What is this madness all about? Being a Browns fan is just different. Why are we the only fans in the nation who ever demanded their team back -- and got it? Why have we endured years of heartache (The Fumble, The Drive, "Red Right 88"...) yet grown ever more attached to the experience? To answer that question, these 33 essays seek out the essential elements of being a Browns fan. It's about pride. It's about desire, tempered by crushing disappointment. It's about tradition, rivalry, and electrifying victory. It's about longing -- for a return to past championships, for future glory. It's about heart. If you're Brown, you'll enjoy the ride.
Veteran sports writer Terry Pluto asks Cleveland Browns fans: Why, after four decades of heartbreak, teasing, and futility, do you still stick with this team? Their stories, coupled with Pluto's own insight and analysis, deliver the answers. Like any intense relationship, it's complicated. But these fans just won't give up.
Most Browns fans have taken in a game at FirstEnergy Stadium, remember the way they felt when it was announced that Cleveland was getting back the Browns, and are psyched to see Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry lighting up scoreboards together. But only real fans know the exact number of Joe Thomas' consecutive snaps streak, remember who the Browns were playing when Jerome Harrison rushed for 286 yards, or have barked with the Dawg Pound. Featuring traditions, records, and lore, this lively, detailed book explores the personalities, events, and facts every Cleveland Browns fan should know. Whether you were there for the rise of Bernie Kosar or are a more recent supporter of Baker Mayfield, these are the 100 things every fan needs to know and do in their lifetime. Beat reporter Zac Jackson has collected every essential piece of Browns knowledge and trivia, as well as must-do activities, and ranks them all from 1 to 100, providing an entertaining and easy-to-follow checklist as you progress on your way to fan superstardom.
Terry Pluto, one of Cleveland's top sportswriters, takes a hard look at the first 5 years of the new Cleveland Browns franchise and doesn't like what he sees. This book chronicles the backroom deals, big-money power plays, poor decisions, and plain bad luck that have dogged the venerable franchise since Art Modell skipped town in 1995. Legions of loyal fans stand by, waiting for a return to past glory. How much longer must they wait? Pluto sifts through the clues from the last five seasons and looks for answers.
So You Think You’re a Cleveland Browns Fan? tests and expands your knowledge of the history of one of the NFL’s oldest franchises. Rather than merely posing questions and providing answers, you’ll get details behind each—stories that bring to life players and coaches, games and seasons. This book is divided into four parts, with progressively more difficult questions in each new section. The Practice Squad section contains the most basic questions. Next comes the Starter and Pro Bowl sections, followed by the biggest challenge: the Hall of Fame. Along the way, you’ll learn more about the great Browns players and coaches of the past and present, from Otto Graham, Lou Groza, and Marion Motley, to Jim Brown, Bobby Mitchell, Brian Sipe, Paul Warfield, Leroy Kelly, Ozzie Newsome, Bernie Kosar, Greg Pruitt, Earnest Byner, Joe Delamielleure, Paul Brown, and so many more. Some of the many questions that this book answers include: When the Browns became members of the AFC Central Division in 1970, what were the three other teams in the division? I was Mike Phipps’s backup with the Browns in 1973. I had been mainly a reserve quarterback for Green Bay and Denver prior to that. Who am I? Who returned two kickoffs for touchdowns in a 41¬–34 victory over the Chiefs in Kansas City on December 20, 2009? The Browns have beaten both Super Bowl participants in the same season once. What year did they accomplish this unusual feat? This book makes the perfect gift for any fan of the Cleveland Browns!
If you remember the Kardiac Kids … the Dawgs … the old Stadium … Bernie and Marty and Ozzie … this book is for you! Like a Classic throwback jersey, it recalls favorite players and exciting moments from Cleveland Browns teams of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and more. They played it old-school. Doug Dieken set the NFL record for consecutive starts by a left tackle despite three knee surgeries, broken hands and thumbs, torn tendons, a broken arm and “a concussion or two. Maybe four or six. Hard to know.” Ozzie Newsome never expected to play tight end when he was drafted, then practically reinvented the position on his way to the Hall of Fame. Bernie Kosar carried a massive weight on his young shoulders as a hometown hero leading the Browns during years when the team offered a ray of hope to a downtrodden city. Earnest Byner and Kevin Mack together formed one powerhouse backfield and separately dealt admirably with adversity. Phil Dawson discovered that despite popularity and longevity, “Every kick could be your last.” Also includes Gregg Pruitt, Brian Sipe, Marty Schottenheimer, Reggie Langhorne, Brian Brennan, Bill Belichick, Tim Couch, Phil Dawson, and others. These insightful short profiles will entertain Browns fans of any vintage!
Whether you tailgate in the Muni Lot with hoards of other Browns fans or in the backyard with the neighbors, you'll enjoy the inspiring party mix of useful tips and fun stories in this book. Reporter Peter Chakerian spent a year hanging with the city's most dedicated tailgaters to uncover the food, games, clothes, and gear that make Browns tailgating such a wild pastime. It's filled with their suggestions for where and how to tailgate, as well as their favorite tailgating tales. It's a celebration for the veteran tailgater--and a great introduction for newbies.
The Sickness, a disease with unknown origins, is killing white children in the antebellum South, but Perpetua, a Black enslaved woman, is facing something much more devastating: Her daughter Meenie is missing. What she finds in her search for her child will change her life forever. By fusing the past and present with the power of prose and poetry, Leslie T. Grover poignantly explores the ripple effect of history and the nature of love and family and the ties that bind.
In the past, sport, particularly football, has been defined as a male domain. Women’s interest stereotypically ranges from gentle tolerance to active resistance. But increasingly, women are proudly identifying themselves as supporters of their teams, and have become highly desirable audiences for sport organizations and merchandisers. Football provides a unique site at which to examine the complex interplay between three theoretical areas: identity formation and maintenance, commercialization of cultural practices, and gender hegemony. This book explores how women experience their fandom, and what barriers exist for the female fan.
