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THE BROWNS BOARD

My Family Tradition as Browns Fans


Flugel

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My dad, the guy in the middle of the top picture below, is responsible for morphing me and my brother John into die hard Cleveland Browns fans.  That picture was after his first bout beating cancer some 30 years before he lost to it.  Anyway, he raised us in Fairport, NY (a suburb of Rochester).   Before there was was DirecTV, my dad used to set up an antennae on the house that got us Cleveland game feeds from all over.  1 time we watched the Browns vrs the Saints in French in a feed from Ottawa, Canada.  Other times we'd get them in other parts that used to televise the Browns. He also did this for some of his buddies he worked with at Rochester Telephone Company back in the day. The first game we ever went to in Cleveland was vrs the Steelers when David Mays led us to victory on the same day Turkey Jones slammed Bradshaw.  Believe it or not, our tickets were in the standing room only section.  Who felt like sitting that day anyway?  After that, we made 1-2 road trips per year. Rochester had 4 different Browns Backers clubs (and another unofficial club that got together) when I moved to Nashville in 2006.  It's closer to Cleveland than it is NYC.  I guess Jimmy Brown and Ernie Davis playing at Syracuse recruited a lot of interest of guys my dad's age.  Another guy that drew interest from people in Rochester was Otto Graham who played Pro Basketball for the Rochester Royals and helped them win the Championship.  That was my dad's biggest hero and he got to meet him in Sarasota. If memory serves me right he was the golf pro at my dad's country club there.  Otto Graham feels like the most forgotten exceptional athlete on the planet.  How many other Pro Football QBs in America can say they led their teams to the Championship Game the first/all 10 years of their career and won 7 of them? 

In the top picture below, I'm the 18 year old knucklehead on the left in all blue.  My brother John who was a damn good offensive guard 5 years before I played the same position is on the far right.  Back then, he had the same compact build without the belly.  He used to be really quick off the ball and always had superior leverage.  He taught me the way to lift and how to win in the trenches. I was very fortunate to have played in back to back Championships in High School.  We won it my junior year and got rat-housed 42-15 my senior year.  Had a great Coach; loved my teammates; and felt blessed with what was accomplished.  I was also fortunate enough to end the 80s and begin the 90s being paid to coach High School Football from all my experience and countless football camps attended. LOVED IT!  A guy that used to play behind my brother (Dan Enright) who later became a Captain at West Point and snapped for Art Schlichter in the Hula Bowl said "your brother was the best Guard/OL we had on our undefeated team in 77; and then he inexplicably blew off the scrimmage he was supposed to start in to go on a road trip to Canada with some pot heads. I was getting excited to play next to him"  He said football and sports came so easy to your brother he was bored with the challenge (ie; Josh "Potsy" Gordon).  When it was my time I got the feeling my brother regretted what he walked away from his senior year so he motivated me.  He was a free spirit that forever haunted my dad with the phrase "Don't worry about it!" My dad pretty much changed his name to assshole. My brother died in a car accident 2 years after my dad.  In his honor, I name my fantasy football teams after him every year "DRINK BEER!" 

The second picture includes our cousin Mary Ann who is a lot of fun. This was my dad's family reunion and he was the youngest of 9.  The last picture is my brother's landscaping crew/business crashing the party. As you might have guessed my dad called my brother's business "Don't Worry About It/DWAI Landscape" for the obvious reasons pictured.  If there's a sum of 3 brain cells in that picture I prolly owned 2 of them; and that ain't good.  They were trying to figure out how they were going to throw me into the lake without getting hurt.  I'll leave the rest to your imagination.

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If you made it this far - Thanks!    I'm just as interested in reading about some of your family traditions following this team...

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Unfortunately my family tradition of following the Browns begins and ends with me. My dad was only occasionally a football fan. And not a Browns fan at all. But he didn’t like them any worse than  like any other he was just not a big fan of football. And my son is not a football fan nor sports I know he does have many many interests sports as it’s not one of them. And my daughter is only an occasional fan but has moved to Texas and could care less about the Browns though she doesn’t declare she’s a fan of any of those teams down there either.

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Third generation Browns fan... my grandfather came back from WWII and instantly was a Browns fan, apparently he was a good football player in high school prior to joining the navy. I grew up hearing stories about the Otto Graham and Jim Brown era teams from my dad. My dad bought our first VCR in '79 or '80 (when they first came out) and recorded the Browns/Raiders RedRight88 Playoff Game. I was 5 years old and would watch that tape over and over, thinking if I watched it enough Sipe would eventually throw a touchdown. Sigh. First Browns game I ever attended was in 1984 - Rutigliano had just got fired, it was Shottenheimer's first game as head coach. Lost a close one to New Orleans. 

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Good stuff Flugel. Your brother had one helluva ‘stache. 

Like Dutch Browns fandom very much stems from my grandpa. I suppose l was a bit of a late bloomer getting into football. My dad was a fan, but not like a huge fan, and living out of market it was tough to catch games, and for the first 10 years or so of my life l didn’t really understand the game. 

My indoctrination into Browns fandom was “the Drive.” Even though the end result sucked it was an amazing experience for me. Dad and l drove up to grandpa’s house, and my aunts and uncle were all there, and everyone was fired up. I was basically the dumb kid learning the game while feeding off the enthusiasm of my whole fam, and it truly was one of those greatest memories ever just for the connection we all felt through it. And by the time it ended, l was right there with them, rising and falling with the action on the field.

So the next year, of course we had to do it again! Haha. Fucking Elway...

Through the years Browns fandom has remained synonymous with that side of my family. Grandpa has since moved on. One aunt married a Bengals fan and claims to be one herself, so l bust her mams for it (since she doesn’t have balls). The other aunt married a guy near Baltimore but has the sense to still root for the fam team. 

As for my own kid, l think l finally got her on board, but it took awhile. After giving it far too much thought, it occurred to me she probably associates Browns fandom with her old man getting bent outta shape on Sundays, haha.

I’m still waiting for the day the Browns give me a team worth dusting off the ol’ bat signal for, because when we get to that AFC Championship again l’m gonna light up my fam to rally in the homeland. Third time’s the charm right?

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3 hours ago, Flugel said:

My dad, the guy in the middle of the top picture below, is responsible for morphing me and my brother John into die hard Cleveland Browns fans.  That picture was after his first bout beating cancer some 30 years before he lost to it.  Anyway, he raised us in Fairport, NY (a suburb of Rochester).   Before there was was DirecTV, my dad used to set up an antennae on the house that got us Cleveland game feeds from all over.  1 time we watched the Browns vrs the Saints in French in a feed from Ottawa, Canada.  Other times we'd get them in other parts that used to televise the Browns. He also did this for some of his buddies he worked with at Rochester Telephone Company back in the day. The first game we ever went to in Cleveland was vrs the Steelers when David Mays led us to victory on the same day Turkey Jones slammed Bradshaw.  Believe it or not, our tickets were in the standing room only section.  Who felt like sitting that day anyway?  After that, we made 1-2 road trips per year. Rochester had 4 different Browns Backers clubs (and another unofficial club that got together) when I moved to Nashville in 2006.  It's closer to Cleveland than it is NYC.  I guess Jimmy Brown and Ernie Davis playing at Syracuse recruited a lot of interest of guys my dad's age.  Another guy that drew interest from people in Rochester was Otto Graham who played Pro Basketball for the Rochester Royals and helped them win the Championship.  That was my dad's biggest hero and he got to meet him in Sarasota. If memory serves me right he was the golf pro at my dad's country club there.  Otto Graham feels like the most forgotten exceptional athlete on the planet.  How many other Pro Football QBs in America can say they led their teams to the Championship Game the first/all 10 years of their career and won 7 of them? 

 I'll leave the rest to your imagination if fyou made it this far - Thanks!    I'm just as interested in reading about some of your family traditions following this team...

Thanks Flug for the story I also like to hear and share stories about the BROWNS and Cleveland sports and everyone's sports stories in general.

Mine starts with my dad who was an amazing guy part of The Greatest Generation, born in 1921, grew up in the country during the Great Depression graduated high school a year early in 1939, joined the NAVY in 1940 to study electricity but December 7, 1941 changed things for the country. He fought in the Mediterranean and finished in the WestPac as chief electrician on the BB-62 the battleship New Jersey. Put in his 6 years active 4 reserves and was out of the NAVY in 1949.

Got married, was going to Youngstown College, started at US Steel on June 3, 1950 then Uncle Sam then called him up later in 1950 to go to Korea as chief electrician on the BB-62.....no questions asked.

Well in 1950 I was still on the way, the BROWNS had just joined the NFL and daddy was in Korea. The first pictures of us was with him in his uniform.

After things got back to normal, he returned back to USS but college was on hold my brother was on the way followed by 3 more boys.  Our house became centered around scouting and when we had time sports. I remember the old lazy-X antenna on the old house roof to get the Cleveland stations from Niles, OH.. Sundays were for going to church early and then watching the BROWNS or INDIANS if and when they were on or listening to them on the radio with Cleveland's fine announcers.  My dad was also a big INDIANS fan.

I was hooked I got my first helmet and pads in 5th grade to play football and we were playing baseball as much as possible. Ironically none of my younger four brothers were sports nuts or ever worked in a steel mill like dad I started June 6, 1969 exactly 19 years and 3 days after dad in the same department Open Hearth Maintenance when in was 18.

My love of the Cleveland BROWNS and INDIANS was permanent.  My dad meanwhile put in 30 years at USS until they closed in 1981 and was a cub scout, boy scout and Explorer leader all together at one time. He also taught electrical maintenance at trade schools in the area after retiring from local industries.

He was quite a guy.

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I'd have to start with...My best 27 years was spent being raised in Oregon & Perrysburg, Ohio from 1963..Saw my 1st Browns game in 1967 up till the Muni fell down.. I accepted a job transfer when the Browns left town, to recoup in NC, due to all the drugs/alcohol of Browns depression & the following of bat shit crazy 🦇 college stalker women of the University of titty-Toledo 🎓.. I loved playing sports since the day I could walk. Playing Baseball, Basketball & Football at TU till told to walk off.. Turned to playing street hockey just to bang on more bitches..Called Mike Bossy of the Oregon Islanders, playing under the High level bridge in Toledo..

My mother & father split at my age of 12 & my loving mom took on myself & 2 sisters..But she always knew Dad was my Rock & my life coach ..Of sports too, he coached me in HS football.. custody of me was granted to him with no court battle.. We stayed at his mom's till his money got straight during divorce.Thanks! Grandma. Thou my Mom has passed, she was always great to me.. i get that love back from my 2 sisters that are her twin daughters..

Whew! Thanks for letting me get that all out Flugs...Now why am i here? ;)  Go!

1) I was 2..My Dad was a sailor in the Navy, based in SD, headed back from Japan. Cuz am 2 & I can't take care of his newborn twins 😛

2) My Uncle Jack (his brother). falls madly in love with mate Carol on same ship. lands but both want to now fly planes, so Jack stays with Carol in SD to join the Air Force for 4 more years..Both worked at Space Center in Fla. Married till their death in 2018 Alpena, Michigan

3) My now Stranded Father, naval suit & bags 👍 *hitchhikes* back from SD,Cali to Toledo,O H-io via a truck driver landing him in Chicago in one run..And 2 more hitches from Chicago "To honey I'm Home" in Toledo ..Cuz am still 2. Dad works 35 years at Williams Steel to raise us right still bleeding Orange & Brown to games.. Jack & Carol say John Candy had nothing on Dad & truck Hitchhiking from Home Alone 🤣 

4) Ah yes! the Browns missing link Brother of 4, with 6 season tickets.. Uncle Jim! Jim sat back the whole time working for Ohio Bell making sure myself & only Browns fans would sit in Dads & Jack's seat if they were serving duty.. We saw loads of Browns games till the Muni came down..Best of Times!! till..

The worse of times :( We lost Dad/Jim & Jack all around Xmas of 2018. after Carol in 2017 🙏(some mighty good card games up there).. All's Final resting spot including Carol? Presque Isle, Michigan. on Grand Lake. 2 sisters & Myself were gifted Dad's house...So i hope to come up & see ya all..cause it's why I login? Your all I have left in Browns Fans.. GO BROWNS!! (just once 🤞) Stan & They will hear us!   

Thanks Flug! Great Topic.. Enjoying all the great Reads 👍  

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My Browns game attendance started before I was born. Mom and Dad went to several games. As a young kid, I remember going with my Dad to see the Browns play the Steelers in an exhibition game...at the U of Akron Rubber Bowl. I looked it up once - the Browns played 19 exhibition games at the rubber bowl back in the day.

   We'd go fishing early in the morning, and make it back home to watch the kickoff. Catch too many fish, and we'd listen to the radio til all the fillets were checked and rechecked, and put in a bowl of salt water in the fridge.

   I'm certain that if they played a night game, we'd watch it til the end, and I'd have to drive about 3 hrs back to Wright-Pat AFB to be on duty the next morning.

  Of all the years, the Kardiac Kids were so much fun...and exhaustion.

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5 hours ago, calfoxwc said:

My Browns game attendance started before I was born. Mom and Dad went to several games. As a young kid, I remember going with my Dad to see the Browns play the Steelers in an exhibition game...at the U of Akron Rubber Bowl. I looked it up once - the Browns played 19 exhibition games at the rubber bowl back in the day.

   We'd go fishing early in the morning, and make it back home to watch the kickoff. Catch too many fish, and we'd listen to the radio til all the fillets were checked and rechecked, and put in a bowl of salt water in the fridge.

   I'm certain that if they played a night game, we'd watch it til the end, and I'd have to drive about 3 hrs back to Wright-Pat AFB to be on duty the next morning.

  Of all the years, the Kardiac Kids were so much fun...and exhaustion.

Fishing and fileting I remember that as a kid in high school on days off and after school from a lake practically in our backyard in the early and mid 1960s.  Fileting fish and eating them or stuffing the frig or freezer.

About the same time I was in the scouts as a troop leader when about in 1966 (+/-) we loaded up our old troop bus, an old school bus, about 3 am and went from Niles, OH to WP AFB what trip that was!  They treated us so well as we toured the AFB and the grounds.  After a full day we headed back with our 5-6 hour trip in that old rickety bus back to Niles.

Great old memories from about 54 years ago.  Put a lot of miles in that old bus in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

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10 hours ago, calfoxwc said:

My Browns game attendance started before I was born. Mom and Dad went to several games. As a young kid, I remember going with my Dad to see the Browns play the Steelers in an exhibition game...at the U of Akron Rubber Bowl. I looked it up once - the Browns played 19 exhibition games at the rubber bowl back in the day.

   We'd go fishing early in the morning, and make it back home to watch the kickoff. Catch too many fish, and we'd listen to the radio til all the fillets were checked and rechecked, and put in a bowl of salt water in the fridge.

   I'm certain that if they played a night game, we'd watch it til the end, and I'd have to drive about 3 hrs back to Wright-Pat AFB to be on duty the next morning.

  Of all the years, the Kardiac Kids were so much fun...and exhaustion.

Love that first sentence!  Thanks Cal!

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Thanks for the replies and giving me where your lenses of this team began!  There are some great posts in this thread by you guys! 

FWIW!   I've always been a BIG fan of the RB position since I began watching football.  Whether it Archie Griffin winning back-to-back Heisman Trophies at Ohio State or watching Leroy Kelly's career wind down and my all time fave Greg Pruitt's career launch.  These were such powerful 1st impressions I had no other choice. Greg Pruitt could score from anywhere on the field.  He was also one of the strongest guys in the NFL pound for pound which didn't hurt.  My dad was always telling me about the legends thatcame earlier like: Marion Motley, Jim Brown and Bobby Mitchell.  My 2nd favorite college football program due to the proximity of where I was raised had RBs like Jim Brown, Ernie Davis, Floyd Little and Ohio native Larry Csonka long before Joe Morris, and Moose Johnston kept the RB tradition afloat there. 

I'm ecstatic the Browns have a true professional that puts the "WE" before "ME" not to mention all the hard work Nick Chubb puts into his career.  As we saw when we Rathoused Baltimore - this guy has some serious jets.  His impressive yards after contact is delicious eye candy as well..  I've already mentioned the 1st 2 RBs I enjoyed above.  We've had a lot more RBs that were fun to watch regardless of tenure length such as Mike Pruitt, Earnest Byner, Kevin Mack (anything more adorable than watching the Greg Lloyd waking up to smelling salts?), Leroy Hoard, and Nick Chubb. Kareem Hunt is also talented;but he finds trouble too easily off the field to be worthy of MY list.  I didn't put William Green on the list for the same reasons; even though I like what he did after football when fate put him where he was needed more than football...

Thanks again for your stories!  Looking forward to reading more...

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I was the youngest of 3 kids, and my sister & brother weren't into sports like I was. My dad was a huge fan, although he hated Art because of the Paul Brown firing.

Anyway, my dad decided to take me to a Browns game vs Cincy, Oct 1 1972. I was 9 years old. The Bengals botched the opening kickoff and the Browns recovered inside the 5 yard line. The place was going crazy, and I remember how loud it was. Leroy Kelly scored 2 plays later, I was hooked for life...Browns 27-6 victors. That whole season was amazing to me, we went to the game that the Browns tried to blow vs the Steelers, but Cockroft made a short FG to win it 26-24. 

I ended up getting a Plain Dealer paper route, and eventually became a season ticket holder in 1979, first row of the bleachers under the goal posts. The seats happened to open up after a Browns-Oilers game when fans went nuts and threw bottles on the field after a bad PI call on the Browns (Pastorini to Ken Burrough).  Before that, me and some buddies would hop on the 79 bus down Fulton, and would go to the games. 

Anyhow, I passed on the Browns disease to my 3 sons. My youngest has season tickets, and my older two are involved in Browns Backers Clubs in Houston & Phoenix. Last year we tailgated at the Browns-Cards game for a family reunion. As per usual, the tailgate was better than the game. 

Great stories folks. Someday, and hopefully real soon, we finally get that dam Super Bowl. 

 

IMG_20191215_113507.jpg

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3 hours ago, Bob806 said:

I was the youngest of 3 kids, and my sister & brother weren't into sports like I was. My dad was a huge fan, although he hated Art because of the Paul Brown firing.

Anyway, my dad decided to take me to a Browns game vs Cincy, Oct 1 1972. I was 9 years old. The Bengals botched the opening kickoff and the Browns recovered inside the 5 yard line. The place was going crazy, and I remember how loud it was. Leroy Kelly scored 2 plays later, I was hooked for life...Browns 27-6 victors. That whole season was amazing to me, we went to the game that the Browns tried to blow vs the Steelers, but Cockroft made a short FG to win it 26-24. 

I ended up getting a Plain Dealer paper route, and eventually became a season ticket holder in 1979, first row of the bleachers under the goal posts. The seats happened to open up after a Browns-Oilers game when fans went nuts and threw bottles on the field after a bad PI call on the Browns (Pastorini to Ken Burrough).  Before that, me and some buddies would hop on the 79 bus down Fulton, and would go to the games. 

Anyhow, I passed on the Browns disease to my 3 sons. My youngest has season tickets, and my older two are involved in Browns Backers Clubs in Houston & Phoenix. Last year we tailgated at the Browns-Cards game for a family reunion. As per usual, the tailgate was better than the game. 

Great stories folks. Someday, and hopefully real soon, we finally get that dam Super Bowl. 

 

IMG_20191215_113507.jpg

Great photo, probably a great spread of food and I am sure a great time. But who in the hell is the Bears' fan? Yea, and we're Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ fans here too. 

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2 hours ago, Icecube said:

Great photo, probably a great spread of food and I am sure a great time. But who in the hell is the Bears' fan? Yea, and we're Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ fans here too. 

Lol....yeah, Phoenix is pretty transient so that kid is from Illinois. Lots of people around there wearing all kinds of different jerseys to that game- mostly Cowboys.

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1 hour ago, Bob806 said:

Lol....yeah, Phoenix is pretty transient so that kid is from Illinois. Lots of people around there wearing all kinds of different jerseys to that game- mostly Cowboys.

Yea, I think AZ regularly has more fans show from the visiting team. I am pretty sure more Cowboy fans show than Card fans at AZ vs. Dallas games in AZ. 

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I am a 2nd generation fan, my dad got me hooked on the browns after explaining the kardiac kids To me. And how the team left and came back. I was immediately drawn to the intimate history of the team and passion Of the fans. 
 

my first year basically being a die hard was 2006. Charlie Frye Jersey is still hanging in the closet collecting dust. I should’ve given it to a homeless man a long time ago. Growing up my favorite player was probably Josh Cribbs or Peyton HILLIS for one year. We haven’t had a lot to cheer about the last 20 years.

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7 hours ago, D Bone said:

Hell yea! Now this is a thread that should be 22 pages by months end. Very cool. 

Don't have the time now to totally read through the thread- but I will give you guys my Browns history eventually....  

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10 minutes ago, TypicalBrowns50 said:

I am a 2nd generation fan, my dad got me hooked on the browns after explaining the kardiac kids To me. And how the team left and came back. I was immediately drawn to the intimate history of the team and passion Of the fans. 
 

my first year basically being a die hard was 2006. Charlie Frye Jersey is still hanging in the closet collecting dust. I should’ve given it to a homeless man a long time ago. Growing up my favorite player was probably Josh Cribbs or Peyton HILLIS for one year. We haven’t had a lot to cheer about the last 20 years.

I find it somewhat surprising - in a good way - that anyone started being a Browns fan from '99 on and still is.

I mean, we older guys have memories of good teams we actually lived and died with. 

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Great topic!!!

The 86 Browns were my first recollection of the Browns.  My dad and I watched every game (Youngstown area) we would listen to the radio during the game to hear play by play with Nev Chandler.  I remember My Cousin collected these Browns Digests 70s-80s not sure what they were called He had stacked high in a cabinet.  I remember being 7/8 and reading most of them each time we would visit.   First game at Muni Stadium was a Monday Night game against the Colts with Mike Pagel as the QB.  I was 8 I had school (2nd or 3rd grade) the next morning my mom was pissed.  Now being 2500 miles away I usually call Sunday evenings and we talk about what the Browns did wrong 

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We moved to Cleveland when I went in to 1st grade.  Moved in from Detroit.  My Dad was born in Toledo, as was I, so he was a Lions and Tigers fan.  We went to a few Browns games, but I remember him saying he wasn't going to pay $11 for a football ticket!  LOL  When I got old enough I took money from my Plain Dealer route to buy my own $11 ticket and went downtown with a friend.  There were gameday express busses.  My parents were pissed I went downtown on my own.  They were really pissed when my buddy and I got on the wrong bus home and it dropped us off out in Parma, we lived in Bay Village.  We couldn't figure out the bus schedule to get home, so had to call my parents to come get us.  That was a quiet ride, at least until we dropped my buddy off at his house, then it got pretty loud.

In those days home games were never on TV.  Games had to sell out by maybe Thursday to get local TV coverage.  There were always a few seats directly behind a pole, or a few standing room seats created that wouldn't sell.  There could be 82,000 people in there, but those last 25 seats kept games off the air.  My brothers and I would sit in the large upstairs bedroom we shared and listed to Gib Shanley call the game.  We would take out our sleeping bags and stack them, use them as practice dummies.

 

Good times.

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2 hours ago, ballpeen said:

 My parents were pissed I went downtown on my own.  They were really pissed when my buddy and I got on the wrong bus home and it dropped us off out in Parma, we lived in Bay Village.  We couldn't figure out the bus schedule to get home, so had to call my parents to come get us.  That was a quiet ride, at least until we dropped my buddy off at his house, then it got pretty loud.

Good times.

Oh Yeah! I know all about that quiet ride home!  it's Oct.1980.. Sipe hits Dave Logan with 17 seconds left to stun Lynn Dickey & the Packers..No one could cover James Lofton all day..It's a good thing I taped that game.. I was grounded a week to watch it!

I chose to lie to mom to get her keys to the back-up car 'The Mean green Valiant'.. It's my best friends birthday & he's never seen a game..So we takeoff from Toledo & B00M! Front tire blows bout a hour from the Muni lot...The jacks up & I'm 2 nuts on the spare & here comes Buford & the blue lights special 🚔. Mighty Barney Fife, impounds Mom's car for another tire & questioned plate search..Were fk'd 🙃.I'm age 17. Mean green Valiant is Towed. And Fife takes us to his holding cell station for my ONE phone call ☎️.. Hi M0m!  :ph34r:....

am out of emojis at this time. but browns& parents pissed is worth all 6..  

 

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11 hours ago, SdBacker80 said:

Great topic!!!

The 86 Browns were my first recollection of the Browns.  My dad and I watched every game (Youngstown area) we would listen to the radio during the game to hear play by play with Nev Chandler.  I remember My Cousin collected these Browns Digests 70s-80s not sure what they were called He had stacked high in a cabinet.  I remember being 7/8 and reading most of them each time we would visit.   First game at Muni Stadium was a Monday Night game against the Colts with Mike Pagel as the QB.  I was 8 I had school (2nd or 3rd grade) the next morning my mom was pissed.  Now being 2500 miles away I usually call Sunday evenings and we talk about what the Browns did wrong 

Great stuff !  Where abouts were you in the Youngstown area to listen to Nev on the radio?

The BROWNS, INDIANS and even CAVS all had good radio and TV people......but we might have been a bit prejudicial on our opinions.

GO BROWNS, TRIBE and CAVS (well when LBJ was there).......oh yeah !

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3 hours ago, gumby73 said:

Oh Yeah! I know all about that quiet ride home!  it's Oct.1980.. Sipe hits Dave Logan with 17 seconds left to stun Lynn Dickey & the Packers..No one could cover James Lofton all day..It's a good thing I taped that game.. I was grounded a week to watch it!

I chose to lie to mom to get her keys to the back-up car 'The Mean green Valiant'.. It's my best friends birthday & he's never seen a game..So we takeoff from Toledo & B00M! Front tire blows bout a hour from the Muni lot...The jacks up & I'm 2 nuts on the spare & here comes Buford & the blue lights special 🚔. Mighty Barney Fife, impounds Mom's car for another tire & questioned plate search..Were fk'd 🙃.I'm age 17. Mean green Valiant is Towed. And Fife takes us to his holding cell station for my ONE phone call ☎️.. Hi M0m!  :ph34r:....

am out of emojis at this time. but browns& parents pissed is worth all 6..  

 

Gumby you missed your calling as a stand up comedian.  GOOD STUFF !  

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6 hours ago, ballpeen said:

We moved to Cleveland when I went in to 1st grade.  Moved in from Detroit.  My Dad was born in Toledo, as was I, so he was a Lions and Tigers fan.  We went to a few Browns games, but I remember him saying he wasn't going to pay $11 for a football ticket!  LOL  When I got old enough I took money from my Plain Dealer route to buy my own $11 ticket and went downtown with a friend.  There were gameday express busses.  My parents were pissed I went downtown on my own.  They were really pissed when my buddy and I got on the wrong bus home and it dropped us off out in Parma, we lived in Bay Village.  We couldn't figure out the bus schedule to get home, so had to call my parents to come get us.  That was a quiet ride, at least until we dropped my buddy off at his house, then it got pretty loud.

In those days home games were never on TV.  Games had to sell out by maybe Thursday to get local TV coverage.  There were always a few seats directly behind a pole, or a few standing room seats created that wouldn't sell.  There could be 82,000 people in there, but those last 25 seats kept games off the air.  My brothers and I would sit in the large upstairs bedroom we shared and listed to Gib Shanley call the game.  We would take out our sleeping bags and stack them, use them as practice dummies.

 

Good times.

Ballpeen you were so right on those ridiculous NFL  sell out rules especially in the big old multiuse stadiums with the good/bad seats.

Like you said good times.

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11 hours ago, mjp28 said:

Gumby you missed your calling as a stand up comedian.  GOOD STUFF !  

Ah Shucks,thanks!  I did drop the 🎤  at a few high school pep rally's..Coaches with bad Breath 🗣️...  My Browns 2nd National Anthem 🤔 request.. 

Oh! were not done yet... I'll get to the story of the 2 G-men goober fans that hired 2 female escorts at Metlife we called........ M&M's & Skittles 🚥  

just Keep these great post coming 👍  Good Stuff Ballpeen!

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