Browns fan longing for a day when the team is not pitied

The Cleveland Browns have not made it easy on their fans since 1999, who generally have to deal with pity, rather than respect, from opposing fans.

Everywhere I go these days my Browns gear elicits uncomfortable mockery.

Having grown on Cleveland’s east side (my family moved from Virginia at the end of 1972), if someone saw a Browns jersey with Pruitt, Sipe, Alzado or Kosar on it back then, a conversation would inevitably start up about recent wins or the possibility of being included in the upcoming playoffs.

Not anymore – not since the Browns unenviable rebirth in 1999.

It’s been tough wearing the old orange and brown since then, especially if you find yourself living far from Cleveland and the sweet comfort of other true believers.  My home is in Dallas now, and these southern fans love the NFL almost as much as the Ohio does.

“Woo boy, sorry about ya’all’s season.”

Cowboys fans are polite enough about the Browns. At least they (sort of) understand what it’s like to experience a down stretch in the NFL.  Sure, Browns fans would kill for the Cowboys latest 9-7 season, yet neither team is in the playoffs. Of course, when Cowboy fans complained about their “too many quarterbacks” problem last year, it felt like being a starving hobo who has to listen to the chubby diner complain about too many menu choices.

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Sucks to be you, is a phrase that Browns fans have been told all too often.

That’s the embarrassing message the comes from just about every other team’s fans the second they notice the Browns stuff I’m wearing and it kills me every time.  Apparently, my cap (Brown with an orange helmet on the front panel) reminded the passing Steelers fan on the sidewalk that the Steelers are consistently better than the Browns.

“Browns suck,” he whispered with a smile.

“Only since the ’90s,” I whispered back.

When it comes to the ongoing rivalry between the Steelers and Browns, Steelers fans like to dwell on the present, whereas most Browns fans depend on the past to keep the faith alive.  We older fans remember that up until the 1990s, the Browns had won 48 of those match-ups to the Steelers total of 32.  Sure, The Browns have only won ten against them since then, but for three of those years we didn’t even have a team.

The worst is when other fans show the Browns pity.

For example, Benny, the cashier at the corner store where I buy my beer, is a huge New England Patriots fan.  He’s always wearing his red-white-and-blue team paraphernalia and whenever I walk into the store in my Dawg Pound shirt, he just shakes his head sadly at me.

“You fellahs need ya’self a Tom Brady.”

“Yeah, in a few years, so will the Patriots.”

Sure, the subtle “shouldn’t have unloaded Jimmy Garappolo” burn felt good for a second, but after watching Brady and the Patriots pummel the Tennessee Titans on Saturday, it’s time to buy beer elsewhere and avoid the “told you so” lectures that Benny has prepared.

Maybe once USC quarterback Sam Darnold gets comfortable in his Browns uniform, and head coach Hue Jackson and whatever veteran quarterback the Browns pick up (Case Keenum of the Minnesota Vikings? Kirk Cousins of the Washington Redskins? Alex Smith of the Kansas City Chiefs?) figure out how to not ruin another potential gem at that position, it will be time to return to that store and tell Benny, “No, I told YOU so.”

Until then, all Browns fans can do is have faith.

Faith in the rebuild that’s still incomplete.  Faith in a talented coaching staff that so far has proven nothing. Faith in the owners and front office who say they want to be winners but who (so far) aren’t. Faith in the young players the Browns draft and acquire, and faith in players like Duke Johnson, Joe Thomas, Joel Bitonio, Kevin Zeitler, David Njoku, Jabrill Peppers, Christian Kirksey, Josh Gordon, Myles Garrett, Danny Shelton, Emmanuel Ogbah, CoreyColemon and lots of others who never gave up in 2017, even when others did.

Being a Browns fan means being a crazy optimist and believing that the Browns are about to turn the floundering ship around and become a young team with yearly playoff potential like the Vikings, Los Angeles Rams or the Jacksonville Jaguars.

What a time for Browns gear that will be.

Next: The Kirk Cousins conundrum

Benny the cashier will see the orange and brown coming and instead of pity, he’ll reek of envy and regret. When he hears, “You fellahs need ya’self a Sam Darnold,” he’ll have to say, “We had one, but then we traded him to San Francisco because we thought our boy Brady was invincible.”

That’s when I’ll look him in the eyes and say what every Browns fan has been waiting to say to other fans since 1999: “Sucks to be YOU.”