CLEVELAND — If you’ve been to a Browns home game this season, you might have noticed a new tradition out on the field — sandwiched in between the National Anthem, coin toss, and kick off.
Thousands of screaming fans see a larger-than-life celebrity come out and smash a guitar in the opposing team's colors.
Cleveland legends and all-stars like Joe Thomas, Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Triston McKenzie, Austin Hedges, and Bernie Kosar have all taken part so far.
The whole thing lasts less than a minute, hyping up the crowd.
“Creating a moment where you have that energy for our fans against the opposing team, we always want to build home-field advantage,” said Danielle Lewis, senior director of fan experience for the Cleveland Browns.
And there’s a lot that goes into that minute. And we mean, a lot.
“I over-engineer everything,” said Jacob Mostoller, laughing. He’s the CEO and founder of Engineered to Entertain — and the man behind those smashable guitars.
“So they’re not real guitars although they certainly look like it,” Lewis said.
Mostoller has a background in mechanical engineering, with a passion for sports.
The Browns came to him with the idea before the season started — the Rock and Roll city wanted to create a spectacle, show the opposing teams who’s boss.
So Mostoller got to work.
The guitars are a mix of real guitar parts, 3D printed brackets to mount everything on to, and laser cut wood — all of it then carefully handpainted by local artists.
Because here, authenticity is the name of the game.
“The last thing we want to do is smash a guitar and someone point to it and say, 'hey that’s a fake guitar that is 3D printed,'” Mostoller said.
The wood is even pre-splintered with a laser cutter so it smashes exactly when and where you want it to smash. The guitars take many steps to create, but Mostoller says it takes about three to four days from start to finish and he makes them weekly as the Browns play.
And Mostoller stays busy, not just with the Browns.
He actually engineers props for teams all across the country.
“So it’s not just the Cavs, not just Browns, not just the Monsters, not just the Guardians,” said Mostoller. “Last time I counted, I’m doing stuff for like 60 different sports teams.”
Like Slider's giant pair of goggles, the Houston Astros' massive Mandalorian helmet and the thing that started his entire business - 3D printed supersized rings for the Cavs championship parade.
Because Mostoller doesn’t do anything halfway — mixing art, engineering, and technology.
And for fans — that’s a big win.
The plan is to do a celebrity guitar smash for all Browns home games — the lineup has already been decided but is staying top secret so you’ll have to tune in to find out.
Homa Bash is a reporter & anchor at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
