072924…R PUSKAS…Warren…07/29/24…Tribune Chronicle/Vindicator Editor Ed Puskas…by R. Michael Semple
Maybe it’s because sports stopped being a focus of my work about five years ago, but the older I get, the less enthusiastic I am about playing Charlie Brown opposite Jimmy Haslam’s Lucy Van Pelt during football season.
For years, even before Haslam bought the team, I told myself that (insert year) would be the year the Cleveland Browns would pull it all together, win the AFC North, and go deep into the playoffs.
And every year, Haslam and the Browns manage to salvage the win and snatch the football away from them at the last, fateful moment.
They say you never stop learning. Well, it took more than a few years, but now that I’ve been on this rock for nearly 60 years — including nearly 50 years of having most of my fall Sundays ruined — I’ve gotten wiser about the Browns. We’ve agreed on this: I expect nothing from them, and they essentially continue to give me exactly that.
The straw that broke the camel’s back was the worst trade in NFL history. It was thought to be the Minnesota Vikings who traded all those picks to the Dallas Cowboys for Herschel Walker in 1989. Sure enough, the Cowboys turned that haul into Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin – among others – and won three Super Bowls in the 1990s.
Vikings fans will disagree, but from a Northeast Ohio perspective, nothing is better than the Browns trading three first-round draft picks (and three more picks) to the Houston Texans in exchange for Deshaun Watson and then making the surly, sex offender-accused player the flagship of the franchise with a guaranteed $230 million contract.
In two seasons, Watson played maybe three quarters of above-average play. The rest of the time, he was suspended, injured, or played far worse than the supposed first-round flop he was supposed to replace.
Last week, as the Browns prepared to open the preseason, Watson announced that he “had enough of this nonsense.” Just like Ralphie didn’t say “Fudge”, Watson did not say “Nonsense.” The irony and lack of confidence was jarring considering Watson’s inability to stay on the field and play well, even though he could, seems to be the main reason for it. “Nonsense” for the Browns because he changed his mind and agreed to a transfer to the Browns.
Of course, Watson is just one of 53 active players on any given Sunday, so the Browns’ inability to win consistently can’t be blamed entirely on him. But Haslam’s ownership is a different story. The dysfunction was evident almost from the start, with frequent coaching changes, botched draft picks and offseason problems that seem never-ending.
There was a brief respite from all that in 2020, when Baker Mayfield led the Browns to a wild-card appearance and a road win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
But as always, the Browns just can’t stand prosperity, and so Mayfield played most of the 2021 season injured, and the Browns let him do it because he clearly no longer played a role in their plans.
The hunt for Watson dominated the offseason, and after initially shying away from a transfer to Cleveland, the former Clemson quarterback changed his mind after Haslam offered him enough guaranteed money.
Before, during and after the trade, we were assured that the only thing standing between the Browns and a Super Bowl was solid quarterback play.
Watson, we’re told, was one of the top five quarterbacks in the NFL. But when you look at his numbers with the Browns, you can argue he wasn’t even the best quarterback in his division. And yet, even today, some fans still believe Watson will turn into Patrick Mahomes. Don’t hold your breath.
But wait—there’s more. Now Haslam and the Browns want to build a dome in Brook Park.
I know it’s only 15 minutes from downtown Cleveland, where the Browns have played since their inception in 1946, with the exception of 1996-98 after Art Modell moved the original franchise to Baltimore.
I was a different person then. I lived and died with the Browns from 1979 to 1995. I couldn’t wait for the new Browns to debut in 1999. But aside from a few highlights – most notably in 2002 and 2020 – the Browns were mostly a disappointment.
So tell me why the Haslams should be rewarded and why the political officials and communities of Northeast Ohio should vie to have this dying franchise located in their jurisdiction.
I’ll still check out the Browns. Old habits die hard. I still think of my dad telling me about going to games in the 1950s and raving about the team and the atmosphere. I still think of the Kardiac Kids in 1980 and the Bernie Kosar Browns who captured our hearts a few years later.
But that was a long time ago and I’m not the same person anymore. The Haslam-owned Browns made me a bigger cynic about sports than I ever thought possible.
Unfortunately, these are not my dad’s Cleveland Browns. And that’s not just because they might play at Brook Park.
Many teams play outside the city limits they claim to represent.
The San Francisco 49ers play in Santa Clara, which is 45 minutes away. Considering California traffic, it probably takes 49ers fans longer to get to a game than it does for us to get from Warren to Cleveland.
But don’t give Jimmy any more ideas.
Ed Puskas is editor of the Tribune Chronicle and the Vindicator. Write to him at
