“You don’t have to support them,” Carey said. “You don’t have to do it. … If somebody owned a sandwich shop in Cleveland, and they were selling (bleepy) sandwiches, you don’t have to buy the (bleepy) sandwiches just because they’re from Cleveland. You could buy sandwiches from anywhere. You could buy them from a chain.“It’s stupid. You’re doing the same thing with the Browns.That’s a business, and they’re there to take your money and make a profit. … Quit buying it. I’ll buy the Browns when they’re worth buying it. That’s all there is to it. I’m sorry about it. I hope I’m not hurting anybody’s feelings. But I’m not a masochist. I’m not buying a bad product just because it’s from Cleveland.”
[snip]“Listen, you don’t want those Browns to be part of your mental state,” Carey says. “You know, the whole ‘Cleveland is bad, the Browns are bad, Cleveland bad, I’m bad because I’m from Cleveland,’ dance. You don’t want that thing to be part of your brain. There are so many good things in Cleveland. Concentrate on the Museum (of Art) — it’s one of the best in the world. Concentrate on the Cleveland Clinic and all the great things they’re doing.
“Go to the orchestra. It’s the best orchestra in the whole wide world, arguably, and it’s right in our city. Take the money you were going to spend on the Browns, take your kids, and go to the (bleeping) orchestra. Then you can have pride in your city. That’s the thing to be proud of. Don’t wear your (bleeping) Browns shirt like an idiot.”
Carey goes a little off the rails there at the end — Clevelanders do have pride in all those glorious things he cited — but it’s a nice reminder to maybe go do one of the items on the list on Sundays instead of watching the Browns the next four weeks.
This article appears in Dec 2-8, 2015.
Shut up, Drew.
Pissed me off when they had a losing record and raised ticket prices.
thank you Drew!!!!! we needed to hear that and be reminded of all the other amazing things Cleveland has to offer..
Yup…Drew pretty much nailed it….
Shut up Amy…
If you dont want to be a proud Browns fan when things are bad to be a band wagon fan when we are good again. We browns fans are better than that. Good God dont act like a bengals fan
I love me some Drew. Cleveland does rock. And Drew, don’t waste your time on shitty sandwiches. Go to Happy Dog, xyz, or Melt.
Drew is 1000% right, at this point we arent loyal…we’re suckers
Being a bandwagon fan means booing them and dumping them when they’ve lost a few games or maybe strung some bad seasons together. When was the last quality product they put on the field? Something worth the ridiculous amounts of money they charge for tickets? I’m serious. Someone tell me who was president then because I can hardly remember. And it’s not just that they’re bad. The entire organization has shown repeatedly that they are utterly incompetent at best, and have a complete disdain for the city and the fans at worst. I mean Scott, how long must the team flat out abuse you before you’re not going to be a bandwagoner for ignoring them? 10 years? 15 years? 20 years? For fucks sake WE’RE THERE ALREADY, SCOTT! Maybe your time isn’t worth much….mine is…..but you’re money has to be worth something, right? Stop giving that organization either of those.
It’s to the point of serious fan apathy. I’ll be honest, I don’t care about the Browns, because they they don’t care about me, and by me I mean us, all of us. All we are is a revenue stream for the franchise. Screw new scoreboards, gourmet food at the factory of sadness, and all the other fan experience bullshit. Win some fucking games, that’s your job. Everything last thing this team does is wrong, from the top to the bottom. I’ll excuse the waterboys, only because I haven’t seen them wander out into the field during a play…..yet. I got 50 years of believing, and zero point zero in return. If you want to stay as one of the sheep, so be it, I’ve broken out, and so have plenty of my fellow fans. We are fresh out of patience, and we won’t being paying for anything Browns, until they prove themselves worthy.
I agree We did it with the Cavs stop supporting and then change can be made.
Denying the Browns their money is the only way to get Jimmy Haslam to change. He’s a criminal and a fraud. He is happy to screw the city and fans over for his own gain. Yes, he’s a fraud: you’re paying for an NFL team but you get the Browns instead. He won’t hire competent coaches, and he won’t draft decent players, because people keep on throwing money at him even when he doesn’t. It’s just that simple.
And FYI I am a Cleveland native, and I got fed up with the Browns a long time ago but tried to support them when I heard Haslam was purchasing the team because I figured maybe things might be changing under his watch. Boy, was I wrong or what?
Cleveland is pretty cool..but so many places are better in many ways…if you are stuck in Cleveland, enjoy! Ignore the Browns…root for the Indians or the Cavs if you MUST root for a professional sports team. Enjoy the (one) art museum or the (one)symphony. But surely, do NOT live in the city! Do NOT send your kids to public schools. I suppose you have it figured out!!!
Like many of you, this year, I decided enough is enough. I’m done w year after year of “rebuilding”. Until we get an owner or GM that understands continuity, we will continue to repeat the history of the last 16 years!!!! If we aren’t firing a coach, we’re drafting a new quarterback…and speaking of drafting, how can we have 16 yrs with several different coach staffs, and still not be able to draft, any position, worth a damn?!?! Is every scouting specialist really THAT clueless!???
I don’t normally post but this one I actually had to make an account to put my 2 cents in…I’m a Steelers, Pirates & Pens fan and I can relate to the state of the Browns and also how the fan base feel. Example: The Pirates were horrid for the better part of 21 seasons. Each year there was talk about how much better this season will be than the last only to rebuild each season instead. They made a profit every one of those losing seasons…the ownership relies on the “LOYAL” fan base to fill their pockets. They know they can, and will, put a semi-competitive team on the field & the fans will still show up. They have the only game in town & you will eat it up. The fans got tired of it, stopped going, attendance decreased, ownership sold to another who actually cared. Not going to a game, which is CRAZY expensive, doesn’t make you less of a fan, it will make you a better fan! I’m not saying that its an overnight thing, but come on’ Clevelanders…you deserve better than what you are getting…this is coming from a Steelers fan !)
Haslem is going to bolt with the team.
If I put my season tickets money in my IRA instead of The Browns since their return it would be worth a ton more than what ice received in entertainment value.
“Clevelanders do have pride in all those glorious things he cited — but it’s a nice reminder to maybe go do one of the items on the list on Sundays instead of watching the Browns the next four weeks.”
I’ve been doing “items on the list” (museums, theater, music) for a LONG time now (years), and Sundays have become bearable again.
Sundays in early are already dreary enough without experiencing the cursing and the tearing of hair and the total frustration that comes from 17 years of mostly shitty play on the field and incompetence in the front office. It hurts less when you begin caring less…and if that’s the only way to go…so be it.
When the Browns once again have a 50-50 chance of winning a game…which is really the only thing it’s all about, not all that “fan experience” bullshit…then I’ll begin paying attention again (Yeah, at this point, even an 8-8 season would be sufficient to end my apathy).
If anyone disagrees, well…55 years as a Die-Hard Cub Fan allow me to think that I know what I’m talking about. Screw this outfit. Life is too short and winter is too long, even without this crap.
Chuckles the Clown
The owner is proven crook. As long as he remains there will no hope.
@Pedro, there is actually more than one art museum and our orchestra is world reknowned. There are a lot of amazing things happening in Cleveland, the Browns just doesn’t happen to be one of them and really we haven’t had a good team is a long long time. That said, this is still an excellent place to live, for being a larger AMerican city. The school district is on an upswing and really there aren’t many large American cities in existence that have good school systems, it is the nature of the beast. I agree it is time to show the franchise in a way that they understand and that is with the almighty $$. It isn’t about being a fairweather fan, it is about realizing that continuing to root for a losing team for devades unending is the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome.
Great, now I’ll have to buy overpriced Cleveland Orchestra jerseys and learn to drink crappy warm wine at Severence Hall (and don’t get me started on that worthless Free Agent in the Percussion section)!…
I’m just a fan period. If my hometown team sucks, guess what, I still have to get up and go to work the next day. And there’s also plenty of other good football to watch anyway. I’d love to brag about how good we are. But we’re not. I’d rather watch my team be bad here than to watch them leave and go somewhere else. Remember folks. It’s just a game.
173 wins and 284 losses (and 19 ties).
A .363 winning percentage.
31 non-winning seasons out of 39.
11-33 against their archrival.
16 head coaches.
Countless quarterbacks.
One playoff appearance.
Cleveland Browns futility?
No. The first 39 years of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
So, Browns fans, don’t worry. You only have 22 more years to go until things improve permanently.
I quit watching I don’t know how many years ago. The Beowns were fun to watch with Brian Hoyer and an offensive line last year but I think I saw only one game…yeah…and the fact that the offensive line was so thin last year and the whole team went to pieces after ONE guy gets injured tells me how incompetent the front office and coaches are at putting a decent team on the field. We got tired of Lerners for their apathy, but under the Haslam regime we are fed up with their non-stop hype for a team that has an even lower standard for talent, especially in management, than it did under the Lerners. You cannot hire a coach to run everything in single-handedly in this league, you cannot hire a coach before you hire his boss, and you can’t draft a QB every year and never bother to have more than five guys to keep him and his RBs from being stuffed and sacked every play. I am nowhere near as knowledgeable about the nuances of basic fundamental football, but I’m pretty sure at this point that over half of the fully embarrassed fan base who are giving up now could run this team better than the people you have now.
Stop following the hype and the superficial reputations and go find people who are boring and methodical about building a good football organization and then LET THEM build you a winning team that needs no hype at all to sell tickets. And if that’s not your thing, then sell the team to someone who actually wants to win bad enough to swallow their ego in order to do it.
I’m just putting my fanship on hold. Drew is so right. Hopefully Haslim will learn to put the right people in power and be more hands off. Until he hires a GM that is qualified and is not a YES man, we will be staying in purgatory.
Oh the glory years! How so many fans crucified poor Bernie because he didn’t get us to the top of the mountain. If only Marty would have told the defense to get one for the Gipper, instead of sending them on a wild goose chase looking for the gleam. WTF is a gleam….the players looked confused after that. Instead of watching Elway they were looking for the gleam. Bernie; 3 AFC Championship games, 9 out 10 years taking the team to the playoffs. I think Bernie should be considered for the Hall of Fame or at the least Sainthood.
Gleam: shine, glimmer, glint, glitter, shimmer, sparkle, twinkle, flicker, wink, glisten, flash; literary;glister
Jimmy Haslam has obvious disdain of the local media and reportedly is only concerned about the bad publicity that emerges in national outlets. It again shows an absentee owner who cares nothing about the fans or city….and only cares about the profits he can extract from the region and haul back to his home in Tennessee.
I used to watch the Browns all the time, and I’m glad that I finally stopped doing that. I save myself the disappointment, and frustration, of having to watch their games. So now, they don’t get my dollars or the tv ratings either. You have to hit them where it hurts to express your displeasure, up until now Haslem has been making a profit every year so why change? He can just stick with the same formula: 1. act pissed about state of team, 2. say changes need to be made, fans deserve better, 3. fire old regime, 4. bring in new regime, 5. wait two years, rinse and repeat. And why should he change if he keeps making money while doing this? So. Stop enabling Haslem and the Browns and stop supporting them, which is the much HARDER thing to do. But telling me that not supporting the Browns makes me a bandwagon fan or not a true fan is idiotic. That’s like telling me that family members that quit enabling a drug user don’t really love that person. Stop enabling the Browns to continue sucking every year. Force a change.
For those who have also given up on the PD as well as the Clowns, Terry Pluto has also hit the nail on the head this week. He writes that he has been deluged by hundreds of e-mails regarding the Browns, and the overwhelming emotion expressed is not anger anymore, but sadness. Can total apathy be far behind, if it isn’t already here?
This mess goes back far beyond The Jimmy Era…beyond The Return…or even the The Move. It’s three…yes…THREE winning seasons since 1990 (1994, 2002, 2007)…a whole generation of sorry-assed football and front-office dysfunction.
When does enough finally become enough? When does one finally stop caring and cut one’s losses (sorry for the bad pun, too good to resist) and move on? Perhaps that time is now, for many.
For many others, it came quite a while ago, when it became obvious that very few in Berea seemed to know what the hell they were doing…or even worse, to give a shit. And it started at the top. If those who run the franchise don’t appear to care about anything else but cashing their enormous paychecks…why should we?
Chuckles the Clown
I’d agree with Chuckles up there, except I think the next step should be from anger to sadness back to anger. Anger for a different reason: This organization feels it’s owed something. They think they’re a gift to the City. They think Cleveland can’t survive without this wonderful product they bring to the region. Compare the Browns to the Indians. Now I’m not going to say the Indians of late are a wonderfully run organization. They’ve been ok, though they’re not exactly fielding exciting teams these last few years. Fans definitely are not showing up and average attendance is way low. Yet when The Jake needs some renovations and upgrades, what happens? The Tribe does it themselves.
Compare to the Browns. That stadium is sold out or close to sold out most of the time. The Factory of Sadness is used…what….a dozen times a year? 25 total if you count a concert or two and a few high school playoff games? It’s newer than The Jake, yet somehow it “NEEDS” multi-million dollar renovations, updates and maintenance already. The line of BS we were fed a couple years ago made it sound like the place is practically going to fall down if they didn’t fix it up (and put in new escalators or all that other crap). The taxpayers are were already on the hook for yearly maintenance costs at that place as part of the original agreement, but is that good enough? NOOOOOOO. We need an advance on those funds, and you better damn well give it up. We need all 20 year’s worth of maintenance dollars right now. And by the way, we’re not putting a single dollar of our own in the pot. No one actually said “fuck you, we’re going to move the team if you don’t pay up”, but they might as well have. And of course our local leadership immediately caved and gave it to them. So what do you think it going to happen in 5/10/15/20 years when the place needs regular maintenance? Well, they already went to the ghetto Cash Advance store and ran the account dry. Pony up, Cuyahoga Co residents! Thanks for the new scoreboards. Now you can see our team false start in crystal clear HD! And have fun watching them, damn it, or we’re taking this treasure of a team to LA!