My Family Tradition as Browns Fans
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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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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.
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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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.
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.
Karlis Missed -
Hell yea! Now this is a thread that should be 22 pages by months end. Very cool.
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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.
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.
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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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.
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.
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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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.
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.
Before that, me and some buddies would hop on the 79 bus down Fulton
I lived on W47th and Storer Ave. Until I was 10 Used to to go the Lyceum theater on Fulton all the time when I was a kid.
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I lived off Memphis near Fulton
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Estabrook we used to swim there. Used to cut thru brookside park to walk there.
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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.
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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Hell yea! Now this is a thread that should be 22 pages by months end. Very cool.
The Browns should draft Saquon Barkley. He's a generational talent.
?
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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.
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.
If everybody had like minds, we would never learn. -
My tradition started in 1996 when they became a top rate winning organization
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