Sports
To be a Clevelander is To speak Two languages.
There is the tongue of the country, and then a distinc-
tive local idiom known to linguists as Browns bemoan-
ing. A fine example of this was on display recently at the
Flat Iron bar, in the shadow of the rusted rail bridges that
cross the Cuyahoga River, as barber Nick Hilf rattled off
the litany of heartbreak that has befallen the city’s be-
loved NFL team. The Drive: when Denver’s John Elway
marched downfield to tie the 1986 AFC championship
game, which the Broncos won in overtime. The Fum-
ble: when Cleveland’s Earnest Byner coughed it up in
the AFC title game the very next year, again against the
Broncos, again costing the Browns a shot at the Super
Bowl. And, of course, the Move: when team owner Art
Modell relocated the Browns to Baltimore for a sweet-
heart stadium deal. Thus, the team that for 50 years had
been the Cleveland Browns became the Baltimore Ra-
vens. The current Browns began play in 1999 using the
same name and logo of the once proud original franchise.
And the two decades since have not been pretty. “I cried
when they left,” says Hilf over a pour of bourbon. “And
it’s been freaking miserable for the last 20 years.”
Since the Browns came back to football- mad north-
east Ohio, the team has had just two winning seasons
and one playoff appearance (which it lost in the wild-
card round, to hated rival Pittsburgh). No NFL team
has a longer active playoff drought. In 2017, the Browns
didn’t win a single game, becoming just the second team
in league history to finish 0-16. And Cleveland finished
1-15 the season before. This is a run of dubious achieve-
ment without peer in professional football.
CLEVELAND
ROCKS
NO, REALLY
Less than two years after failing
to win a single game, the Browns
and their city are riding high
BY SEAN GREGORY/CLEVELAND
