Bleeding Brown and Orange a Local Tradition
Published August, 1999

By Mark Mosgrove

Paul Brown. Jim Brown. Otto Graham. Marion Motley. Paul Warfield. Brian Sipe. Ozzie Newsome. Art Modell . . .

Ouch! I guess the long tradition of Brown’s greats had to end somewhere. Other than the last name on the list shattering the glowing recollections of the past, Cleveland Browns football is as ingrained in our local culture as tea time is in England.

Although only time will tell who will be the next name to grace the Browns’ glorious tradition, it’s just good to have football back in NE Ohio. Tim Couch might end up being another Mike Phipps, but at least we are in the unprecedented position of having our team returned to us. How often has that happened?

Probably more people will watch this month’s exhibition games than at any time in history. Other than the novelty factor, people just don’t have a clue who any of these new players are. If you make it up to see the Browns practice in Berea, you’ll be like almost everybody else and will only recognize a couple of players. Tim Couch, he’s easy to spot, and the Mir Space Station uses Jerry Ball as a navigation buoy. Then there’s Jim Pyne, the offensive lineman who was the first pick in the expansion draft, he with the shaved head and big heart. Then you’ll see guys like John Jurkovic signing autographs and you’ll appreciate how much of a character he really is.

But up at training camp, all of the fan’s eyes are on Tim Couch. They cheered when he threw like Otto Graham (“He’s the guy,” you’ll hear someone mutter to himself), and they groaned when he threw like Vinny Testaverde (“I knew it, he’s a bust,” someone else would say). No matter how you looked at what was going on at training camp, there were a lot of adults (mostly males) who were acting like they were kids again. Getting an autograph from a player is like being a kid and getting a huge piece of candy - only better, because you can sell the autograph!

I remember being a kid in 1980 at the height of the Kardiac Kid season, and I thought I saw Browns quarterback (and regular-season Medina resident) Brian Sipe walking out of the dry cleaners near the old Woolworth’s in Medina Shopping Center carrying a sports jacket. The gentleman walked very quickly to his car and sped off. “Come on Mom, let’s follow that guy!” I shouted. “I think that was Brian Sipe!”

We didn’t, of course, but I got the biggest kick when I saw Sipe wearing the same jacket a few days later in a newspaper photograph of him arriving at the airport after a big game Wow, I guess that really was Brian Sipe!
Or how about when I was 14 and sitting outside Cloverleaf High School and waiting for my ride after the Browns charity basketball team had played there. With absolutely no one else around, Ozzie Newsome and Ricky Feacher stopped to talk to me and sign an autograph. Ozzie said, “You’re going to catch a cold out here!” I didn’t know what to say, so like a dummy I said, “Yeah.”

Funny thing is, even as an adult I wouldn’t know what to say if a local sports celebrity stopped to talk to me. I guess that’s why people look up to local sports athletes, because they are the closest thing to a celebrity you get out in these parts. Those are memories you never forget, and even Art Modell can’t take those away.

And kind of like the old question, “Where were you when you heard that President Kennedy was shot?” most of us can still remember where we were when we heard that the Browns released Bernie Kosar, or when the Browns announced their move to Baltimore. Sure, life went on fine without football, but it seemed a little less colorful.

It was kind of like God taking the colors Brown and Orange out of the spectrum. The other colors are still marvelous, but things just don’t seem complete without Brown and Orange.

Welcome back, Cleveland Browns. You are back where you have always belonged, even if you never left our hearts.