Cleveland Browns: Three offseason fan types – which are you?

PART TWO – The fan camps

For the sake of this ridiculous yet oddly philosophical argument, let’s say there are three camps of offseason Browns fans.

Camp 1 – These fans are hopeful and optimistic about the Browns chances next season.

• Why? Maybe they’re newer fans, or maybe they’re just ‘glass half full’ kinds of people, but either way, every offseason they are confident that this time the Browns will raise their sinking ship;
• They like to say, “We can do this!” even in the fourth quarter;
• They see the merit in every front office move and still believe head coach Jackson still has what it takes;
• They believe Taylor will start and Mayfield will learn all season and believe that this team could win at least six to eight games, maybe more, maybe even playoffs or Super Bowl, by Dorsey. “Can you imagine?”

Their bucket-of-hope is obviously humongous, unlike:

Camp 2 – These fans are always pessimistically realistic.

• This isn’t their first Browns’ rodeo and they’ve been burned by false optimism so many times that they’ll be Modell-ed if they’ll fall for it once again;
• They’re the first ones to point out missteps and say, “See? I told you (list too large to include) wouldn’t work!”;
• Even when good things happen for the Browns, they’ll tell you why those things aren’t as g.d. cheery as they’re being painted;
• They’re confident that the coaches will panic and bench Taylor and put Mayfield in too early and ruin him forever like they did with (list too large to include);
• They say the Browns will be lucky if they win anything over four games next season, but three or less is much more likely. Playoffs? “You’re high, dude.”

And their cask-of-doubt weighs the heaviest, unlike:

Camp 3 – These fans have no interest in taking a side this early on.

• The Browns could go either way, how would I know which?;
• Their battle cry is “Meh, let’s wait and see!”;
• They’re basically positive thinkers who can see the merit in some of the offseason moves but they’re smart and cautious enough to learn from the Brown’s questionable past;
• Taylor will probably start, but Mayfield’s a real competitor and what about (Dorsey forbid) injuries?;
• How many wins? Playoffs? “Meh – let’s wait and see.”

Somehow they balance their buckets out evenly, probably with beer.

Of course, there’s always a Camp 4.

These are bandwagoners bringing in buckets-of-leeches and alcohol. They suddenly pop along for the fun part of this Browns turnaround but will bail if the losses begin.

To these fair-weather fans,

Camp 1 fans say, “Welcome aboard, the more the merrier, Go Browns!”

Camp 2 fans say, “Not welcome here, you’re weak fans at best, Go Away! And Go Browns.”

Camp 3 fans say, “They could be all right, they could be annoying, meh – at least they brought beers.”

Browns fans, most NFL fans, measure their team’s hopes and doubts against each other every offseason, and that’s half the fun of football.

The hope feels way heavier this Browns’ offseason because (list too large to include), but the doubts are tough to ignore without wins.

And by Dorsey, the fans love it.

Next: Veterans whose roster spot is in question

American football is a tremendous sport to watch and the Cleveland Browns are an exciting (and frustrating) team to root for, no matter which camp you happen to be in.