CLEVELAND — In Northeast Ohio, everyone (except for the occasional Steelers fan) roots for the Cleveland Browns, but there is another team they tend to cheer on as well.
During the Browns playoff run, fans had been cheering on another AFC team: the Buffalo Bills.
Buffalo may be only four hours away and our Lake Erie sibling, but there is another reason fans in Northeast Ohio tend to back them.
Back in 1996, Buffalo was one of two teams (the other being Pittsburgh, surprisingly) that voted against Art Modell moving the team to Baltimore.
When Cleveland's football team moved to Baltimore and didn't exist for those few years in the 90s, Buffalo would host Browns fans days so that football fans in Northeast Ohio were able to cheer on a team.
More than 20 years later, fans in Northeast Ohio remember what Buffalo did for them during the dark ages of no football in Cleveland.
Although the Battle of Lake Erie was something fans were looking forward to happening in the AFC Championship this weekend, don't be surprised if you see blue and red all over Cleveland.
