{"id":23559,"date":"2019-04-04T16:00:09","date_gmt":"2019-04-04T21:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/?p=23559"},"modified":"2019-04-03T14:28:01","modified_gmt":"2019-04-03T19:28:01","slug":"the-browns-are-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/sports\/2019\/04\/04\/the-browns-are-good\/","title":{"rendered":"The Browns Are Good?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cThe Browns are good.\u201d This is a statement many general sports fans never thought they would hear. It had developed into another cliche.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0For example, \u201cpigs will fly when the Browns are good.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Since the year 2000, the beloved Cleveland Browns went from a tradition to being the source of ample jokes. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Other than a playoff appearance in 2002, the only other winning season since 1995 was the \u201cDerek Anderson year\u201d in 2007.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0You can slowly start to unravel recent Browns history by going down a brief list of quarterbacks, which has become another long standing joke in a Cleveland department store window. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0They switch quarterbacks so often (some examples include Heisman Trophy winners Johnny Manziel and Robert Griffin III), that they stopped renewing a jersey and just started adding many different names, on an attached piece of paper, of the guys who were briefly starting.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0That list was starting to become absurdly long, and slowly developed into a symbol of the organization that had become the laughing stock of the NFL.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 Cleveland fans are mostly good sports, but at some point, the lack of hope has to settle in.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0 \u00a0Whenever it did, that energy is renewed, and it\u2019s not just because that legendary mock jersey was replaced by a new individual \u201cMayfield\u201d jersey. There\u2019s a completely new swagger to this legendary franchise.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Since 2000, the Browns have been an agonizing team to watch and follow due to their inconsistency in direction and lackluster decision making. They\u2019ve accumulated a league low .307 winning percentage, going 93-210-1 since the beginning of the new century. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0To put that in perspective, the Detroit Lions, the second ranked team on this list, has still won 111 games.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Despite their consistent uncertainty, perhaps the most compelling thing about this historically adverse franchise is their faithful, passionate followers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0The Browns fans, self proclaimed \u201cThe Dawg Pound,\u201d are amongst the most loyal and rowdy football enthusiasts in the country.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Through almost constant failure, year in and year out, somehow fans of Cleveland never give up on their team and watching their boys take the punches.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0As to how they remain so intuitively loyal, lifelong Browns fan, Mike Wiley, simply thinks it\u2019s a value the entire fanbase embodies.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s just one of those things you get taught from the get-go as a Browns fan, it\u2019s all about loyalty,\u201d Wiley said. \u201cNo matter what happens, it\u2019s your team. I think any Browns fan will tell you the same thing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Mike Wiley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Wiley was raised as a Browns fan from the time he was born. It was something his father instilled in him as he grew up, similar to how his grandfather brought up his dad. The Browns became a family tradition he is also passing down to his son.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Being loyal is difficult for him and many other Cleveland fans, but there\u2019s a certain \u201ceventually\u201d mindset to it all.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of times where there\u2019s false hope at the beginning of the season and it just dwindles away,\u201d Wiley said. \u201cBut there\u2019s always that little sliver of hope that something has got to change eventually.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0That sliver of hope kept dissolving, bad draft pick after bad draft pick. By the end of 2017, Cleveland had dug themselves at the bottom of two decade long hole. They went 1-31 during the 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 NFL seasons. The Browns were as desperate as they\u2019ve ever been.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0They were a reoccurring target on social media and ripped apart. Some fans were perhaps just as restless as the organization to see them turn it around.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0“You\u2019re always hoping next season is going to be different, it always is, but it\u2019s never good,\u201d Wiley said. \u201cThe Browns have been in rebuild mode for 20 years. When you don\u2019t have stability, you can\u2019t have success. It\u2019s hard to watch sometimes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Some fans weren\u2019t so restless and were more accepting.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cWhen you\u2019re changing head coaches every year, it\u2019s hard to establish anything,\u201d another lifelong Browns fan, Scott Costello, said. \u201cYou just have low expectations. So if they do great, you\u2019re wowed. But if they don\u2019t you saw it coming.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Costello, 60, became a Browns fan on his own, growing up in southwestern Ohio. He never really became part of \u201cThe Dawg Pound\u201d though, never really becoming too emotionally and mentally attached to sports. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Costello recognizes he has no control over the team\u2019s direction so he decides to just support his team diligently and not get too caught up in his fandom.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s not that big of a priority to me. When it\u2019s going good, it\u2019s fun, but when it\u2019s going bad. Eh, it\u2019s whatever,\u201d Costello said. \u201cNo one is calling me up like \u2018hey, we\u2019re going to draft this guy in the first round. What do you think?\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Indeed no one was calling Costello in 2017 when they had the first pick, but Cleveland needed no one\u2019s advice for the first overall pick.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Myles Garrett\u2019s name was called by the Browns that night and since then, he has become one of the most prolific defensive ends in the NFL.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0That was one of the first moves the Browns made that started to give fans hope. But the 2018 draft will go down in Cleveland history forever as first pick Baker Mayfield, who has already engraved his name in Browns\u2019 history with not even a full season of play under his belt, already being designated as the \u201csavior\u201d of this poor franchise.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0The fourth pick, Denzel Ward, was a pro bowler and an already tremendous cornerback in his first year. Those were two positions the Browns had been trying to fill for years, and now they had elite players.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0 \u00a0Even after this draft, fans were still skeptical due to prior failures. \u201cI can\u2019t say I was super excited with drafts, I was stale. You don\u2019t want to get excited in fear of being let down,\u201d Mike Wiley said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Last season, the Browns finished 7-8-1, a miraculous feat considering their dreadful start to the season with Hue Jackson and Tyrod Taylor running ship.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0The end of last year brought out the sun in Cleveland, restoring hope for the future. It also established that Cleveland had built a foundation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cThat entire team showed a lot of special things at the end of that season,\u201d Wiley said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Those special things couldn\u2019t begin to prepare fans for the off-season. The Browns signed troubled, bonafide star running back Kareem Hunt, in February. This made shockwaves through the league. Hunt could bring a lot of trouble, but also an elite skill set at one of the league\u2019s most dynamic positions.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0They went on to sign a fantastic defensive tackle, Sheldon Richardson, but not before they went all in. On March 13, Browns history changed forever, as social media and Cleveland went nuts together.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0They traded a first round pick, a third round, and the versatile Jabrill Peppers to the New York Giants for Odell Beckham Jr., one of the most electric wide receivers in the NFL.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0That move completely reshaped Mike Wiley and every Browns fans\u2019 point of view.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cI feel like we\u2019ll compete for a playoff spot, and definitely the division title,\u201d Wiley says.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0There\u2019s a complete 180-degree flip when it comes to the morale of these fans. They went from dreading the season and drowning their sorrows, to rejoicing and having Superbowl expectations.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0There\u2019s a different demeanor to Cleveland now. There\u2019s that chip on their shoulder. The kind of swagger that can only draw from being underestimated.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cAll you want to do is be able to root for somebody who you can take pride in. But what\u2019s more powerful is to see an underdog rise from the depths and when that day comes, I\u2019m going to have all the power in the world,\u201d Wiley said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeff Allen<\/strong>
\nReporter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cThe Browns are good.\u201d This is a statement many general sports fans never thought they would hear. It had developed into another cliche. \u00a0 \u00a0For example, \u201cpigs will fly when the Browns are good.\u201d \u00a0 \u00a0Since the year 2000, the beloved Cleveland Browns went from a tradition to being the source of ample jokes. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10416,"featured_media":23565,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2132,2109,2107],"tags":[532,3176,116,3084,146,1384,1383],"class_list":["post-23559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football","category-opinion","category-sports","tag-cleveland","tag-cleveland-browns","tag-football","tag-jeff-allen","tag-nfl","tag-opinion","tag-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Baker-Mayfield.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5s3vR-67Z","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10416"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23559"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23568,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23559\/revisions\/23568"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}