By Clemdawg

Browns24/7 writer

“I bleed orange and brown.”

It’s a motto, a slogan… and nowadays, a cliche.

from Merriam/Webster: \klē-ˈshā, ˈklē-ˌ, kli-ˈ\
Function: noun
Etymology: French, literally, printer’s stereotype, from past participle of clicher to stereotype, of imitative origin
Date: 1892
1 : a trite phrase or expression; also : the idea expressed by it
2 : a hackneyed theme, characterization, or situation
3 : something (as a menu item) that has become overly familiar or commonplace

The paradox regarding cliches is that the overuse of them can be attributed to the universal truth found within the phrase itself. (If it wasn’t universally true, it never would have become overused in the first place, right?)

“I bleed orange and brown.”

For so many years, and in so many games, the operative word in that phrase was “bleed.” I’ve been slashed, gashed, and dashed upon the rocky shores of despair more times than I can count. I’ve watched sooo many close calls, near-misses, coulda/woulda/shouldas and last minute collapses that I actually ask myself (…on a fairly regular basis…): “What new, unique and totally inconceiveable way can these guys let me down today?” Usually, that rhetorical question is answered in very concrete terms… about 15-120 seconds after I ask it.

A helmet toss that leads to an opponent’s game-winning second chance. “Drives.” “Fumbles.” Referee ‘do-overs’ after a play has already been run. And most recently, a pass interference call in the end zone… on a 0:00 Hail Mary. Crazy. Quirky. ‘Star-crossed.’ Bizarre. Inexplicable… [insert adjective here] …except to die-hard Browns fans. We’ve seen it all.

And each one has been a little slice into my soul. My orange and brown blood has only freely flowed from a major gaping wound 1 time in my life… when My Team was snatched away from me in the dead of a December night, back in 1996…. but I survived it- only to bleed yet some more.

The bloodletting trickles from a thousand tiny cuts, administered on a weekly basis. Year after year. Game after game. None of these tiny cuts is enough to do irreparable damage, but the cumulative effect is enough to drain even the most passionate fan.

Drip after drip after drip… “I bleed orange and brown.”

So many of my most recent “soul slices” came at the hands of our historic rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers. An unbelievable number of games with this team have been decided on the basis of two ideals: Pride and Will. In recent years, Pittsburgh’s simply had too much pride to let themselves be beaten by Cleveland, no matter how fiercely the Browns fought with them. And when it seemed that we (maybe) had the upper hand, they simply willed themselves to outscore us. End result: yet another Pittsburgh win. Pittsburgh found a way to prevail; Cleveland found a way to give it away. The difference was in the mindsets of the individual players… and the results spoke for themselves. In game after game.

Thursday night’s game showed me something I haven’t seen (except in flashes) since the Team was resurrected in 1999. It showed me a Browns team that exemplified Pride and Will. The 90-pound weakling finally stood up to the schoolyard bully, and punched him squarely in his mouth. And punched, and punched. And didn’t let up until that bully went to his knees… in front of the entire nation. In prime time. In short- Cleveland (very) publicly broke Pittsburgh’s will.

Beat. Them. Down.

A young, inexperienced, talent-starved team… patched-together with backups, stopgaps, rookies, one Prime Time Star (pay the man/play the man), and players who weren’t even on the team 4 weeks ago… limited the reigning Super Bowl champions to 2 field goals.

They ‘smashed mouth’ in a football game this Thursday night.
In December.
In the cold.
On the shores of Lake Erie.
With Pride.
And Will.

It was true Cleveland Browns Football… the way it’s supposed to be. The way the fans deserve it to be.

This is the kind of football I’ll willingly bleed for… until my last drop.

Filed under: Cleveland Browns News, Op/Ed Articles