In just one week, players will start reporting to Berea and then head to West Virginia. One more week and I can’t wait because this has been the dumbest quiet period I’ve ever seen. Every time I get on twitter (yes, I know it’s called “X”, but that name is stupid), I end up rolling my eyes and shaking my head. Some of the narratives from the national media on the Browns are ridiculous. Let’s start with the show “Unsportsmanlike.” To even suggest the Browns moved to Baltimore because the fans didn’t support the team is beyond dumb. The year was 1995, the Browns had just come off a very successful season where they made the playoffs and won a playoff game against the Giants. Fans were very excited, and the team responded starting 3-1. However, in the off-season rumors were swirling team owner Art Modell was planning on moving the team because the city wouldn’t build him a new stadium.
The city had tried to get Modell on board when they proposed the new baseball stadium. Originally it was supposed to be a dual use stadium, one for football and baseball. But because Model didn’t like dealing with the Indians ownership, so he shot down this proposal. Next, Cleveland city leaders proposed an extension on the “sin tax” that was currently in effect for the building of the Gateway Project, the baseball stadium and the basketball arena. Apparently, Modell didn’t want to wait. You see, Modell was a terrible businessman. He had pinned his hopes of reviving the franchise by signing the best player in the new free agency process, Reggie White. Little did he know, White had no intention of signing with the Browns. After White signed with the Packers, Modell panicked and signed WR Andre Rison. He actually borrowed money to sign Rison because he didn’t have the funds. Think about that, an NFL owner had to borrow money to sign a player. Of course it didn’t work.
On November 6, 1995, Art Modell announced in a parking lot in Baltimore, live on ESPN, he was moving the team. I watched in disbelief. At the time, despite starting 3-1 the Browns were 4-4. But the team was still averaging over 65,000 fans per game. The previous two seasons the Browns averaged 77,000 fans per game. The fans were never the problem, it was all about the ownership. Let’s go back to the show “Unsportsmanlike” and the host who made the ignorant comment that Browns fans didn’t support the team and that’s why they moved, Chris Canty. The last team Mr. Canty played for was…… the Baltimore Ravens. Go figure. This fanbase has always been the best fanbase in the NFL and always will be, bar none. I lived this time in Browns history, I did my part to flood the NFL offices with fax machine messages, (it was a simpler time back then). As a Browns Backer President, (Middle Tennessee Browns Backers), I sweated out those three years without a team and held my club together. It wasn’t easy, but as we go into 2024, it was worth it. Stay Safe and Go Browns.