In a game truly befitting their franchise for the last 10 years, the Cleveland Browns found themselves on the wrong end of yet another gut-wrenching defeat on Sunday, this time losing 10-6 to the Indianapolis Colts at Cleveland Browns Stadium.
Only the Browns could hold one of the greatest offenses in the NFL history to less than 220 yards and still find a way to lose. But that’s what the Browns did, as once again the offense was predictable and ineffective and failed to score a touchdown for the second straight week.
Remarkably, you actually have to go all the way back to the opening play of the fourth quarter versus the Bills on Nov. 17 for the last time the Browns reached the end zone, when Jerome Harrison sprinted 72 yards for the score. Since that play, the Browns have entered the red zone eight times and have managed just five field goals.
Sadly, Browns fans may soon be yearning for this type of offensive ineptitude.
With Brady Quinn and Derek Anderson now both lost for the season, the Browns may not score another touchdown until 2009. With all due to respect to Ken Dorsey (he’s yet to complete a pass since joining the Browns in 2006), it doesn’t look good for the Browns and their so-called “offense.”
Oh, and did I mention that the Browns close the season with games that include trips to 11-1 Tennessee, 6-5-1 Philadelphia, and 9-3 Pittsburgh, all of whom boast some of the most aggressive and suffocating defenses in the NFL?
The Browns are headed for their eighth sub-.500 season since returning to the league in 1999, and this season ranks among the most disappointing in franchise history. From top to bottom, there is no doubt that the organization is in serious need of a significant makeover. But the Browns’ front office, coaching staff, and 53-man roster aren’t the only ones that need a serious, widespread change in personnel and attitude.
The Browns’ 2008 performance has been horribly inconsistent. But if Browns fans want consistency, they should start by looking in the mirror.
This thought occurred to me yesterday as a chorus of sarcastic cheers echoed around me in the stadium as Derek Anderson writhed in pain after being sacked and tearing his MCL.
To these alleged “fans”: Are you kidding me?
I have always been proud to be a Browns fan. I live in Pittsburgh but have never been embarrassed to support my team in the heart of Steelers Country, even though the Steelers have dominated the Browns for what seems like forever. While the Browns have had their struggles and disappointments, I love—and will always love—the franchise for its history and tradition and the passion of Browns fans across the world.
But with each passing game, it seems like this passion has turned into ignorance and a lack of class and knowledge that really is embarrassing.
Everyone criticized the Browns’ problems with staph infections and turned it into an explanation as to why so-called “big name” free agents don’t come to Cleveland. That might be part of it, but how can we ignore this disgusting fan behavior?
What’s even more outrageous is the fact that this isn’t the first time this has happened! Just ask Tim Couch.
Read or listen to some players’ post-game comments. The cheering of Anderson’s injury did not go unnoticed, and players around the league will also become aware of this. Given that, why would players want to come to Cleveland and be treated in such a despicable way? Or why would the ones that are here now want to stay?
Or what about Phil Savage’s magic f-bomb in an e-mail to a fan? While some people I know didn’t seem to have a problem with it, others took the opportunity to criticize the Browns GM for displaying a lack of class and dignity. But go to a Browns game at the Stadium or to a bar where the game is on, and you’ll think that curse words are a natural part of the football lingo.
I’ll be the first to admit I’ve been known to drop an f-bomb from time to time. Watching the Browns probably makes priests and rabbis swear too. So what’s with the double standard?
Of course, the quarterback situation in and of itself has been a double standard from the get-go. Derek Anderson was loudly booed practically every time he threw an incompletion against the Colts.
Hell, he was even booed when he completed passes if they weren’t long enough for fans’ liking. And of course, the fans went ballistic when the Browns had to settle for field goals after all those trips inside the red zone.
But I didn’t hear too much booing or very many complaints when Brady Quinn did pretty much the same thing against Buffalo and Houston. It’s not like Quinn was lighting it up with downfield passes, nor did he display any special ability to get the Browns in the end zone.
But if you’re The Golden Boy and the Anointed Savior of the Franchise, I guess you get a free pass.
Look, I’m not saying fans shouldn’t boo. Usually the team deserves it, especially with the way they’ve played this year. But to pick-and-choose who gets booed and who doesn’t, when just about everyone is deserving of it, is ridiculous.
It’s really easy for fans to criticize the organization when they don’t have anyone criticizing them for their shortcomings, isn’t it?
Hey, I’ve been a Browns fan my whole life. I’ve got a cute little picture of me in an old Hutch Browns helmet just like the one we always have to see of Brady Quinn. And I’ve been suffering with Browns fans everywhere for a long, long time. I know we all want to see a winner so bad it hurts.
But if Browns “fans” are the type of people who cheer their own players’ injuries and perpetuate double standards, call me something else.
18 comments Last one added 7 months ago — Leave a Comment
Mike Muratore 7 months ago
Couldn't agree more...
Expect that "Golden Boy" thing to last only as long as there isn't a suitable back-up... then you'll hear chants of his name.
It's fine and great to question the football moves and decisions that a player or team makes... but it takes a darker turn when you cheer a player being hurt. It's NOT okay when it's a member of the opposition... it's NOT okay when it is one of your own.
Lots of what the browns do deserves booed. But it's like a slow dramatic clap... there is a time and a place...
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The Coop 7 months ago
Thanks for your feedback Mike. Criticizing the coaches and being an "armchair quarterback" is as much a part of Americana as mom and apple pie.
I've always thought Browns fans were among the most educated and passionate fans. But cheering for not one but two quarterbacks' injuries, with Bottlegate and a loser fan runing on the field during a Steelers game sandwiched in between, Browns fans are developing a reputation for being low-class that is on par with Philly fans and Raiders fans.
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Dustin Haley 7 months ago
You know I don't recall hearing any chearing for DA's injury? I heard chearing when he was escorted off. There were a few people chanting Dorsey's name when he came in, but I'm not sure.
You make excellent points though. Cleveland fans are tough, emotional fans. As you implied, this being arguably the most disappointing season in CB history, I can understand why they realease that emotion. Cheering and Booing is very infectious in a football stadium. I would like to think that only a couple knuckleheads started the cheering and managed to gather a small following.
While I understand you're points, and as you know I was a DA supporter, I only agree with you to an extent on the double standards placed on our QB's. It does seem BQ gets a "free pass" but, a double standard can only exist if expectations and experience for both parties are equal, and they are not. Obviously the "experienced" Anderson only showed signs of regression throughout the season when the "expectations" for him were higher than that of Quinn.
Still, I don't believe that players around the league are going to care about who's fans are booing who. It's a money driven league and will remain that way.
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The Coop 7 months ago
Dustin, I highly respect your opinion and thoughts. Thank you very much for your feedback and for presenting the "other side."
I thought I was imagining the cheering myself - or thought it was limited to my section, the Upper Dawg Pound - but it has been widely reported by the media and commented on by the players and coaches.
Cleveland fans have been known as among the best in the NFL because of their passion. Who else would literally cause NFL Headquarters to shut down as a result of their protest of their team being taken away?
But it's a fine line between being passionate and being ignorant, and lately, Browns fans have been like a drunk person, staggering back and forth between sides. Of course, the drunk analogy is quite appropriate, as that might explain the fans' reaction.
While you make an excellent point about the difference in expectations of DA and BQ, Anderson was never treated like a QB who lead the team to their first 10-win season in a decade. Shouldn't he too have deserved some lee-way?
And your point about players being motivated by the money is spot on. But, all things - namely money - being equal, would a player choose the Browns over another suitor given what he knows about the the environment in which he would have to play?
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Dustin Haley 7 months ago
All things equal I'm sure that enviroment does comes into play.
I also think DA was treated unfairly initially. I couldn't believe the Brady chants started as early as the Dallas game. It was irratating to me because demanding for a chang is not how you support a team, especially ones with expectations. In fact I believe fans and media reactions to him were detrimental to his progress. He's a pro and should have move past that, but he didn't.
Eventually it ended up that these fans were "right all along" about DA and the snowball began. As more began (vocally?) supporting Quinn the rest of the team still struggled and DA had to bear the blame.
Regardless, those standards are not the same for Quinn.
It is unfortunate, for lack of a better term, that CB fans acted the way we did this year. It's as much our blame as any. IMO objectivity is key to being a good fan. As with anything else, when you rely completely on emotion, you're going to make choices.
Unfotunately most fans don't think as objectively as we do, and is a problem I run into often when having discussions with friends, etc.
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David-S Serdinak 7 months ago
Excellent article, Coop. It's a sad fact that Browns' fans have been prone to disgraceful behavior for years. Only twice has an NFL game been forced to the other end of the field due to fan behavior; both were in Cleveland. Dime night had idiots running around for the Tribe. The snowball incident. Batteries thrown at Joey Bell. I don't think the Brown's fans would BOO an injured player on an opposing team....only their own. There are whole psychological profiles on why idiots behave idiotically. The fact is; Cleveland has reason to be embarrassed by their fan's behavior. We can't change the bad ones because you can't reason with the unreasonable. I hope all fans, players and the league know that those responsible are a small minority of the faithful.
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The Coop 7 months ago
Great points David. Like you said, I realize that in a stadium full of 70,000+ and fans across the world that number in the millions, a few classless individuals manage to lend a reputation to the majority who are great, passionate, educated fans.
You, me, and many others on B/R know how smart, loyal, and passionate Browns fans are. But the national media and NFL fans would never make such a distinction, so the reputation of Browns fans as classless and unknowledgeable is magnified.
Bottles flying, fans running on the field, cheering injured players.... these are the things that grab headlines. It's bad enough that our team stinks, do we have to exacerbate the issue with unsavory fan behavior?
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UBJ Dawg 7 months ago
Li'l Coop,
I guarantee you the Philly fans are worse...look what they did to Donovan last week.
And at 20,000 ft, let's be glad we have a team. We can all remember what it was like when Art packed up for Baltimore.
Better days will come.
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The Coop 7 months ago
Philly fans might be worse, but it shouldn't even be close. Browns fans have always been the best in the world. The fact that they are even showing a pattern of characteristics that are found in Philly fans is disturbing.
As for having a team, hell yes we're glad. But how much longer should Browns fans be allowed to use the move as an explanation for the team's futility? I know you would never suggest that we should just be glad to have a team when Stonehands drops a key pass, right?
The Browns have been back 10 years. With a widespread house-cleaning all but inevitable, how much longer does that delay the "better days" ?
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Scott Glisson 7 months ago
This is another blow to the city of Cleveland.
It was sick when they were booing, you might not like the guy, but come on, he got us to 10-6 last season and did an excellent job of things, no matter what team he was playing against.
It is completely disrespectful and distasteful to boo your own player when he gets injured. That is just wrong.
Shame on those individuals who felt the need to do that.
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Jeff Smirnoff 7 months ago
If the organization was competant than I think the fan behavior would be a lot better. It does not excuse the cheering for DA's injury however.
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The Coop 7 months ago
Hmm, I think what you mean to say is, if the organization was winning, the fan behavior would be better. Twelve months ago, did the organization look like it was incompetent? For the most part, the fan behavior was fine. Even though DA blew the Cincy game, fans still supported him during the final game vs. San Francisco.
It's beginning to look like a growing number of "fans" are front-runners who are just there to justify getting drunk on a Sunday afternoon and don't truly care to study the game, team, and organization enough to make educated assesments of its "state."
The organization is a bit in disarray, I'll give you that, but like you said, that does not excuse the low-class behavior and lack of objectivity by most fans.
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Jeff Smirnoff 7 months ago
The organization hasn't been competant from Day 1 in 1999. The fans are frustrated because of it. If there was any consistnacy from the organization then the behavior would reflect that.
Once again, nto excusing the behavior, but I think DA has been the whipping boy this year when it should be the organization as a whole.
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Christopher Maher 7 months ago
Circa 1993, after Bill Belichick had benched hometown favorite Bernie Kosar for Vinny Testaverde, 80,000 fans in the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium erupted in cheers when Testaverde was writhing on the turf after an injury.
I watched this game on my old-school Trinitron, and the cheers of the fans were inaudible at the point of Anderson's injury, and only the media and in-game eyewitnesses even brought it up.
Cheering an injury to your own QB is never classy, but my point is Browns fans have done this since time immemorial. If you want to be the most popular man in Cleveland, get a gig as the backup QB.
Another point: After the three-year hiatus of the franchise, Browns fans appear to have lost the knowledge and passion that once made them respected. The deafening roar of old Municipal Stadium has been replaced by corporate indifference in Cleveland Browns Stadium. The fans, as a collective, don't know when to cheer, when to boo, or pretty much not know anything but when to go get more beer.
Since the move, I have refused to set foot in Cleveland Browns Stadium. IMHO, a city that cannot even graduate half of its high schoolers had no business dropping over half a billion in corporate welfare on the NFL. I have sat in the warm comfort of my own home and those of others watching this farce of a franchise on television, and remembering and having been part of the storied crowds of Municipal Stadium, I feel that I would see more passion at a foreclosure hearing. The passion would be far more deserved, and it would only be slightly more painful to watch than the garbage foisted on Cleveland since 1999.
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The Coop 7 months ago
Thank you for your comments, Christopher. Interesting perspective.
I've got to hand it to you: it's rare that I find someone that's more cynical than me! Incidentally, I read your "open letter" to Randy Lerner and really enjoyed it.
It's a sad commentary that the evolution of Browns fans has soured you to the point of refusing to go to games at CBS. I drive 2 1/2 hours from Pittsburgh for each home game hoping to just get a little glimpse of hope that the organization - and their fans - are on the way up.
Still - you help make my point about a few losers giving "the collective" a bad reputation. Nevertheless, I do believe that the educated, classy fans are still in the majority. It's just a little more difficult to see it than it should be or was in the past.
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David-S Serdinak 7 months ago
Chris, there is a point to the fans changing. The average, knowledgeable fan can hardly afford sporting events anymore. You have your corporates who really don't care; they're kissing a client's a$$ at the game. Then you have the few who rarely get in and are making a drunken "idiot day" of the outing. When Jacob's Field opened, all of the fans on their cell-phones made me want to puke!! There aren't as many die-hards at the game anymore. There ARE some so don't attack me, you attending die-hards! I disagree with your opinion on the stadium. Cleveland's financial stake in the stadiums are a good investment for the city. Besides, smokers and drinkers built 'em! Tax the Sinners!!!
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Christopher Maher 7 months ago
Coop:
Thanks for the props. You'll see more of my writing here soon.
You can still find knowledgeable Browns fans. Unfortunately, you will not find them at CBS, for the most part. I held season tickets in the original Pound from 1986-90, two rows off of the field. Having sat all over Cleveland Stadium from childhood through adolescence to adulthood, I found that the most knowledgeable fans sat in what was once simply known as "the bleachers."
These days, if you're looking for Browns fans who know the game, go to a house party or certain bars/restaurants around town. There, you will find the unicorn, also known as what's left of the American middle class.
After three years without football, they decided it was more important to keep the lights on, send their kids to college or feed the 401 (make that 200.5)k than sit in a police-state environment in a sterile stadium. Still, they watch the Browns week after week, hoping against all hope that the tradition their fathers and grandfathers passed on to them might breathe the slightest breath of life.
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Christopher Maher 7 months ago
Dave:
Gateway, aka the Progressive Field and Quicken Loans Arena complex, was a great investment into the city. For almost 300 dates a year, a potential of minimum 20,000 people a year are drawn into Cleveland, and the complex has transformed an area of downtown I would not have walked through in broad daylight previous to its construction into one of Cleveland's crown jewels.
However, the decision to build Cleveland Browns Stadium on the site of the old Municipal Stadium was short-sighted at best. This new facility, which I argue is poorly designed, is erected on land that could be used for better purposes.
Look at the Warehouse District and its renaissance. Now, imagine 600 more lakefront condos, valued at an average of $300,000, each paying $8400 in property taxes per annum to the city of Cleveland. Residents could walk to their corporate workplaces or take the underused Waterfront Line to public transportation, and instead of having a fiscal albatross around its neck (which is used maybe 12 times a year), Cleveland could have gained more than $5 million a year in property tax revenue alone.
Instead, the city is legally obligated, per terms of the lease, to replace the carpeting in the loges every five years. I'm not rich, but I've known people who could be described as "comfortable," and I've never known anyone who replaces all the carpeting in their home every five years, unless they were struggling when they first bought their home and bought the cheapest stuff they could find.
For eight real games a year plus two fake ones plus maybe two concerts, the city could have put Cleveland Browns Stadium elsewhere. Many of those sites would have had prime freeway access, the struggling neighborhoods around the site could have had renaissances of their own, and Cleveland could have been a winner, even if its football team wasn't.
Instead, we are saddled with a financial drain on a city that can't afford it to build a joke of a stadium to seat fans that aren't for a football team that isn't. Nice.
Thank you, Mayor Yellow!
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