EXPECTING the 2019 Cleveland Browns to win is hopeless

At the beginning of the 2019 season, Cleveland Browns fans EXPECTED this talented team to win, but that goes against everything it means to be a Browns fan. Time to get back to HOPING.

Truth be told, the first half of this Cleveland Browns season has hit me harder than most. It’s been worse than no-win 2017. Worse than the drive or the fumble years. Worse than Johnny Football or the reign of PeeYou Jackson, even.

Worse than all of it because for the first time since 1973, I made a foolish leap of faith.

I actually expected the Browns to win.

One look at that OBJ-infused offense, one glimpse of that swole Garrett/Ward/Greedy D, one taste of that 5-3 2018 finish and I totally accepted Baker Mayfield and John Dorsey as my football saviors. Amen. Still do.

But that made me do something I’ve never done as a die-hard Browns fan:

I expected THESE Cleveland Browns to win. To do well. To impress. Ha!

Sounds funny just to say it, as believable as,

“I expect THIS Nigerian Prince to have cash for me,” or

“I expect THIS exotic dancer to love the REAL me,” or

“I expect THIS hair piece to fool people with working eyeballs.”

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No offense meant, just disappointed, since this entire 2019 offseason, for the first time since 1973, I held my bruised Browns’ chin up high, believing firmly that finally, THIS front office, THIS franchise quarterback, THIS talented roster would get the job done.

Handily. Impressively. Unquestionably. Win-nably.

In fact, I expected it. Ha!

Boy, was I wrong. Kills me just to type that, but the Browns are 2-5 and look thoroughly broken. Confused. Lost.

Of course, that doesn’t change a thing, not going anywhere – once a Browns fan, always a Browns fan. But it does teach me a lesson. A tough one. A retrospectively obvious one, really. Being a Browns fan isn’t about expecting to win. Nope. Not yet.

Want that? Ha! Then be a Patriots fan. Move to Pittsburgh. Lease a Lamborghini.

No, being a Browns fan isn’t about expecting to win – never has been since the Super Bowl era began. Think of it like “Rocky.”

Nobody expected Rocky to win, not at first. But he worked hard and overcame his limited finances, so by the end you hoped he’d beat the champ.

Same thing with being a Browns fan – it’s about hoping to win, but as the underDawg. As the come-from-behinder. As the perennial walk-on who has to earn everything he gets.

Maybe someday the Browns’ underDawg reputation will change – nothing a few Lombardi’s in Cleveland won’t cure. But for now, I’m going to nix my expectations and go back to just hoping.

I hope Baker Mayfield finds Odell Beckham Jr. more often and gives him a chance to help the Browns win.

I hope Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt work well together (ala Breida and Coleman in San Fran) and give our final eight opponents something to have to game plan around.

I hope the Browns’ defense and offensive line keep getting better and learn how to play pro football without being penalized every other down.

I hope all the trash-talking stops and the on-field proving starts.

I hope Freddie Kitchens is the answer and that he will use the rest of the season to fine tune Cleveland’s underDawg that’s more than capable of winning a few more matchups.

I hope the Browns finish out the season going 8-0 and snag a miracle Wild Card Playoff slot.

I hope in February Baker holds the Lombardi Trophy up high and yells, “Adrian!” I mean, “Dorsey, we did it!”

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I hope all that happens and more. They (we) deserve it. And it’s entirely possible.

But I don’t expect any of it. Not yet.

I’m a Cleveland Browns fan – why would I?

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