THE STEELERS-BROWNS TURNPIKE RIVALRY
A trip to see if that really is hope on wrong side of a one-sided rivalry
The oversized flower pots outside FirstEnergy Stadium are in full bloom, orange and white roses surrounding the statue of Otto Graham, almost eerily on-the-nose as far as football metaphors go. Hope springs eternal here for the beloved Browns, as evidenced by one such arrangement that reads “Here We Go Brownies, Here We Go!”
On a sleepy Wednesday afternoon by Lake Erie, the surrounding area is mostly deserted, save for a construction crew toiling away outside the southwest gate, just a little more symbolism for a franchise that’s perpetually rebuilding.
But on this day, the only chill in the air is one of anticipation, because these particular Browns are off to their best start since they returned to Cleveland 21 years ago, and their best overall since 1994. Yes, these particular Browns are 4-1 and preparing to take center stage against a Pittsburgh team that doesn’t want to be overshadowed. The Steelers are 4-0 for the first time in the past four decades and have the pleasure of hosting a battle between these two teams that is the
fifth-best in their storied histories, at least according to combined winning percentages. And they’ve never met with only one loss between themthis far into a season.
“It’s a rivalry that runs deep,” said second-year Steelers linebacker Devin Bush, not-so-carefully dropping the ‘R’ word, which teammate Joe Haden, a former Brown, deftly avoided. “Definitely one that we get up for, the organizations get up for, as well asfans.”
Of course, there are plenty of other storylines that add to the intrigue. Myles Garrett will be visiting Heinz Field with the rest of his team, something he didn’t do in Week 13 last year, on account of his suspension. You know, the one resulting from his onfield attack of Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph, who had his own helmet swung at him and was actually hit with it by Cleveland’s starpass-rusher.
Not only that, but in the aftermath, Garrett — who was not made available to Pittsburgh media this week — claimed he was incensed by Rudolph because he used a racial slur. That set off a firestorm calling the reputations of two football men into question, and while Rudolph has vehemently denied that charge from the start, there has been no resolution and there likely never will be.
“I’m just ready to play between the six seconds the average play lasts. After that, that’s on them,” said Garrett, who has just one penalty (offsides) this year, and added that he hasn’t thought about approaching Rudolph on the field pregame to clear the air.
Reporters in Ohio believe Garrett, 24, feels more comfortable now, and that the ugly moment with Rudolph was a turning point in his life. He even told the Cleveland Plain Dealer he considered quitting football during what turned out to be a six game ban.
Before Garrett ever went after Rudolph, then got pummeled by center Maurkice Pouncey for it, Browns players had three helmet-to-helmet hits they were fined for, two that knocked Steelers receivers out of the game and one that got safety Damarious Randall ejected. Randall, now in Seattle, didn’t play two weeks later in the rematch at Heinz Field, a game without incident.
New Browns coach Kevin Stefanski is adamant that will be the case again this week, that these two teams have too much at stake in the AFC North Division to allow any emotions to bubble up. In Pittsburgh, the chatter is about whether this is the biggest Steelers-Browns game since their 2002 wild-card meeting. In Cleveland, the local radio hosts have been asking if this is the biggest Browns game, period, since the last time they had a winning season.
Tickets weren’t selling for less than $330 as of Friday afternoon. “Start lighting up the lines now, because we need to know, is this the most meaningful game since 2007?”a Cleveland sports talk show asked midweek.
John Stiles, a Cleveland sports fan since “Brian Sipe, RedRight 88,” happened to be listening to 92.3 The Fan that morning on his way to work. Stiles is the general manager of the Winking Lizard Tavern on East 9th Street downtown, which he calls the last bar you see on your way to the stadium and the firstone on the walk back.
Despite COVID-19 restrictions, the Winking Lizard still opens at 10 a.m. for home games, noon for away games andoff weeks. Stiles walks up to one of his regulars seated at the bar — plexiglass on each side of the patron’s seat, as a sign of the times — and asks how he’s feeling about Sunday.
“Cautious ly optimistic ,” is how Stiles feels. “As a lifelong Browns fan, we’re always waiting for that other shoe to drop.”
Stiles expects to have plenty of energy Sunday at the tavern, and it’ll be “loud and obnoxious and raucous” despite not having bodies four and five deep at the bar like they used to. In fact, everyone has to be sitting.
Lopsided results aside, Stiles would love for this to become a reinvigorated rivalry. Given the Garrett fiasco last year, he insists the Steelers had this game circled on the schedule, “and they’ve got his picture on the locker room wall right now.” But don’t mistake that for foolhardy arrogance. While some see the Browns as Pittsburgh’s little brother, their fans may feel more like a jilted lover.
“It’s like that ex-girlfriend that you always still think is hot, but you’ve been burned too many times by her,” Stiles said. “She’s asking you out again and you want to hold her hand, but don’t quite know if we’re ready for that commitment yet.”
He’s also unsure if the Browns will ever beat Ben Roethlisberger again, which they’ve done precisely twice in 16 years, and not a single time in Pittsburgh. While some Browns fans might just as soon want to see Roethlisberger hang it up, or had their fingers crossed he’d do so after his season-ending injury last year, Stiles wants to beat him.
Same goes for Dean Ramicone, a suburban Cleveland native who doesn’t have many fond memories of this series. He mostly just thinks back to the Steelers beating up on his Browns for most of his 22 years of life. But he believes this team, with a fresh coaching staff, is moving in the right direction. And Ramicone knows a thing or two about ball, given that he’s a redshirt senior linebacker forthe University of Akron.
“I do think this year is different. It’s going to be a tough game,” Ramicone said. “I think it’s good that Big Ben is in there because Steeler Nation can’t give any excuses when the Browns win —well, if they win.”
Two of Ramicone’s teammates are new to living in Northeast Ohio, but they’re Pittsburghers through and through. Freshman football players Tony Grimes, of Penn Hills, and Michael Snowden, who graduated from Obama Academy, have found it a bit odd adjusting to enemy territory, at least in a year when the Browns are actually-thriving.
“It feels kind of weird,” Grimes said, “because when you see teachers’ discussion posts, or they make announcements, they’ll be like, ‘Another Browns win!’ I just giggle to myself like, ‘Oh, here we go again.’ ”
Like other Steelers fans in Browns country, for the first time in their lives, they’ve also found it difficult to catch their team on TV some weekends. That won’t be an issue for this one, and Grimes is predicting a two-touchdown winfor the home team.
“I’m with Tone,” Snowden said, “Steelers by 14. The Steelers are too turnt. The defense is clicking, offense is clicking.”
If they were of age, they would have no trouble watching the Steelers each week on the West Side of Cleveland. Less than 20 minutes from where the Browns play, in the Kamm’s Corners neighborhood, there’s a nondescript shopping plaza that’s home to one of the few Steelers/Browns bars you’ll find anywhere.
When Rick Skains founded Working Class Brewery in 2017 as a labor of love (he’s also a full-time music teacher for Cleveland City Schools) he was a black-and-gold fan in the wrong place to be one. He’s actually from Houston originally, but when he moved to Cleveland in 1990, friends and colleagues — some of whom were connected to Pittsburgh beer powerhouse Fat Head’s Saloon — got him into the Steelers. Good move, considering the Browns relocated five years later and haven’t been much competition since coming back.
“That’s what Steelers fans here say: It’s not a rivalry anymore,” Skains
“It’s like that ex-girlfriend that you always still think is hot, but you’ve been burned too many times by her. She’s asking you out again and you want to hold her hand, but don’t quite know if we’re ready for that commitment yet.”
— John Stiles, general manager of Winking LIzard Tavern and lifelong Browns fan
said. “The real rivalry with Pittsburgh is probably the original Browns in Baltimore.”
In these trying times for small businesses, Skains would love to see a hearty crowd of fans from both sides at his taproom for this pivotal Steelers-Browns matchup, though his demographic is your typical brewery clientele — middle-aged folks who flood the place for trivia nights, or at least used to before the pandemic hit. Still, Skains had visions of being a Steelers oasis the first couple of years he opened. He remembers cheering for the Steelers himself at a bar in town aptly named Rivals, which welcomed Pittsburgh fans to congregate in a back room on game days.
“Then, for whatever reason, they booted the Steelers fans out of there,” Skains said, “which didn’t make any sense to me because they were packing them in. Outside of that, there really wasn’t anywhere to go in Cleveland, so we’ve definitely tried to cater to the Steelers fans.”
Last year, though, they tried to be more Browns-centric. Skains and his fiancee, Faith Barton, switched it up a bit at the start of this season. They had plans to flip a coin to determine which team, Steelers or Browns, would have the audio feed on for their game, then switched to majority rules. Barton recalls one day there was a Browns fan who was so dismayed the Steelers were also on one of the screens that he left.
“People seem to develop a lot of anger toward the Steelers here in Cleveland,” Skains said.
And he knows from experience. There’s no Pittsburgh memorabilia on the wall at his brewery, no “Steelers Country” flag out front. Other than some social media postings throwing up a flare for any displaced supporters, you wouldn’t know it’s a Steelersestablishment.
“We’ve gotten a lot of hate,” Skains said. “I’m trying to run a business and, unfortunately, it’s a business decision. It’s definitely frustrating for me.”
It’s fitting that Working Class Brewery is a bar divided, because Skains and Barton are also a house divided. She’s been a Browns fan since the late 1970s, and when they first met, she naturally gave him a hard time about his allegiances. They hope for a good turnout Sunday — Steelers versus Browns usually brings some of their best crowds — but once it’s over, there won’t be any hard feelings at their home in North Olmsted.
Barton whispers that when the Steelers aren’t playing, Skains joins her in rooting for the Browns. He admits that’s true, “just to keep the peace.” But he also gives her grief for not always being on the edge of her seat, and sometimes not even in her seat when the Browns kick off.
“I got to the point in the last six years or so, with them not winning many games, I would tape them,” Barton said.“And if they didn’t win, I wouldn’t watch it. I’m not wasting three hours. But I feel a little better this year.”