I was just thinking about how this is obviously a Browns fan board, yet we have people all over the place. So, I figured I'd start a discussion on how we all became affiliated with Cleveland and/or the Browns.

My family always refers to Cleveland and Ohio as the "nursery" of the country. Lots of people born there, and lots of people from there, but then many leave the nest and usually settle elsewhere.

Like I mentioned in another thread, the last place I lived in Cleveland was Westlake. I am originally from West Park, off Rocky River Drive between Kamm's Corner and Puritas. Right by where the Old Bearden's was decades ago. Used to go to Gene's Place a lot, and still do every time I am in town. Started working at Westwood Country Club as a caddie when I was 13 where I met the guy who is now the HC of the AZ Cardinals. We ended up going to high school together as well. We used to golf there on Mondays when the club house was closed and employees could golf. Also did a few rounds at Little Met which was closer to my house.

Used to play on our street from sun up to sun down, occasionally going to Gunning. Always remember Sundays when I was really little and hearing my dad shout "GO! GO! GO!" when the Browns were on and scoring a TD, lol. He was broken when they left.

I am the youngest of six kids, so when I was 16 years old, my dad realized that he was going to lose his years of free manual labor shortly. At that point, we moved out to Westlake, to a free standing condominium, which is really just a house where they do your yard work for you. It was nice for me because most of my friends lived there, including the guy who to this day remains my closest friend. He now lives in Jacksonville. I had another buddy who lived in Westlake, just down the street from Tim Couch. We would play football in front of his house, hoping he would come outside. He never did, lol.

Went to college at Xavier, where I met my now wife, who is a native of Tampa. We both swore we would leave the area, but here we are 20 years later in a new house that we just built last summer. I haven't actually lived in Cleveland for almost 20 years, but every time I go back, it still feels like home.

How about all of you? What are your ties to Cleveland or the Browns?

I grew up in Westlake. My Dad was transferred there for work in 1981. We moved away when I graduated high school. We lived in a neighborhood that lots of Browns players lived in. One of them used to babysit me, but I don't remember who. I was a big Browns fan growing up, but my Dad never took us to any games. I didn't get to see the Browns play in person until after 1999. I've only seen them win one game, in person. That was vs Atlanta. Weirdly I went to Cleveland to watch them play Atlanta. Baker threw a TD right in front of me. And Chubb did that 99 yard TD run. Great game!

I stil watch the Spanish broadcast of that run from time to time.

I was originally born in Bay Village, but moved around quite a bit until coming back to Cleveland during high school and college years (1998-2007). After finishing up school, I moved back out to California and was there for 10-15 years (briefly in LA, but mostly in San Diego). Once I got married (wife is also from Cleveland w/o the moving around) and our son was born, we moved back to Ohio (Cincinnati). My parents live down here now but my in-laws are still up in NEO.

I'll say one thing... I found that living in Cleveland makes it harder to be a Cleveland fan. It wasn't until after college (after I was back in CA) that I was able to really become an avid Browns fan.

I was born in Mentor Ohio in 1957.

My father was an avid sports fan and became a season tickets holder in the early 60's when I became of age and/or understood the game.

He passed away in 1973 at the ripe old age of 37 years, 6 months and 5 days.

To this day I think of him when I watch any Browns game and/or any other NFL games.

I actually have no geographic ties to Cleveland. My ties to the Browns revolve around my grandpa. He took me to me first Browns game when I was six years old in 1964. The two of us were very close. I had my Browns hat, my Browns shirt along with a Browns jacket. All things my grandpa had bought for me. He had a massive heart attack on New Years Eve that year and passed away the morning after on New Years Day of 1965. He was 49 years old.

I am much older than my younger brothers. Growing up in the greater Dayton area the Browns were always the home team until the Bengals came along in 1968. My dad was more of a Paul Brown fan than a Browns fan so he quickly followed the Bengals. My siblings were so young that they never remembered a time when the Browns were the home team and my grandpa died before any of them were born. But NFL players didn't really make that much money back then. They were more of the lunch pail variety than the mansion and car collection kind we see today. So with that in mind and in honor of my grandpa, I always remained a Browns fan. Through the good times and the bad it didn't matter. As most everyone who reads this board knows, I'm having a much tougher time with that right now. As such it makes me reflect and wonder what my grandpa would have thought about all of this.

Wow, sorry you lost him so young. That kind of stuff haunts me as a father. I lost my dad in 2014, but he was 80, almost 81. I think about him a lot during Browns games too.

Wow, another man gone too young. It's amazing the impression they can have on us for the rest of our lives.

I remember what you are saying about players not getting paid much. Interesting story from my life - my dad and Lou Groza were actually partners for a while at an insurance agency in the Terminal Tower. Crazy that Lou was a hall of famer, but still had to have a desk job to earn enough income. My dad went to Michigan and Lou went to Ohio State, so they used to bet each other on the game every year and rib each other.

They eventually took their practices separate ways, but remained friends until Lou died.

Great story about your dad and Lou.

j/c:

I'm a born and raised Clevelander. I'll most likely die here. I love the fabric of this town....it's diversity in many different forms, it's people, culture, history, neighborhoods, lake and river fronts, all eight of its seasons, and the fact it's underrated by so many who have never been here.

I grew up on the east side in Cleveland Heights and Shaker Heights before heading off to school in Cincinnati, then Memphis for work (thus the reference in my profile name), back to Cincinnati, then home to Cleveland a decade ago --living in Tremont before settling in a neighborhood in Cleveland proper.

For a former employer, I travelled around the country 2 weeks out of every month to most major cities in the US, but Cleveland always called back to me and knew I'd eventually make my way home. Sports is, arguably, the first-ever reality TV show and I tend to mirror the city in the sense that the Browns are my favorite Cleveland team, although follow all the big three rather aggressively. But the NFL does an amazing job promoting the idea that there is never really an offseason and always something to discuss and see, and I think that's really where my growing investment of the Browns came from. My family will get together most Sundays at 1PM to watch the games and the Browns have served as a connector in a way to keep family engagement ever present and expected at the start of each season. As family members leave us, hopefully that tradition of Sunday get-togethers doesn't.

This is kinda how I'm feeling (and I am also in the Cinci area right now). Well said.

*I'll apologize in advance, this wasn't meant to be so long. This is what a trip down memory lane always does to me.*


I was born and lived my first six years in Bedford Heights. Lost my dad, a die-hard fan, at the age of two. Lost my mom at the age of six.

Then on to Cleveland, being raised by my half-brother and sister-in-law. He didn't care for sports, so it wasn't until he was long gone and my sister-in-law (by then, my "mom") was remarried, that I had an actual step-dad who was a passionate Browns fan.

Before they were married, my "mom" introduced him to my (real) dad via an 8mm film from years before. We watched my dad's recording from the ending minutes of our Championship against the Lions (1954) in Municipal Stadium. It was the first time I actually shed tears watching that "filmstrip". I didn't say anything, but they weren't tears for my dad, they were for the young boy next to him, frozen in time in those frames. I was finally old enough to do the math and experience the gravity of knowing that was his oldest son (from another marriage) who had drowned with him on that fateful fishing trip in Canada.



It was only a few weeks later that step-dad was taking me to my first game. Browns / Bengals 1978. As an 11 year old, the craziest memories of that day were: piss troughs in the bathrooms; Hell's Angels roaming the aisles looking for someone; some crazed Browns fan marching around trying to get anyone to bet him $10 dollars that we lose, after we had scored our only 10 points in the 4th to tie the game (everyone seemed sure we would lose, I didn't yet know the same BBS they did)... and then finally, the Don Cockroft FG in overtime... and the roar of the 80,000+ that had me hooked. for. life.

Although by high-school I was moving on to another family situation, I cherish growing up on the East side of Cleveland. 71st and Gertrude (couple streets over from Fleet). A Polish neighborhood where everyone took care of each other. We played hard from early in the day 'til sundown. Usually football, usually on the grounds of Fullerton Elementary. The school cafeteria was open all summer with free breakfast for kids. I can't count the times my friends and I would be there for breakfast and then go on to play football all day. Limping home with some blood stains and a little sunburn wasn't all that uncommon.

From a kid on the playground, to a young man getting "bussed" to Jr High in "the hood", Cleveland never scared or intimidated me, because I was Cleveland. Not even walking through that hood, hand in hand with my girlfriend, both of us getting it from all angles... because she was black and I was white. As segregated as the city was, it was still a "melting pot". As much as people liked to portray things as black and white, with no room for gray, my friends were black and white, we played in their neighborhood and they played in ours. All you needed in those days was someone to walk up by your side and introduce you as their friend. I'm not saying that was the experience for everyone, but that was ours.



The Browns still had stiff competition in my heart though. My first love was boxing. My second love was the Cavs as my step-mom's best friend was dating a player. I woke up one night to see *most* of the 75-76 Cavs starters sitting in my living room passing a joint at 2am. I had all of their autographs and went to a playoff game against the Bullets during that Cinderella journey.

And the Indians... thinking back to those days, one memory that always comes quickly is the transistor radio that went with me everyday on my paper route. It was always tuned in to the Tribe or Cleveland sports radio. I knew every player stat, dug into every box score if I didn't see or hear the game, I bled Cleveland Indians baseball. That green, dirty, transistor radio makes one of it's most famous cameos one evening in May, 1981... as it lands on the dining room table and I race into the living room, trading in Herb Score and Nev Chandler for Joe Tait and Bruce Drennan, and the 9th inning of Lenny Barker's perfect game on channel 43.



The "johnny-come-lately" Browns quickly dealt plenty of heartache. I had my radio, but had to break away from my step-mom to chase down the wall of 20" TVs in an Uncle Bill's department store -- just in time to see Ahmad Rashad's one-handed catch under an expired clock. I actually lost $5 of my paper route profits on a bet with my step-dad (he always knew when the Browns would lose, even in games that we spent 60 full minutes with the lead). Three weeks later, I trudged through the wind and snow to go to a friend's house and watch Red Right 88 end our Cardiac Kids.

I think there was already enough Cleveland sports heartbreak to know this would be a long journey. I had no idea it would be this long.



I'm "tied" to Cleveland. At times the ties seem more like chains. But it doesn't matter, I'm a willing prisoner. Being a Browns fan is truly Stockholm Syndrome explained in it's purest form. Doesn't matter how bad the teams are or how much farther I am along this road we call life -- when my feet hit the ground in Cleveland -- I'm home. The home that has stood the truest test of time in my long and winding road.

I just hope I'm still here for "that day". It's sad and funny and so improbable. It's to be made fun of by the rest of the world while we don't even care that we're the brunt. We still wear the colors with pride and will stick a fat middle finger in the face of anyone with a smirk. I never, ever envisioned, as a young Browns fan that the fast-forward in my filmstrip would (will) have me looking straight to the sky when the day comes, saying "this is for dad, this is for Ricky, this is for Matt, this is for Dave"... and on and on, right through eotab.


No one else, in no other place on earth, will have even the slightest chance of understanding the feeling.

Born in Willowick in 1947. We moved to Harrisburg, Pa. in 1950. My father worked for TRW. We moved back in 1960 to Highland Hts.

I got a job delivering the Plain Dealer. I would read the Browns sports section all week long as teams prepared to face Jim Brown. In 1964 I was 11th grade when the Browns won the championship. I went to high school with Mike Trivisonno.

My father was a Paul Brown fan and Browns fan. Both of my parents were Indians fans.

I started moving around after high school then came back and graduated from Kent. After that I left for good.

During the Marty years I was living in Atlanta. I really got back into the Browns with a close friend I worked with. We watched the games together for over 30 years.

My son and his wife are really into the Browns and neither ever lived there. In fact she is from Australia and didn't know a thing about football. Now she is a huge fan.

When my family moved back in 1960. The Browns were one of premier teams in the NFL. When Modell bought the team and fired Paul Brown. It was like a bomb exploded.


It has been some hard traveling. Not in a million years did I think the Browns would go through all that has happened.

I want to get to the top one more time. I want it for the people of Cleveland. It would mean so much to so many.

Your neighborhood is going down hill anyways.

Dude that was freaking incredible. What a life you've had.

I grew up in NW rural Ohio, Mercer County. I have been to Cleveland maybe 6-8 times, usually for a Browns game. IT was a good 4 hour drive me, which is one of the reasons I went to so few games.

I started watching the NFL in 1969. I came from a big family (9) kids, and my brother, who was 12 years older than me was a huge Browns fan and he went to Kent State after graduating HS in 1967 and would travel to Hiram occasionally to watch TC.

The Browns were historical winners and I tasted that a bit in 1969, 71, 72 & having a very competitive team in 1979. I dont; recall watching a single AFL game as a kid, but did watch SB 3 & 4 and love readign about the AFL.

My brother had a lot to do with my Browns fandom, plus almost all Browns games were on TV. IF not on Dayton channels, they would be on WLIO Lima if I turned the antennae, which my dad hated because it messed up the other channels.

I would say the county I lived in at the time was 70-75% Browns fans.

Anyway, no Cleveland ties here, but my kids still make fun of me for my yelling at the TV during games and having my "superstitious rituals". I rarely sit during a game and when I traveled to Houston 2 months ago for the game, it was tough to stay in my seat.

I loved living in Cincinnati.....Clifton for school and Hyde Park/Oakley neighborhoods when I moved back w/ Mt. Lookout right around the corner.

I will say native Cincinnatians have, in my opinion, some sort of little brother complex for Cleveland, at least when it comes to sports. But I'd argue even more. Coming from Cleveland to Cincy for college, I had barely ever thought of Cincinnati. But, wow, they sure knew about Cleveland and loved to hate on it, and me, simply by association. That has remained true after all these years, not necessarily malicious but a random jab here or there. Clevelanders normally don't think about Cincinnati in that way outside of two games a year when we play the Bengals.

That all said.....listen to your heart and come home.

Sorry....don't want to hijack the spirit of the thread. Keep it to Cleveland.

My experience is very similar to Memphis'. I went to Ohio State for school, however.

I still travel all over the country for work and it was always in my and my wife's plans to move once our kids graduate college (assuming they stay in state). I have re-thought that recently and come to realize I/we are very happy here for many of the reasons Memphis stated, people, culture, diversity, neighborhoods (Ohio City, Tremont, Gordon Square, University Heights, Hingetown) Metroparks, Lake Erie, events at Cain Park in Cleveland Heights, three major sports teams etc...

Cleveland has an incredible dining scene and that is something my wife and I very much enjoy.

Cleveland's Playhouse Square is unlike anything in this country outside of NYC. The Cleveland Museum of Art and the Cleveland Symphony at Severance Hall are incredible. Access to world class hospitals.

On the weekends, I thoroughly enjoy going to places like the West Side Market, On the Rise Bakery to pick up french baguettes to make sandwiches, Juneberry Table or Lucky's Cafe with family for brunch etc..

It would be tough to replicate all of this, though I do love the east coast and Boston in particular, however the cost of living is 5x higher when considering a move.

Anymore, the Cleveland winters are near non-existent. Sure it gets cold, but any significant snowfall is few and far between. It's tough to complain about the weather like I used to.

Maybe we still move someday, but the thought is not the definitive plan I once believed it to be. I can hop on a plane and be anywhere I want when we want to get away

Such awesome stories, love reading all of them. Great thread DL05.

I was born in 76. I'm from a small town in the Cambridge area in Southeastern Ohio. I became a Browns/Tribe/Cavs/Ohio State fan because of my Dad. My Grandpa was an Indians fan, but did not care for the other sports. Most of our relatives were from the Cleveland and surrounding areas. I faintly remember going to my first Tribe game with family (and grandpa). It was the Tribe vs. Red Sox, Yaz hit his last hr before he retired. I was a Brett Butler fan, though I thought Brook Jacoby and Cory Snyder were so cool (collecting baseball cards will do that to you as a kid, haha) b/c they would wear that eye black under their eyes.

As for the Browns, I remember the heart break of watching the Browns/Broncos games at home. I faintly remember going to the Browns/Colts game and seeing Eric Dickerson play in grade school.

Once I graduated HS, I joined the Army and was stationed in Fort Hood. It was my first taste of being away from home and looking back was worth it. I did four years, then came back home. I was homesick and wanted to stay in the area. I switched over to the PA National Guard and moved to Pittsburgh for college. It really was a great experience as a young kid in my 20s. Went to college downtown, partied mostly in the Southside and quite often would see sports players (Big Ben, Bettis, Hines Ward, Charles Barkley, MJ, etc) out partying it up too. After I finished college, I moved back home for about a year, switched to the Army Reserve and was hired at the Akron VA clinic. I lived in Green for a few years. I enjoyed my time there; it was nice to be able to get up to a game whenever I had time. That was the closest I lived to Cleveland.

Though I liked my job, I wanted to do more and travel more. So I went back on to Active Duty and worked at Fort Bragg for about a year at the high command. Then I received my orders for DC. I loved it there. DC was a great assignment. History all over the place and sports all in the surrounding areas.

Which brings me to current day Hawaii. I love where I am. I still love playing GI Joe. Though most people might not like it, I love watching Ohio State on Saturdays at 6 am, and the Browns at 7 am on Sundays. Though, there are days when we are losing, I start looking out my window at the ocean/beach and try to talk myself into turning off the game and go enjoy the sun instead...it never happens, I have to watch the game through. Hey, on the positive side, a lot of those this past year we made the comeback.

I was just going to write how much I enjoyed the stories & the thread. It sort of "personalizes" everyone for me.

1986 and 87 damn bear broke me.

I was positive the Browns were the best team in the NFL. "The Drive" tore me to shreds.

But it was the "Fumble" that damn near killed me. I still refuse to watch the end of that game. When I came home. I was burning hot.

An alcoholic stewardess lived next door. She saw me pull in and yelled "what happened to the Browns?"

I wanted to punch her lights out. I went inside. Sat down. I had a selfie conversation. "You cannot let a game put you in this state of mind." I had to make an oath to self never to get that depressed again from a sporting event.

When the LeBron won with the Cavs. I went into shock. I am not a huge basketball guy. But it was the Cavs and I could not believe they beat the Warriors.

I am a Guardians fan. But I love the Braves. Baseball was my best sport. I became a Braves fan when I played Little League baseball in Harrisburg. When I moved to Atlanta in 1978 I started watching them because they were on TBS. I love Braves baseball. Never even watched a Falcons game.

When football season is on. I only care about one team. The juices flow and I still get geared up for game time. Love to see the Browns uniforms.

All in the full nine yards.

I can confirm your sentiments on Cincinnati. That was my impression as well. Did you live in Hyde Park/Oakley anytime from 2006-2010? I went to law school in Toledo from 2006 to 2009, but my wife was down in Hyde Park and I drove down every weekend. We lived in Hyde Park, right off of Erie in a condo we rented really close to Hap's Irish pub. After I graduated and worked in downtown Cincy, we lived there until January 2010 when we moved out to the northern burbs.

Thanks to both of you!

2009-2010: I lived in a house just off Hyde Park Square, across the street from The Echo, one of Cincy's best places for goetta.

The team is my only tie. That and I know they have some top notch hospitals that I’ve never seen.

Other than this board and the Browns?

My ties to Cleveland:
I was there once, saw the Browns beat the Falcons on Dec. 22, 2002.
Slept on a floor for two night at Hopkins.

I know a woman who lives in my neck of the woods, she grew up in Cleveland Heights and in the early 1970s she made her way to Nova Scotia to live in a commune, on a farm. I gather she was a hippie, back to the earth type.

She eventually started a home for abused women in the town I live in. Tearmann House exists to this day.
She once told me her father Joe was a cop on the CPD, and their next door neighbour when she was a kid was Rocky Colavito.
I don’t BS, and neither does she.

You have a 100% win rate at Browns games. I vote you have to attend every game this upcoming season.

I grew up in rural NW Ohio. There was no affiliation to any to sports teams. I was raised a Tigers fan and spent quite a few days and nights with my dad at old Tiger’s Stadium from 1984-87. I wasn’t raised in an NFL household. My buddy’s dad was a Browns fan. That’s where I was first exposed, 1981 or so. By the time Elway ruined my childhood I was hooked.

In all honesty I’ve spent far less time in Cleveland than any other city in Ohio. My dad lived in Toledo. I moved to Columbus for art school and spent about 11 years living there. I had a girlfriend in Dayton, and another in Athens. My exwife was from Cinci, so I spent a fair amount of time there. Honestly I’ve probably only been to Cleveland proper about three times. Once for a game at the Muni. Another, the first pre season of the return. Once to see a concert, Widespread Panic, at Nautica in ‘99. That’s really it unless you count a bunch of shows at Blossom, or a trip to SeaWorld as a teen.

I was born in Toledo and lived there 3 or so years, but to make a long story short, ended up in Fairview Park for 4 or so years then Bay Village in 1956ish. Lived on Lake Road between Clague and Columbia, lake side.

Been a Browns fan for a long time. As long as a person really can, that assume you really aren't born a fan. One becomes a fan.

I have lived in many places. Been in Tennessee for over 45 years now, but Bay Village and Cleveland always feels like home.

Going up to Cleveland for games is beginning to be a drag on me. I keep my season tickets because I like going back to the area maybe even more than going to games.

I am a solid Tennessean these days, but I will always be a proud Clevelander. I love telling people I am a Browns season ticket holder. My wife laughs at me over how clever I am at bringing that into conversations. Even the slightest opening brings that in to the conversation. Heck, I might not even need an opening!

"Hello, I am Ballpeen, I am a Browns season ticket holder." I love the sound of that.

Born in Elyria - grew up in Oberlin - Dad and Grandpa used to take me to all the home games at Muni.

Now living in SE AZ, I rarely get back, but I still have family in that area.

Grew up on Moss's, George's Tin Roof and Presti's,

That's awesome. You were at the "Run William Run!" game. I was there, too. Heck of a day.

I pass your BV home quite often. My sister lives in Avon Lake and we always stay at her house when we go up there to visit. She and her husband run the Prayers From Maria Foundation, if anyone has seen their stuff. Huge sunflower field in Avon Lake and another big one by Cedar Point. They also do the wine festival in Rocky River every year that draws a pretty big crowd.

Whenever we drive from her house to anywhere headed east, we always use Lake Road, so I would pass by your house going from Avon Lake. Our typical hangouts are usually in Rocky River or Lakewood.

One of our favorite family hangouts is Rocky River Brewery on Center Ridge. It is a good place for all the boisterous crazies in my family (myself included) to hang out and have a good time.

Unfortunately - and this breaks my heart - they got rid of Rustic in Rocky River. We used to love stopping by there.

Been to the RRB a few times. I like it. The Rustic...a classic that I probably ate there over 100 times. Actually, no probably about it.

As for the home, you drive by the property, not the house. As has happened to many of the large brick homes with slate/tile roofs along the lake, it was bought for the property and torn down and replaced sometime in the late 80's. Maybe early 90's. Inside was all plaster walls and ceilings. It was beautiful, but plaster is expensive to maintain and made it pretty much impossible to install any central heat and air. The heat was all radiators which isn't in favor any longer. For air, you opened windows and used fans. Dad did eventually install some window A/C units in some of the rooms.

The best of memories, but things change.

Been living in the Cleveland Clinic for 9 1/2 years, and make plenty of trips to Painesville.

I lived in Streetsboro for about a year, and Maple Heights for a couple of years. (not consequetively)

Other than that, I lived in Michigan for a couple of years as a kid, then mainly YTown. (with a couple of years in Columbus when I was 18/19 or so)

I don't know if I'd characterize it as a little brother complex, but there is a weird vibe in Cincy that kinda pervades everything. I struggle to characterize it the same way as you given how I feel about the Steelers and Ravens (throwing stones and glass houses and all that).

But there is something weird here that I can't quite put my finger on it. From the weird obsession people (as adults) have about where everyone went to high school, the cult-following for Cincy chili, to people's odd willingness to go to bat for CVG airport in comparison to other Int'l airports.

....The more I describe it out loud the more it sounds like a little brother complex....


Cleveland has its own oddities, for sure. My feelings about the city have more to do with the vast majority of my extended family still residing in Cleveland vs the city itself. I can admit that if the previous generations had decided to settle in another city (probably would've been Toronto... more on that later) then I would feel the same way about that city vs Cleveland. That said, Cleveland punches way above its weight class in terms of what the city has to offer. It would be my family vs the city itself that draws me back, but even ignoring that Cleveland would be an upgrade over Cinci.

Both my parents are Hungarian. My dad was actually very young in the leadup to the Hungarian revolution after WW2. They fled Hungary either right before or right after the revolution was defeated. My mom was born here in the US but her parents fled from the Russians as well. Back then, you had to have a "sponsor" in order to immigrate to the US. I don't know if this was something they were doing with refugees at the time or a "law" that's since gone by the wayside, but regardless it's the reason why there are very large populations of Hungarians in Toronto and Cleveland. That's a lot of words to say that Cleveland possesses a lot of culture that I have a vested interest in. Beyond my blood ties to the culture, Hungarian history is both fascinating and infuriating.

j/c

As a side note to those having to deal with Bungles/Cinci fans. Having lived in the Dayton area for most all of my life I've had a lot of experience with that. Two things I have found effective in dealing with them are these. Call the area they live in as Cintucky. They hate that. Secondly remind them they don't even have an airport. They just use Kentucky's airport.

MY experience living in NW Ohio has seen a growing # of Bengals fans , mostly due to lack of Browns success.

Since moving to Fairborn during the height of the pandemic, I have notice something interesting. When I pass a fellow Browns fan entering/leaving a Kroger, Walmart, Lowes etc, I can fully expect at minimum of a "Go Browns" when the fan sees my hat or t-shirt. Sometimes a conversation breaks out.

It stuns me that I can never recall two Bengal fans doing the same, and there are plenty wearing their gear. I have gotten a few "Browns suck" comments from them, but in 4 years I have not heard 2 Bengals fans act excited. I find that hard to believe considering they have played in a SB and another AFC conference title game in that span. I would be bouncing off the walls if the Browns made a SB.

And the amount of Bengal gear you see depends on how well the team is playing. They have a lot of closet fans who only come out of the closet when they're winning.

I've found that Bengals are largely a pretty fair-weather fanbase (not on the level of the Chargers when they were in San Diego, though).

When I moved to Cincy ~2018, West Carrollton/Dayton was the edge of Bengals territory. Fridays we could wear team gear to work and there was less Bengals gear than Browns or Steelers.

I’ve spent the last 30 minutes reading every post, finished them all (Even Fate’s lol, but seriously that was awesome, Fate).

This is a great thread, I’m loving all of your stories and recollections.

I say "I thought all Bengals fans are from Kentucky".

Born, raised and still live in NW Ohio. It's weird, but there aren't a lot of Lions fans compared to Browns fans here, even though we're in the Lions catchment zone. Browns gear is everywhere, even during the down years. Cleveland has been a great road trip for us, to catch Browns games, some Cavs games and concerts. I started going to a lot of Browns games in 1979, never had season tickets but did catch 4-5 games a year until the move. The first few years a liquor salesman we knew got us tickets right on the 50 yd line, row 7 behind the Browns bench. It was awesome seing Sipe, Ozzie and Clay up close and personal. The guy retired and that ticket source was gone for good. After that, we just bought scalp tickets. Those hucksters were just everywhere, and I have no idea how they got hold of all those tickets. The trick was to wait until very close to game time when the scalpers were in panic mode. You could pretty much name your price.... I'm talking like 5-10 bucks. Great times back then.

Dang Lampy, I was there as well. I ran in to a guy here in Chattanooga who had pound season tickets. He didn't go to many games at that point so I bought about 6 games from him. Eight rows up, section 114.

Willians run was away from us, but our 4th and goal stop was run directly at us....very exciting. Talk about going nuts!

That's wild. I love hearing that kind of family history.

Yeah, being hard to put your finger on it here in Cincy is a good way to put it. IMO, economically and security wise (following all the crap that went down 20 years ago...) it's a better option than Cleveland, but it always seems so dang boring by comparison. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of diversity, unless you really like German festivals, whereas the Cleveland burroughs demonstrate a lot more cultural variance.

I also feel like Cincy is a slave to chain restaurants. The freaking Long Horn at VOA always seems to have a 2 hour wait when we drive by. They also do have that weird affinity to Skyline, which I think is just okay, and places like LaRosa's. The food and drink scene by comparison just seems so...blah. Overall, it just strikes me as so much more bland than Cleveland.

That all being said, here I've been for a combined 20 years, haha.

In my office at Wright-Patt it's probably 60/40 Browns to Bengals fans.

I was two rows behind you! My brother had season tickets to the Pound and took me to that game as a Christmas gift. 10 rows back. We had a horrible view of the run, but we were freaking out just the same.

I lived in Maumee when I went to Toledo Law School (maybe we should start a NW Ohio thread ) There were a ton of Browns fans in my apartment complex, and one Lions fan. He was forced to watch the Browns with us, or he watched the Lions by himself.

Born into it. All my family is Browns fans - other than my 1 brother. (I mean ALL - on my dad's side. Uncles, cousins, heck, even my grandma was). So, from the time I knew what football was, I was a Browns fan.

Went to my first game in 1990. Was hooked on going to the games. Split 4 season tickets with a college friend from 91 till the Browns left. In the pound, of course.

When the team returned, I/we didn't renew the season tickets so I and my wife would go to 1-4 games a year.

I even had an old pickup - took the bed off and replaced it with a wood bed. Stained it dark brown. Painted the cab and hood like the Browns helmet, had my brother in law make a brush guard that strongly resembled a face mask. Loved it.

Edit to my first post:
It was Dec. 29, 2002, not the 22nd.

Good stories, this. I was born to it as well. Championship baby, 1954. Dad was Browns fan, my coach, a Massillon Washington Tiger. He played just a couple years after Brown left coaching there, and his prints WERE the program, not just on it. At age six I "won" my first Browns kid's helmet in a local P,P, & K competition held at the high school where dad coached. I lived in it for about a week solid. We watched games together at home almost every Sunday as a family:church, Browns, lunch. He took me to a few games in Muni and I still treasure those memories. He invited players to our fall sports awards where I met some big names like Warfield and Groza and others (we ate in his restaurant before a game up there once). The older teams felt like royalty to me. We talked after almost every game after I left home until Dad passed a few years ago. Still a proud fan today. With a lot of good reasons.

Interesting to read how we became fans.

I am thinking it must have been around 1961. TRW was a big employer in Cleveland. My father worked there till he retired.

During Christmas week they held an annual banquet for the employees. My father got me a job at the banquet bussing tables. They had a bunch of players from the Browns as guests. One of them was Bobby Mitchell. He was one of my favorite players. I was fourteen and completely star struck. To a kid of fourteen seeing Browns players up close and shaking hands left a mark. I was like OMG.

Two years later I went to Highland Golf course with a bunch of friends. I think it was the first time I ever played on an 18 hole regular golf course. We went to the first tee. We discovered we had no score card. So I took off running around the corner heading to the shop to get a card. I turned the corner and ran head first right into the chest of Jim Brown. I didn't know it was him till I looked up. He had on a black banlon short sleeved shirt and black banlon shorts. Once it sunk in who it was. I was tongue tied.
"I I I am sorry. I wasn't looking." He looked down at me and just grinned. He said "don't worry people run into me often." He looked like he was made out of carved granite. I mean chiseled. Massive shoulders with a 32" waist.

When I got back to my friends on the tee. I was still in shock. "You won't effing believe this. I effing ran into Jim Brown."

As I write this. Next to me on the table in my room there is a Browns helmet with his autograph. I bid for it on Ebay about fifteen years ago.

To this day he was greatest football player I have ever seen play the game.

My mothers side was from Cleveland

Mostly the West side, My moms mom and dad moved to Canton off Fulton RD across from Woodys Root Beer stand that was very close to the Football Hall of Fame.

My aunt lived with my GMA and we lived close to them. My Aunt was single so she enjoyed doing things with me like fishing in the park which was a bicycle ride to their house and from their house a 5 minute walk to Stadium Park.

She would take me to Cleveland a lot, she didn't drive so we did the Grey Hound bus to Cleveland. There we would do all kinds of things. See the other family members who stayed in Cleveland and other entertaining activities. I always enjoyed riding the train from Tower City to wherever our destination took us.

I remember my first cotton candy from a circus or fair. I got so sick from eating all that sugar that the bus ride home was miserable.

It was Indian games and Browns games that really got me loving Cleveland. The World series of Rock was so amazing !

So my connection continued to grow as I became a member on the Browns website and ended up meeting some of the best people ever at Dawg Talk Island.

Because of those great people and fans, my heart grew to love going to the Muni and enjoying a day partying and watching a football game.

Days friends and games that are very dear to my heart !

For all of you who I got to meet, Thank you !

Great thread! And a good excuse for myself, a long time lurker on this site, to tell my own story.
Originally from Southampton England, now long time resident in Ireland, I was captivated by the Browns at a time when the NFL coverage burgeoned in the UK in the mid-eighties.
At a time when a sea change to the passing oriented game was emerging for me Byner and Mack cutting up mud on their way to 1000 yds each was a big reason. And Kosar has a place on my sporting Mt Rushmore (along with Mick Channon, Robin Smith and Malcolm Marshall, another story).
Roll on 35 years, and in need of some respite and a post covid bounce, my Irish wife encouraged me on a pilgrimage which resulted in a first visit to Cleveland for the Bengals Halloween game in 22. And subsequently a further trip for the Tennessee game this season (100% win rate I might add!).
Likely now to be an annual pilgrimage now there are direct flight from Dublin, hope you don’t mind but Cleveland has become my adopted US city, I know I’ll always be a ‘blow-in’ but there is no better place for sporting passion, and football especially.

Welcome.

I just started watching Peaky Blinders.

It makes no difference when you get on the Browns train. My sons wife is from Australia. I don't think she ever watched a football game in her life before she met my son. She is a musician and singer. She is now a dedicated passionate fan.

It is all about passion. If the team stirs your blood. Then you are a member.

Welcome Browns fan.

Welcome Stufus!

My wife and I took advantage of that direct flight and went to Ireland and Scotland last year. First time there and can't wait to go back, hoping to do so again this fall!

Don't be a stranger. Let us know when you're "blowin-in" this year and we'll point you in the direction of the tailgates and DawgTalkers who will be there on gameday.

I still remember the home opener in 2007 when I got to meet you, GM, atomic, Peen (who called me Lover). I don't think I'll forget it. It was just a genuinely good bunch of people.

We need to start paying for your flights with that win rate. Let us all know beforehand if you happen to come in again!

Many thanks for the welcomes, awaiting the schedule release with anticipation!

I was born in the Chicago area but we moved back in forth from Ohio until I was six. That’s when we settled down in Eastlake. My first memory of the Browns was in 74 (the year we moved)when I was watching a game by myself. My mother and grandmother were in the kitchen. I remember running in their yelling “We scored a touchdown!” They had no clue who I was talking about. lol. Turns out when I went back to watching the game I found out it was actually an interception by Thom Darden in the end zone against the Bengals. Didn’t really matter because I was hooked on football from that moment.

Unfortunately I have memory issues so I don’t remember much of my younger years but this memory is etched into my heart. My mom became a huge Browns fan sometime soon after. We ended up getting season tickets for a couple of years in the late seventies and early eighties. Again I don’t have many memories but I do remember being at the Red Right 88 playoff game. We moved up and down the field but had all kinds of trouble in the red zone. Cockroft could barely get the frozen ball off the ground.

My mom just passed a couple of weeks ago but I will always have our memories of the Browns to look back on. Her favorite Browns players were Nick Chubb and Baker Mayfield. She was crushed when we let him go. At the funeral home my dad had her Mayfield jersey mounted in a frame.

That's awesome, PDawg. Thanks for sharing. It's so much fun to look back to where others were in life during these Browns moments. It's almost like being there all over again, this time with a room full of fans right by your side.

My mom was born and raised in Maple Hts. My dad born and raised in Bedford. My dad joined the navy when he was nineteen and a few years later I came along in Virgina. We settled in Georgia when I was eight years old, and I ended up going all the way through high school there. Somewhat unusual for a military brat, but a great blessing. I am still close with guys I knew from the second grade. We get together every year.

My dad wasn't into sports but my maternal grandfather was a diehard Cleveland sports fan. My mom was an only child and my parents shipped my sister and I back to Maple Hts every summer to spend with our grandparents until I reached high school. It was the greatest gift I've ever received. Not only did I have a very special relationship with my grandparents, I had a huge extended family of cousins that I got to know and grow up with - my mom's cousins and their kids. We have a text chain open every Sunday for every Browns game to this day. I would have never gotten to know them if we didn't have those summers back in Ohio.

I think my grandfather made it his mission to make sure I was a Browns fan. He would take me to training camp and that's really where I became hooked. When I was 11 or 12 years old Bernie Kosar signed a card for me at training camp. Greatest day of my life up until that point. I became emotionally hooked. I used to get the Browns Digest (I think that's what it was called) every week in Georgia. It was the highlight of my week. Could not wait for that to come in the mail. I would say of all the loves in my life, it goes family, friends, Browns, and I may switch those last two. I feel the Browns are an emotional connection to my family and childhood.

When I got to college, we found a Hooters bar in Gwinnett, GA (bonefish will probably know what i am talking about) that was a Browns backers bar. Went every Sunday with this kid I met who was from Cleveland. While I was in college, Bernie got benched, and the Browns moved. I was so distraught after the Browns moved I quit the NFL for 8 years, including the first few when they came back. It wasn't until I was back in Cleveland for Christmas in 2003 that I found that love again. I was at a cousin's house in Strongsville, and the Browns needed to beat the Falcons to make the playoffs. I had no idea. I watched the game, watched run William run, those orange helmets made my heart skip a beat, and I haven't missed a game since. I found this board shortly after that.

Sorry to hear about your Mom.

Born and raised outside of Pittsburgh PA. Funny how that works. Had relatives in Parma that we often visited. Once, in either 60 or 61, we visited, my uncle took my dad and cousin to a browns game, not sure even who the Browns played that day, I was like 8 years old. But I remember seeing Jim Brown drop about 150 yards on whoever it was and me turning to my dad saying, I think that's how its supposed to be played. Damn he was mad at me after that..,,LOL

REmember, the Steelers weren't anything to cheer for back then.,

Been a browns fan ever since. Moved to Ohio in 1973, met the wife and never left.

Mom and Dad raised in Berea, Ohio- I was born in Lakewood- suburb of Cleveland- grandparents both moved to parts of Cleveland- Mom's side lived on W158 St for 50 plus years- as kid loved the Dairy Queen on corner- 25 cent big dipped cones- heaven. Dad's side lived on Homeway Rd near the airport- had small grocery store at corner in 50s. We lived in Mt Clemens, Mi.- Dad was pilot in Air Force at Selfridge AFB- easy drive to Cleveland with 7 kids- I remember hooting and howling when Browns beat Colts for NFL Championship as over 20 point underdogs--watching Jim Brown, Paul Warfield, Gary Collins making plays...and then LeRoy Kelly--Browns teams as champs or near champs every year.....I feel sorry too many generations of Browns fans have missed that joy/ and beating Steelers regularly.


Been Browns and Indians fan forever, yet never lived in city or cites just visited...except for birth in Lakewood, but Dad joined military to fly and rest is history.....military brat as youngster- spent 26 years in myself as pilot in US Army/helicopters, then USAF pilot- lived all over world as youngster and then as an adult-- settled in Florida- hated shoveling snow as a kid in Michigan--no snow in FL.

Go Browns, go Guardians, go Cavs.

That was a great post, P. Sorry to hear about your Mom.

Was that W 158th in West Park? That's right around the neighborhood I grew up in. I lived a block or two away from Valley View Elementary School. Kelly's Hardware was over there. So was Hobby Castle. Also a pizza place... Dante's??? I miss the era of all those Mom and Pop shops. Gene's Place is still there, thankfully, although the original owner's daughter, who was effectively running the place, passed away unexpectedly. Big shame, too. She was so lively and personable.

Lakewood was always a focal point for us west siders. I always felt like it was the cultural epi-center of the west-side suburbs. My parents met there at Winterhurst ice skating rink, way back when it was an outdoor rink. I learned how to skate there. I had my first drinks in Lakewood. I had a bet with my dad, brother and brother-in-law that I could make it to 21 without drinking, and sure enough I did. Around the Corner and Hairy Buffalo were the first two places I went. My family is of heavy Irish and German descent, and I think there is some element of "high tolerance" genetics when it comes to alcohol metabolism. Despite all the shots and beers my friends were throwing at me that night, I remained relatively functional, outlasting a couple of them even. I have definitely found my achilles heels since then, though. Manhattans for some reason put me under, but I love them.

Good gosh Lover. You went to 21 without drinking? Impressive. I hope you didn't have any similar bets about sexual abstinence. LOL

It was not easy...

Ha, the only commitment I made toward abstinence was getting married.