Die-hard Browns fans finally might have a winner
Cleveland is a Browns town. Through the good — Paul Brown, No. 32 and Bernie — and bad — Randy Lerner, Brandon Weeden and Dwayne Rudd’s helmet toss — nasal-voiced fans have rejoiced and suffered with their Brownies.
But mostly suffered. Even without considering recent history — only two winning seasons since returning as an expansion team in 1999 — playmaking has proved to be painfully subpar since Cleveland joined the AFC in
the 1970 NFL merger.
It is easy to forget, given the abomination that was the past decade, that the 1970s were no great shakes, either. From 1970 to 1979, the Browns went 72-70 with only two playoff appearances.
When you get right down to it, the overall lack of success — only
12 of 26 winning seasons from 1970 to when Art Hewhoshallnotbenamed announced in 1995 he would move the team to Baltimore — makes one wonder why Cleveland has stuck it out through thick and usually thin. The Browns are one of only four existing NFL teams to never play in a Super Bowl, joining Detroit, Jacksonville and Houston. And the Jags (1995) and Texans (2002) did not exist for the majority of Super Bowl history.
But Cleveland and football just click. An equality of passion existed in the late 1940s to mid-1950s, when the Indians won one World Series (1948) and played in another (1954), and again in the 1990s when the Tribe played in two Fall Classics. And lost both. Ditto 2016.