BARK LIKE A DAWG!

If you're yet to choose an NFL team to support this article should hopefully make you choose the Cleveland Browns, and once you've become a member of the Dawg Pound you'll be a member for life. There are no more loyal, passionate and rabid fans in the NFL than Browns fans.

Lets get the obvious stuff out the way so we can focus on the real reasons you should devote yourself to Browns fanaticism:

  • They are one of only two teams that play with no logo on their helmets
  • They are the only team to play in Brown and Orange- the colours of the autumn and football season
  • They are the only team named after their original Head Coach and NFL Legend Paul Brown

Okay now on to the spine tingling blood pumping stuff:

  1. They are a Storied Franchise

The Cleveland Browns were created on June 4th in 1944 by Arthur B McBride and played their first games in 1946 in the new All America Football Conference. McBride hired Paul Brown as General Manager and Head Coach and the team was named after him. Paul Brown was a very successful High School and College Coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes. Paul Brown is an NFL legend, one of the greatest Coaches to have ever graced the sport, not only in terms of his success, but also because of his innovations. In charge of the Browns Paul Brown had a record of 111-44-5 introduced game plans and play-books to the sport, used game film in scouting, called the plays, used radio transmitters in the QBs helmet for play calling and developed the helmet face-mask. He was the first to hire a full-time coaching staff in College and created a scouting system copied by everyone. Most importantly he oversaw the breaking of the colour barrier by hiring Marion Motley and Bill Willis.

The Browns dominated the AAFC winning all 4 Championships and then joined the NFL in 1950. In the AAFC the Browns compiled a record of 47-4-3. The Browns appeared in all the NFL Championship games between 1950-1955 winning the Championships in 1950, 1954 and 1955. Their last Championship was in 1964. Including the AAFC and NFL Championships the Browns have won 8 in total making them the joint second most successful NFL Franchise alongside the New York Giants and Chicago Bears. The Browns are the 10th oldest Franchise of the current 32 teams. If you're looking for a team that has NFL pedigree, success, innovation and is unique then the Browns are for you.

2. The Fans

This is the reason I became a Browns fan. In 1961 Art Modell purchased the Browns. In 1995 he announced he was moving the Franchise to Baltimore to become the Baltimore Browns. The Cleveland fans were having none of it. They fought tooth and nail in the courts and finally won their battle. Art Modell was forced to leave Cleveland without the Browns colours, logo and heritage and start an expansion Franchise which became the Baltimore Ravens. He did take the players and coaching staff who went on to win a Super Bowl in 2000. Maybe the Browns should claim that one too? The Browns fans saved their Franchise and are the only fans to have successfully managed to keep a Franchise when the owner wanted to move it. Now that is passion and fanaticism that I want to be a part of!

The Cleveland Browns have a section of their stadium called the Dawg Pound. This was created in 1985 when Hanford Dixon and Frank Minnifield, both Corner Backs for the Browns, would bark at each other whenever they got a sack or a coverage sack. The fans soon caught on and started barking during games and training camp. Dixon and Minnifield then put up a Dawg Pound banner at the East Stand Bleachers section where the seats were cheapest and the fans were the most vocal. The fans responded with dog masks, bone shaped hats and generally wearing outlandish gear. The Browns fans are almost unique amongst all NFL fans for their behaviour and notoriety. In the late 1980's the fans were notorious for throwing dog food and bones at players. In 1989 against the Broncos the Browns fans hurled so many batteries, eggs, dog food, bones and other debris at the Broncos players that the referee stopped the game and made the players swap sides. This put the wind at the Browns back and the Browns won the game with a field goal that just made the distance! When Cincinnati fans behaved the same against the Seahawks their Head Coach Sam Wyche stopped the game and spoke to the crowd saying "You don't live in Cleveland, you live in Cincinnati!"

The fanaticism of Browns fans doesn't stop there. They are the only NFL fanbase to have a network of supporters clubs that are found worldwide. The Browns Backers are a group of Browns supporters called Chapters that are fanatical Browns fans to their core. There are now 363 Chapters in 14 countries. Here is the real kicker. Since the return on the Browns in 1999 the fans have suffered terribly. Such a Storied Franchise has had to endure a shocking record: a 30% win rate, only 3 visits to the postseason, over 30 Quarter Backs, 12 Head Coaches and the Browns have been laughed at by everyone becoming the Mistake by the Lake and "if it's brown flush it down!" Now you would think for nearly all fan bases this would lead to a mass exodus of fans. Oh no, not the Browns. In 2010 the Browns Backers had a membership of 80,000 fans. Today it is well over 300,000. To say the Browns have the most loyal, rabid and fanatical fans in the NFL is no exaggeration.

If you want to support a Franchise for its Storied History and it's fans you won't find a better one than the Cleveland Browns.

3. Rivalries

If like me you like to support a team because of it's rabid fans, you'll also be pleased to know that the Browns have some bitter rivalries to whet your appetite, and these happen to also be some of the biggest in the NFL. Their most bitter rivalry is with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The teams have played each other twice a year since 1950 making it the oldest rivalry in the AFC and the 5th oldest rivalry in the NFL. Quite simply the two sets of fans hate each other, not helped by the Steelers tendency to play dirty and cheat. Ohio and Pennsylvania have big College rivalries with The Ohio State University and Penn State University and these College rivalries definitely spill over to Professional Football. Their second most bitter rival and in the same AFC North Division is the Baltimore Ravens, and for some Browns fans this is the biggest rivalry as the Steelers owner voted against the decision to move the Browns to Baltimore. The Browns have an interstate rivalry with the Cincinnati Bengals who make up the 3rd member of the AFC North and their games are known as the "Battle of Ohio." Paul Brown, Browns Legend, was fired by Art Modell and went on to become Owner and Head Coach of the Bengals, and his son is the current owner of the Bengals. Paul Brown used very similar colours for the Bengals including the exact same orange the Browns used. The AFC North is one of the best Divisions in the NFL if you want to choose a Division with bitter rivals and fans that really can't stand one another.

4. Famous Players

If you like to support a team because of its past players then the Browns have some of the best players to have ever played the game in their Hall of Fame. Check out Otto Graham, Jim Brown, Clay Matthews and Joe Thomas plus many many more. We will soon be adding Baker Mayfield, Myles Garrett, Odell Beckham Junior, Nick Chubb and Denzel Ward to this list.

So come on over to the Brown Side, start Barking and become a Dawg of War! 

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