My Browns Starter Jacket

I once had a wife who was a Pittsburgh Steeler fan. (No, that's not why we divorced) She knew I loved the Browns as much as she loved Pittsburgh. Well my birthday is in the summer during training camp, and one year she decided to be really nice and buy me a Browns Starter jacket. In the 90's those things were all the rage. I loved it and couldn't wait for cold weather so I could start wearing it. The Browns started the year at 3-1 and many people, including Sports Illustrated, thought we would be in the Super Bowl that season. To my dismay the team dropped three in a row and staggered out to a 4-5 record. At that point owner Art Modell announced he had decided to MOVE the team to Baltimore during the next off season. I know I was personally in denial during that entire 1995 season. I honestly thought Modell was just grandstanding for a better stadium deal and that he would NEVER really take our team. Of course I was wrong...we lost the Browns. Modell is perhaps the most hated man in Cleveland history (Lebron might be close). The feeling of disillusionment was incredible. I was 32-years-old and had never been without the Cleveland Browns. In many ways it was worse than finding our Santa Claus wasn't real. The season wore on to its terrible conclusion and the team fell to 5-11. As I watched us beat the Bengals on television in the finale, I remember seeing a sign in the stands that read, "Baltimore sucks, Modell swallows". As the clock ticked to zero the players ran into the dawg pound to console the fans. People started ripping stadium seats out to take home and general bedlam ensued. It was total chaos. The owners may pay the salaries and build the stadiums, but the local fans really own the teams. The Browns gave us a break from our everyday lives. Whether it was being an arm chair general manager at the water cooler, or planning a trip to a home game we would anticipate for months, or the excitement of "next year" and the NFL draft, the Browns enhanced our lives. Personally after all was said and done, the only emotions I was left with were emptiness and anger. I literally didn't care at all about the NFL until 1999 when we got the expansion team. As for my prized starter jacket? I gently laid it upon my kitchen table and grabbed a razor blade knife. I cut the Browns logo out of it....flipped it upset down and duct taped it back on. I wore that jacket that way in protest for three years. GO BROWNS!