By mid-January every year, Browns fans like me are packing up our brown and orange jerseys, making the proverbial comment that “there’s always next year” and settling in to watch other NFL teams go to the playoffs.
I admit that I do not paint my face brown and orange, tailgate at the Muni lot or sit in the Dawg Pound every Sunday. But in days leading up to the season opener and every week thereafter, I always wear my Browns jerseys and seldom miss a game — glued to my TV, with the sound muted and listening to sports commentators Jim Donovan and Doug Dieken on the radio. None of that anti-Browns national media bias for me.
I guess I was born in the right city. Orange happens to be my favorite color and, as a graduate of Bowling Green State University, whose colors are also brown and orange, I have managed to collect quite a wardrobe that works for alumni events and the Cleveland Browns.
But after yesterday’s game, I took the Browns scarf off the new orange coat, put my brown-and-orange shoes on the back shelf of my closet, and stowed my Cleveland Browns purse in the attic. I hung my orange leather jacket away with my summer clothes, hoping maybe I could wear it a few times in the spring. Same with my brown-and-orange parka and stylish brown-and-orange hats. I even packed away my Cleveland Browns sweatpants and considered donating the gaudy Browns slippers that a cousin of mine sent me a few years ago to the Goodwill. Maybe you could call it Cleveland Browns withdrawal.
We had our hopes up so high this season and the national media pumped up our collective egos.
I have thought for many years that there was a curse on the Browns. Maybe the truth is the stadium is built on top of an ancient Native American burial ground. That is as good a reason as any to account for the fact that the Browns have never been to the Super Bowl; why we haven’t been the winners of the AFC Central Division since 1989; and why players seemingly use Cleveland as a farm team to practice and go to other teams to show their real stuff.
Coaches come and go. Don’t forget that Bill Belichick used to coach for Cleveland. Quarterbacks come and go. And the Browns make decisions in the draft that baffle sports pundits far more astute than I am when it comes to rating prospects. Don’t forget we turned down Ben Roethlisberger. But we remain loyal fans.
In 2016 Cleveland sports fans went nuts when the Cavaliers won the NBA Championship. There was literally dancing in the streets as downtown was mobbed with celebrants. If Clevelanders showed up with that kind of enthusiasm for the Cavaliers, I could only imagine what it would be like if the Browns went to the Super Bowl. But that’s probably a pipe dream.
The hopes Cleveland fans put in Baker Mayfield and Kevin Stefanski have not materialized. And I for one am just about tired of the Baker Mayfield TV commercials that have him living at the stadium. They have gotten really old.
Stefanski let Case Keenum warm the bench during the Pittsburgh game as Mayfield struggled with injuries but insisted on playing. We lost. On Sunday, he finally played Keenum against Cincinnati and we won.
The Kardiac Kids have broken our hearts once again this year. But Cleveland is the comeback city, and by August, like the rest of the Browns loyalists I will be dusting off our brown and orange and hoping for the best.
Doug Dieken, a longtime fan favorite, called his last game yesterday. It was the end of an era. We will all miss Doug, but hopefully, it will be the beginning of a new era. With Browns fans, hope springs eternal and as we say every year — there’s always next season. And the next time I cut my finger I’ll still be bleeding brown and orange and hoping that I won’t be blue again next time this year.
C. Ellen Connally is a retired judge of the Cleveland Municipal Court. From 2010 to 2014 she served as the President of the Cuyahoga County Council. An avid reader and student of American history, she serves on the Board of the Ohio History Connection, is currently vice president of the Cuyahoga County Soldiers and Sailors Monument Commission and president of the Cleveland Civil War Round Table. She holds degrees from BGSU, CSU and is all but dissertation for a PhD from the University of Akron.
2 Responses to “CONNALLY: Brown + Orange = Blue in CLE”
DrBOP
Perfect take on an imperfect season. Thanks very much for your thoughts. Stay safe…..and WARM! ;>)
Dave McBean
The stadium is built on a landfill; the Lake Erie shoreline was just north of the existing RR tracks. Unlikely the site was an ancient burial grounds, though i do not doubt there are some bodies buried there.