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Beloved Browns mascot Swagger passes away

Swagger, the beloved, 145-pound bullmastiff who joined the Browns as the team's first live mascot, passed away Friday. He was 6 years old.

Swagger, who joined the Browns as a puppy at the start of the 2014 season, battled cancer throughout the past year.

On top of regular appearances on Dawg Pound Drive and events throughout the community, Swagger ran through the tunnel at every Browns game at FirstEnergy Stadium from 2014 to the midpoint of the 2019 season. The lone "home" game he missed was in 2017, when Cleveland faced the Minnesota Vikings in London.

Swagger's son, SJ, took over for him in Week 10 of the 2019 season and will carry on the role into 2020 and beyond. Swagger served as the Dawg Pound Captain in his final game with the Browns.

Swagger, who was born July 20, 2013, hailed from FD Farms, a certified member of the American Kennel Club, in Rootstown, Ohio. Fred and Debby McLaughlin are the operators of the farm, and their son, Justin, was Swagger's handler. Justin ran out of the tunnel alongside Swagger and has continued to do so with SJ.

https://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/beloved-browns-mascot-swagger-passes-away

Friday, Feb 07, 2020 04:34 PM

Beloved Browns mascot Swagger passes away

Andrew Gribble

Senior Staff Writer
Photos: Swagger Through the Years

Check out photos of our mascot Swagger

Swagger, the beloved, 145-pound bullmastiff who joined the Browns as the team's first live mascot, passed away Friday. He was 6 years old.

Swagger, who joined the Browns as a puppy at the start of the 2014 season, battled cancer throughout the past year.

On top of regular appearances on Dawg Pound Drive and events throughout the community, Swagger ran through the tunnel at every Browns game at FirstEnergy Stadium from 2014 to the midpoint of the 2019 season. The lone "home" game he missed was in 2017, when Cleveland faced the Minnesota Vikings in London.

Swagger's son, SJ, took over for him in Week 10 of the 2019 season and will carry on the role into 2020 and beyond. Swagger served as the Dawg Pound Captain in his final game with the Browns.

Swagger, who was born July 20, 2013, hailed from FD Farms, a certified member of the American Kennel Club, in Rootstown, Ohio. Fred and Debby McLaughlin are the operators of the farm, and their son, Justin, was Swagger's handler. Justin ran out of the tunnel alongside Swagger and has continued to do so with SJ.


https://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/bel...N74SKKWNOmlYd8Y

RIP

What a shame to lose a dog 6 years old!

I hate it when dogs die in movies I'm watching. I hate this too. Rest easy, big fella. Look up my 6 "kids" when you cross the bridge.

My wife and I have several pictures we took with Swagger before games.

He was a great dog.

It is, but Mastiffs don't live that long. He lived near the average. I think 7-8 is about average. 10-11 is old for the breed.

All he knew was hope, he embodied Browns fans. We should all be so fortunate, afortunado.

Props

RIP swagger .. good work

merged threads

Too bad the dog that had to be apart of the 1-31 and losing had more Swagger then then losing miserable teams he had to represent.. I had English mastiffs that were 230 lbs.. Their names.. Wideload and Deisle...

I read that his owner said he had been battling cancer but died of a stroke this afternoon

RIP Swagger. As I said in the other thread where this came up, I am sure his family loved him dearly, and will definitely miss him.

That’s my Dawg

Hated to hear this news.
Rest easy Big Guy!

Rip Swagger. Very sad news.

My pit Samson died suddenly last fall at only 6. Heartbreaking. Still, to this day.

RIP Swagger. Cross that bridge and go find Samson. He loves to play.

There was a poster here named 230lb Mastiff.....that wasn't you was it? lol

no..lol

i did have people question the spelling of Deisle..then I explained it.

I thought of you when I saw he was 6. I hope time and good memories are starting to heal your heart bro.

It’s been a slow process. Slower than I would have thought. I still tear up at times when I think about him. Twice this week actually for different reasons. (Facebook pitty videos sometimes get to me.) I miss him tremendously. Time heals all wounds... it doesn’t refill your heart.

The only thing that fill and heal a broken heart is love. This is the one thing, above all others, that a dog excels at.

Why not get a new 4 legged friend. He won't be Samson, but I bet he'll fill up your heart, and heal the broken parts.

Samson would not want you to be unhappy. He spent his life doing everything he could to make you happy.

In time I hope to have room in my life for another pup. Right now I don’t have the time needed to raise one from the ground up. When I got Samson at 10 weeks old, my girlfriend and I were in a unique situation where one of us was almost always home. At least through the first year of his life. That’s no longer the case. We both work long days. I’m actually busier now than I was then too. Which with a 6 year old dog it was made easier than with a 10 week old puppy that needs a ton of care. Samson could go to daycare all day. While I worked all day then spent an evening at the shop. He’d come home tired and happy.
One of my goals is to back off from my nursing career and dive deeper into my art. As that dream slowly manifests a side benefit will be having the time needed to get another puppy. I can take a puppy to the shop with me. I’d be my own boss. I can’t take it with me all day on my hospice visits.
As to the emotional side, I’m not quite ready. As much as I may not want to, right now it’d be hard not compare any new dog to Samson. It’d not be fair. He was a really amazing spirit.
The time will come when it comes. The right puppy will come when it’s the right time. Life is like that I’ve found.

I had a Lab named Charlie. I got him as a lost pup, who wandered into our service department back when I sold cars.

He stunk like tuna, and was scared of everything and everyone. I brought him home with me, and my border collie Buddy kind of adopted him.

He helped my heartbreak heal when Buddy died a few years later.

I was blessed to have Charlie for over 17 years. When he died, it was impossible to think of life without him, but I had to. I also realized that I am a dog person. The house was just too silent without a dog's lively spirit filling it up.

2 days later, I got my dog Duke. I was spending a ton of time at work when I got Duke. I would come home when I made the bank deposits to let him out. I lived about 1/2 mile from the bank, so it made it really easy. It wasn't easy for Duke at 1st. He learned really quickly, though. I think the hardest part was realizing that I was going to come back to him whenever I left.

I had Duke all during the trials I have had with my back. I sometimes wonder if I would have made it this far if I hadn't had him then.

Then he got sick, and died. That was horribly difficult. I was probably closer to Duke that I had been to any of my other dogs. I spent a ton of time with him at home. My heart broke wide open when I had to put him down, and even half a year later, (approx) I still tear up thinking about him and his last days.

I got my new dog, Dobby, a few days later. He's not Duke. No dog could be. However, he is becoming a great dog. Well ... he always has been ... but he has now learned the rules of the house well. He'll never replace Duke, just like Duke never replaced Charlie ..... but he has found his own niche .. his own place in my heart ... and he brings me joy as only a dog can.

I bet that there is a dog who is waiting and waiting for a great human to adopt. Hopefully that dog will find you soon.

I recently had to put down my 16 year old cat. It was her time. As sad as that was.
About a month later, about a month ago actually, we adopted a new cat. Fiona. She’s 8 years old and was abandoned at her last home by her owners. (Who does that?!) When we brought her home she hid for the first week. We only knew she was still alive as she’d clean her plate of the food we’d leave her. Slowly she started coming out when we’d actually feed her. Always staying close to her hiding spot. After a couple weeks she let us pet her.... she’s still very shy and prefers to stay in ‘her room’. Just in the past 7-10 days she’s been starting to come out to the rest of the house. This week was the first time she made it to the living room to seek out attention. Sudden movements or loud noises make her scurry away still but our house is generally quiet so it’s not been too much of an issue. Her and our other cat, 11 years old, get along fairly well now too.
I’m glad we gave her a chance. She’s really sweet and cuddly when she lets her guard down.
Cats are easier. They require less of us. For now they have to fill my need for four legged family.

Everyone is different. I had to have my Lab, Mo, put down about....gee, 16-17 years ago? I still miss her. We did finally, about 6 years ago, get another dog.

My in laws? They had to have their dog put down about 15 years ago. I can distinctly remember them saying it was so tough to do that they'd never get another dog. EVER.

I came home from work about 10 days after they had put it down, walked in the house, and there are my in laws with a little puppy.

Sad

RIP swagger.......

Really hated to hear this. Another dog person here as well.

We had 2 Black lab mixes. Both were rescues. We got "Guinness" first. Black Lab / Aussie Shepherd mix. He was our "dumpster puppy". Someone had put him and his litter-mates into a box and threw them into a dumpster. He was always scared of loud booming noises, and I can't help but think that this was the reason why.

As I started to work more an more in the office instead of from the home, Guinness had separation anxiety. So we decided to look for a friend. We originally looked for a female so that there would not be any Alpha head butting. And we came across another Aussie Shepherd. We went to the Shelter and they had a huge play yard. Guinness loves other dogs, but she did not want anything to do with Guinness.

But there was another dog. They named him Pepe as he had been sprayed by a skunk. He was a Black Lab / Whippet mix. And so we thought what could it hurt, lets see how they get along. So we took him with Guinness to the play yard and they hit it off right away. We quickly renamed him "Bailey" (can you sense a theme...lol) and they were inseparable ever since. And I do mean inseparable. Bailey was about a year younger than Guinness, but you could have thought they were from the same litter.

We had Guinness for 12 years. And in Late 2018. We lost Guinness to Cancer. This was a death knell for Bailey as he was distraught with out his brother. And he was dealing with diabetes as well as cancer. We left for a long weekend trip in the first weekend of February 2019. We left him with our Vet. While we were away he went once a gain into DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis). When we returned, he was going into kidney failure and we made the decision.

When we dropped off Bailey before our trip. We had met an old Yellow Lab. His name was CJ. He was ll years old. And he was an owner surrender. His owners felt as if "he was no fun anymore", and they wanted o put him down. The vet tore into them like you wouldn't believe. The staff all commented on hearing the yelling behind the closed door. At the time, My wife felt he could keep Bailey company. Sadly we never got to find out. Bailey was not into "other dogs". he was very protective of Guinness...and us. We really could not take him out with us. Even if he was more bark than bite...lol ANd the initial meeting with CJ was inconclusive...

But with Bailey's passing, there was a hole in our family. A big one. It still hurts to this day. Janine wanted to look at CJ again. But I, like Portland, was not ready. And I really balked at adopting a dog that was as old as CJ. A couple weeks later and CJ still had no home, and with my reluctance, my wife brought him home on a trial basis. His name was CJ...named after the Cooper and James Rivers here in Charleston. He is an English Lab, Dudley. As an English Lab, he is a little shorter and a little stockier than your Yellow Lab. As a Dudley, he has the pink nose and yellow eyelashes.

I could not call him CJ. So we call him Cooper. And now a year later, we couldn't imagine him not being a part of our family. He such an adorable goof. The vets can't believe this is the same dog as he is so happy now. He hates going to the vet...I don't blame him...it is where he was abandoned. But he is spunky and loves to do "Happy Zoomies" around the yard. He loves everyone and every dog...I can't thank God enough for letting him onto our lives, easing the pain of loss of our Guinness and Bailey. He has certainly helped that process.

I know we may not have a lot of time left with Cooper...although you would not know it to see him. But I am very thankful for the time we will get.

My wife will soon be working again...so we will be looking for a friend for Cooper as well...I can't wait to meet that "goof"...lol

You never know ... my old yellow lab, Charlie, made it to 17. (actually, 17 1/2)

A pet named Charlie...
Me and the wife got a budgie four years ago, named him Charlie. I even started a thread about it.

We kept his cage on the living room coffee table, so we could watch him as much as possible, & so he wouldn’t feel alone.
Anyway three Sunday’s ago he started not being his usual energetic, chirpy self and struggled to get breaths. After a couple of days, I had a good idea about what was wrong, almost knew the outcome wasn’t going to be good.

Two days later I took him to the vet. She seemed to hint there was nothing we could do for him because once budgies start showing signs of illness it’s too late.

She didn’t try to up-sell, but I had to give him every chance, and bought some medications for him. It’s only freaking money and I was holding out for a miracle. Charlie lasted another week and it wasn’t fun to watch him deteriorate.

I grieved - not like I did for my dog to be honest - and we miss him.
He’ll be buried in my father-in-law’s backyard when the ground isn’t frozen.

He’s in a little box in our freezer, with a tiny blanket, his favourite mirror and his guitar toy.
Not looking for sympathy, wasn’t even gonna mention it until you mentioned your dog Charlie.

He wasn’t “just a bird”, he was part of our lives, family.

Pets of all kinds (even cats) earn a place in our hearts by virtue of the love they give us. I had guinea pigs as a kid, and they would whistle, excited beyond believe, and shake like crazy when I walked in the room. I probably had 3 or 4 of them over the years, from age 10-16, since they were a pet we could have in apartments. I had 2 different ones that would climb up my shirt, and either sit on my shoulder, or sit up behind my neck. I had another that curled up in a ball and went to sleep any time I picked him up. (at least, I think it was a him) They would let me pet them for hours if I wanted to, and were happy putting up with me doing so. Did those little furballs love me? Heck, I don't know ..... but they were always thrilled to see me .... even if it only meant that they thought they were going to get to eat. I think that they did love me, at least as far as they could. I know that I mourned for them when they died. They were part of the family too. Pets of all kinds have a way of working their ways into out hearts, and the world seems a little darker on the day they leave us.