DAWG-GONE IT

Cleveland Browns fans look on during the season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sept. 10 at FirstEnergy Stadium. The Browns put up a good fight but Pittsburgh came through and took the win, 21-18.

So much for whatever concern may still have been lingered about how Browns players would comport themselves on Sept. 10 during ceremonies before the 2017 season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers at First Energy Stadium.

In a show of unity with Cleveland’s first responders, the Browns were joined in their charge onto the sunsoaked field by members of the city’s police, fire and EMT departments.

With fans signaling their approval with cheers, the players and first responders then stood shoulder-toshoulder during the singing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” by Lorain native Juan Cortes.

Concerns about how the pre-game sequence might play out sprang from the decidedly mixed public reaction to various Browns players electing to kneel during the playing of the National Anthem before the Aug. 21 preseason game against the New York Giants, also at First Energy Stadium.

Cleveland Police Patrolman’s Association president Steve Loomis was among the most vocal critics of the kneeling, which the players said was their expression of solidarity with protests against fatal shootings of unarmed black men by police in recent years and months.

The reach of those protests extended into the NFL last season when Colin Kaepernick, then a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, began kneeling during the playing of the anthem.

In the immediate wake of the gesture by Browns players in the preseason game, the union announced Cleveland police, fire and EMT units would not hold the giant U.S. flag on the field during the season opener’s pregame program.

Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams strongly criticized the public stance taken by Loomis and the union. Williams met with Browns officials on Sept. 7. That meeting produced the alternative plan to have the first responders be part of the pre-game charge.

TIM PHILLIS — THE NEWS-HERALD

RON SCHWANE — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Cleveland Browns players and Cleveland police stand together during the national anthem before an NFL football game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns, Sunday, Sept. 10, in Cleveland.

DAVID RICHARD — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Members of the Cleveland police and the Cleveland Browns players stand together during the national anthem before an NFL football game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cleveland Browns, Sunday, Sept. 10, in Cleveland.