Every year, Cleveland joins together to root for the team they love so much. 
Sure, Northern Ohio loves the Indians. They’ll probably end up winning their division. Sure, Northern Ohio loves the Cavs. The team went to the NBA Finals this year. But Northern Ohio loves the Browns. Cleveland didn’t get the nickname “Browns Town” by accident.
A 2006 study conducted by Bizjournal determined that Browns fans are the most loyal in the NFL. The study shows Browns fans filled 99.8% of the seats at Cleveland Browns Stadium during the last seven seasons, despite a combined record of 36 wins and 76 loses over that span. Let’s not forget the Browns Backers that boast having more than 77,000 members. It is considered the largest sports-fan organization in the USA. Fans were largely responsible for bringing the team back to Cleveland after Art Modell took the team to Baltimore in 1995.
Almost as much as their love for the team, Browns fans love to tailgate. People were already setting up camp at the Muni Parking Lot around 6am this morning. You could smell charcoal for miles away from all of the people tailgating and cooking up food. The Muni Parking Lot looked like a campground than a surface parking lot. Police competely shutdown access to the lot before 10am this morning.
Cleveland loves its football team but every season Clevelanders seem to end up saying the same thing “There’s always next year”. The Browns aren’t coming out of the blocks today looking too good. With 4:10 to go in the first half, the Browns have not scored yet, however the Steelers already have 17 points up on the scoreboard. The disapproving crowd has already booed Charlie Frye. Derek Anderson already fumbled the ball. The crowd is already calling for Brady Quinn. There are some bright moments for the defense but remember there were 17 points up on the board when the Browns went to the lockerroom.
Second half wasn’t that much better although Derek Anderson did throw a touchdown pass to Lawrence Vickers to put the Browns up on the board for 7 points. In all, the Browns had five turnovers and allowed six sacks. It wasn’t as bad as 1999 when the Steeler bested the Browns 43-0.
I count myself a Browns fan and each year, I have that hope that my team will have a winning season but I find myself hoping that every year.