Without a doubt, I am begging them to find a winning way. I am tied to the Cleveland Browns. If my father were still living, he would tell me that "we'll get 'em next year."
Well, Dad, this is next year. This is the new year of 2016. I'm raising my fists again urging the team to win. Otis and I will get together again and drain a flask of bourbon just as we did in 1987 when we almost .... almost .... yes, almost went to the Super Bowl.
Here we go, Brownies. Here we go. Here we go, Brownies here we go. Here we go ......\
##
