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Why / How did you become a Browns fan ?

BrownsfaninPa

By BrownsfaninPa
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gumby73 Veteran

gumby73

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browns fan at 7 with dad & blk & wht tv. at 16 told mom taking her Valet to a friends & be back when street lights come on. left Toledo picked up a friend got 45 mins from Browns stadium when a tire blew & a ass State Trooper impounded mom's car for 2 other bad tires & am putting on 1 good spare. Missed a great Magic man Majasrek ?(whom ever) GB game that I think we won in OT. Yes mom & her driver Elenor were not happy to pick me up the next day but she said the browns could still be my friends.. love you mom

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Canton Mike Newbie

Canton Mike

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How did I become a Browns fan? I grew up when they were big winners.

 

Raise your hands.....how many of you are old enough to remember the last Browns championship in 1964.

 

I am one. Who else?

 

 

IN 1952, When I was 6, I got a Browns' helmet for my birthday & "The Duke" game used football (Browns vs 49ers exhibition game) when I was 7 in 1953. Both were treasures that my buddies & I tore up in rocky vacant lots over several years (stupid kids!). Back then, players had off season jobs to supplement their Team paychecks. When I was in high school, one of our young star DBs, Don Fleming, was electrocuted while working his off season job in Florida.

I was 18 when the Browns skunked the Colts 27-0 in 1964.We were HEAVY underdogs..OH YEAH!!!

 

My love of the Browns started early in life & hasn't faded, nor will it. My Prayer is that all you young folks get to experience at least ONE Championship Browns' Team as some of us "oldsters" have. Of course, WE oldsters need to experience at least one more as well, but at least we remember the REAL glory years for the Browns.

 

Hats off to you young folks for remaining LOYAL Browns' Fans rather than becoming "bandwagon fans". You deserve a winner. We all do.

 

Mike

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calfoxwc Grand Master

calfoxwc

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I had gone to Browns games in person...before I was born.

 

and would sit and watch games with my parents when I was

old enough to sit up.

 

I'll never quit. So close, yet so far, and getting further away

every week with this defensive scheme.

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Canton Dawg Grand Master

Canton Dawg

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I blame my dad, he took me to my first pro football game in 1967.

 

I don't recall who the Browns were playing, but I remember my dad pointing out Blanton Collier.

 

I'm also proud to say my father was part of the grass roots movement to get the HOF built in Canton.

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Tour2ma Contributor

Tour2ma

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Yeah... Dad's mostly to blame, but I am not letting Ken Coleman off the hook.

 

What possessed you to become a Browns fan now of all times?

Imma go with...

  • Halloween party...
  • Sexy, drunk girl in a pink #2 jersey...
  • Got lucky...
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flyingfooldoug Newbie

flyingfooldoug

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My first real Browns memory is the week they didn't play and I got to see Ruby plug Oswald in the belly with a snubnose revolver. Then it was the 64 championship game where defense ruled the day, even with the great offense we had then. That is when I started reading the sports section of the local papers. The Press. News Herald and Plain Dealer. The Giants, Pack and Cards were the rivals then. Stealers,?...never heard of em. There is and will never be a different team for me, I can't! pure and simple. In the 70s, if a pissville fan bragged about some guy named limgert.. I ask innocently... Who? never heard of em. And in the 80s I made the discovery that all those fans of that team ARE LIVING PROOF THAT ANAL SEX CAN AND DOES RESULT IN PREGNANCY!!..... Go Browns...now and forever

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medicineman Newbie

medicineman

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I am just worried that if we don't start winning soon we will never get any new younger fans. I became a Browns fan in the early 1985, I went to my first game in 1989 against Minn and the Browns won in OT on a fake fg. I was in 5th grade and felt like I was on top of the world. The very first Browns game I recorded on VHS was against the Giants in a game we rallied to win 35-33 N.Y had a chance to kick a fg as time expired but missed it. I must of watched that game a few hundred times

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MDDawg Collaborator

MDDawg

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I am just worried that if we don't start winning soon we will never get any new younger fans. I became a Browns fan in the early 1985, I went to my first game in 1989 against Minn and the Browns won in OT on a fake fg. I was in 5th grade and felt like I was on top of the world. The very first Browns game I recorded on VHS was against the Giants in a game we rallied to win 35-33 N.Y had a chance to kick a fg as time expired but missed it. I must of watched that game a few hundred times

Agree. Having a hard time convincing my kids to be Browns fans.

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Tim Couch Pulls Out Newbie

Tim Couch Pulls Out

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I am just worried that if we don't start winning soon we will never get any new younger fans. I became a Browns fan in the early 1985, I went to my first game in 1989 against Minn and the Browns won in OT on a fake fg. I was in 5th grade and felt like I was on top of the world. The very first Browns game I recorded on VHS was against the Giants in a game we rallied to win 35-33 N.Y had a chance to kick a fg as time expired but missed it. I must of watched that game a few hundred times

 

 

This is a legitimate serious concern.

 

I'm 26 and I've been a Browns fan all of my life, but my fondest memory right now is the short respite I had where I got to be a Minnesota Vikings fan for three years. You'd be hard-pressed to find a Browns fan from a non-Ohioan family that is under the age of 25. When I go to the Browns bar here, I'm quite possibly the youngest fan - the average age range I'd put from 35-60.

 

The Cleveland Browns were a legendary NFL team, but for people under the age of 30, we've experienced very little first hand to be proud of. All of the stories we get of Cleveland's dominance are second (or even third) hand. It's like your grandfather telling you stories of when frankfurters cost a nickel - it's funny to hear and you don't doubt it, but you can't possibly fathom that actually being the case.

 

Fact of the matter is, millennials are transitioning into owning the largest purchasing power of any generation - and we like to spend money. Despite the common misconception that we are generally a wishy-washy consumer, millennials are fiercely brand loyal - it's the reason Apple has continued to succeed despite regurgitating the same devices time and again.

 

This is great news for sports franchises - but nobody is buying into the Cleveland Browns right now. We're the Jitterbug® of NFL franchises - an extremely simplified version of a popular product that is being marketed toward seniors.

 

To Haslam's credit, I believe he fully understands this - the stadium renovations, the "rebranding", the drafting of Johnny Manziel, the revamping of the Browns online presence, etc. - all of these have been legitimate attempts at capturing more of the millennial marketshare, yet each attempt has wildly missed the mark (except the Browns online presence, they are doing well there). In my opinion, the jerseys are fairly terrible - especially the brown ones. The white look great and the orange are passable. Manziel has done nothing but drive a wedge in both the fanbase as well as the front office (and probably the locker room, as well). And the stadium renovations, I hear, are essentially nothing.

 

If something doesn't happen soon, the Browns could be the Jaguars of the north. Say what you want about "oh, that will never happen, we're a football town, yada yada". But the fact is that the people who post on internet forums about a product normally represent the upper echelon of loyal consumers and aren't reflective of the general population. If we're getting tired of it here, you can bet that Joe Schmo at work who's technically a Browns fan but doesn't know why we hate pick #22 is certainly tired of it.

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DieHardBrownsFan Rookie

DieHardBrownsFan

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This is a legitimate serious concern.

 

I'm 26 and I've been a Browns fan all of my life, but my fondest memory right now is the short respite I had where I got to be a Minnesota Vikings fan for three years. You'd be hard-pressed to find a Browns fan from a non-Ohioan family that is under the age of 25. When I go to the Browns bar here, I'm quite possibly the youngest fan - the average age range I'd put from 35-60.

 

The Cleveland Browns were a legendary NFL team, but for people under the age of 30, we've experienced very little first hand to be proud of. All of the stories we get of Cleveland's dominance are second (or even third) hand. It's like your grandfather telling you stories of when frankfurters cost a nickel - it's funny to hear and you don't doubt it, but you can't possibly fathom that actually being the case.

 

Fact of the matter is, millennials are transitioning into owning the largest purchasing power of any generation - and we like to spend money. Despite the common misconception that we are generally a wishy-washy consumer, millennials are fiercely brand loyal - it's the reason Apple has continued to succeed despite regurgitating the same devices time and again.

 

This is great news for sports franchises - but nobody is buying into the Cleveland Browns right now. We're the Jitterbug® of NFL franchises - an extremely simplified version of a popular product that is being marketed toward seniors.

 

To Haslam's credit, I believe he fully understands this - the stadium renovations, the "rebranding", the drafting of Johnny Manziel, the revamping of the Browns online presence, etc. - all of these have been legitimate attempts at capturing more of the millennial marketshare, yet each attempt has wildly missed the mark (except the Browns online presence, they are doing well there). In my opinion, the jerseys are fairly terrible - especially the brown ones. The white look great and the orange are passable. Manziel has done nothing but drive a wedge in both the fanbase as well as the front office (and probably the locker room, as well). And the stadium renovations, I hear, are essentially nothing.

 

If something doesn't happen soon, the Browns could be the Jaguars of the north. Say what you want about "oh, that will never happen, we're a football town, yada yada". But the fact is that the people who post on internet forums about a product normally represent the upper echelon of loyal consumers and aren't reflective of the general population. If we're getting tired of it here, you can bet that Joe Schmo at work who's technically a Browns fan but doesn't know why we hate pick #22 is certainly tired of it.

 

Actually the Browns are losing fans in the over 50 group also. Know quite a few season ticket holders who got rid of them and don't even watch anymore. Shit is beyond getting old.

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jrb12711 Community Regular

jrb12711

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This is a legitimate serious concern.

 

I'm 26 and I've been a Browns fan all of my life, but my fondest memory right now is the short respite I had where I got to be a Minnesota Vikings fan for three years. You'd be hard-pressed to find a Browns fan from a non-Ohioan family that is under the age of 25. When I go to the Browns bar here, I'm quite possibly the youngest fan - the average age range I'd put from 35-60.

 

The Cleveland Browns were a legendary NFL team, but for people under the age of 30, we've experienced very little first hand to be proud of. All of the stories we get of Cleveland's dominance are second (or even third) hand. It's like your grandfather telling you stories of when frankfurters cost a nickel - it's funny to hear and you don't doubt it, but you can't possibly fathom that actually being the case.

 

Fact of the matter is, millennials are transitioning into owning the largest purchasing power of any generation - and we like to spend money. Despite the common misconception that we are generally a wishy-washy consumer, millennials are fiercely brand loyal - it's the reason Apple has continued to succeed despite regurgitating the same devices time and again.

 

This is great news for sports franchises - but nobody is buying into the Cleveland Browns right now. We're the Jitterbug® of NFL franchises - an extremely simplified version of a popular product that is being marketed toward seniors.

 

TCPO, I believe you live in Charlotte? and if so I can absolutely confirm everything about this. I'm fixing to turn 26 myself here sooner than later and most of my football friends are AMAZED I'd continue to support the Browns. I have Sunday Ticket this year but in previous years I'd literally be the only Browns fan in a packed bar here in NC. The Browns backer bar is a bunch of 50+ dudes and I was the youngest easily by 20 years. The place they meet is pathetic and maybe 10-12 people show up. It doesn't help I'm in Panther country who have seen a Super Bowl and now this run, but still. It's also a huge realization that people are leaving the state of Ohio to live other places as well which disenfranchises the fandom aspect. It could get really bad in a hurry and I can't sit there and blame people really.

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Tim Couch Pulls Out Newbie

Tim Couch Pulls Out

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TCPO, I believe you live in Charlotte? and if so I can absolutely confirm everything about this. I'm fixing to turn 26 myself here sooner than later and most of my football friends are AMAZED I'd continue to support the Browns. I have Sunday Ticket this year but in previous years I'd literally be the only Browns fan in a packed bar here in NC. The Browns backer bar is a bunch of 50+ dudes and I was the youngest easily by 20 years. The place they meet is pathetic and maybe 10-12 people show up. It doesn't help I'm in Panther country who have seen a Super Bowl and now this run, but still. It's also a huge realization that people are leaving the state of Ohio to live other places as well which disenfranchises the fandom aspect. It could get really bad in a hurry and I can't sit there and blame people really.

 

 

Yup, Charlotte.

 

My friends and family think it's hilarious. I get texts on the daily with different Browns memes. My aunt sent me one this morning, as a matter of fact. To it's credit, the Browns Backers bar here is a good time and it's USUALLY fairly busy - but in my time conversing with some of the people I've found out that they either:

 

- are Browns fans because of their family ties to Ohio

- are Browns fans because of their significant other

- are just here with their friend, who is a Browns fan, because of [insert one of two choices above]

- it's a really cool outdoor patio at this bar and there's a raffle

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Canton Mike Newbie

Canton Mike

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Here's a young Browns' Fan for you....

My youngest Grandson & namesake, 8 year old Michael, is a die hard Browns' Fan. My Daughter tells me I have created a monster & I tell her that's a good thing. I often get calls from him about any breaking Browns' news he thinks I may not know. He loves attending games, has been to the Draft Party, Family Day, Training Camp & has a BUNCH of Browns' apparel, including his favorite Joe Thomas jersey.

 

Mike.

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flyingfooldoug Newbie

flyingfooldoug

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Here's a young Browns' Fan for you....

My youngest Grandson & namesake, 8 year old Michael, is a die hard Browns' Fan. My Daughter tells me I have created a monster & I tell her that's a good thing. I often get calls from him about any breaking Browns' news he thinks I may not know. He loves attending games, has been to the Draft Party, Family Day, Training Camp & has a BUNCH of Browns' apparel, including his favorite Joe Thomas jersey.

 

Mike.

 

Good for you Mike. I have a 5yr old grandaughter and at a birthday party for her friend, she slopped her shirt. The kids mom offered her a black and yellow shirt to wear but the grand kid turned up her nose....kids know.. Go Browns!

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