I did not want to let this weekend slip by without noting the things that I am very grateful for regarding the football team we all love dearly.
Through thick and thin, we stand by our brown and orange clad heroes. More than any other NFL fan base, we were tormented by false promises of good seasons yet to come, only to have the reality of bad football smack us in the face time and time again over the last 20 years. Yet we never wavered. Our Fandom stood mighty and true. And you, my brothers and sisters, stood right there with me. That is the first thing I am grateful for.
Next, I am thankful to the Haslams for having the intestinal fortitude to make sweeping organizational change after just one season of the previous regime. I can only imagine the details that they knew about behind closed doors when it was so apparent to us fans on the outside that this organization had gone horribly awry. The result of that decision was a true leader for this franchise was brought in, and more importantly, Jimmy and Deb then stepped out of the limelight and let the people they put their trust in do their jobs. Thank you Jimmy and Dee.
The biggest thing I am grateful for is having Kevin Stefanski lead this team. We are all well aware of the challenges the NFL, and the world faced in 2020. First thing that Kevin did was put together an incredible staff. These are dedicated and successful professionals who are changing the culture on the North Coast. Just stop and appreciate this staff. I honestly cannot remember the last time we had a slew of presnap penalties. That was every other series in 2019. I remember seeing Baker last season, IN WEEK THIRTEEN, having to redirect Odell, who had lined in in the wrong spot because the offensive design was such a cluster..... That is totally gone this year. Guys are prepared and ready for each and every play. That is on the coaches - good job.
But when in the last 20 years has a Browns team, at any point in the season, had twice as many wins as losses? There have been a few, but not many.
And lastly. I am really thankful for the insight and wisdom of Andrew Berry and everyone under him. The best thing Andrew has done to date is not to jettison players simply because they were brought in under the old regime. Can you imagine where this team would be without Teller, Hunt, and Chubb just to name a few? Wow. An awful lot to be grateful for.
Who knows where this season ends up? I hope it is in the playoffs. We have the talent to do so. We'll see.
But sharing these forums and games with all you knuckleheads on a weekly basis is great.
Simply, THANK YOU for all of the above.
GO BROWNS!!!!
Love it. Great to step back and have some perspective. When was the last time we were 8-3? Still 1994?
By the way, watched some of the rerun of 1996 SNL last night... and holy shit, everything was just a lot cooler then. The kinda-sorta dry/absurdist comedy worked so much better for me. Every skit was nails and I prefer watching Bush to most acts (although Bieber and Harry Styles always murder on SNL).
Today was a great example of what to be grateful for.
All of us still show the scars of the history of our fandom. We know, all too well, that in previous years the questionable officiating and the two blatant misses by Baker would have doomed our chances for a victory today.
But this year, we have a dynamite 1-2 punch in the backfield that just refuses to let us lose games because the offensive line is growing in confidence on a weekly basis.
We are far from a finished team at this point, but we are light years from where we have been. Give Mr. Berry another off-season and I bet it gets real fun.
Grateful.
Stay the course. We really need a big, fast, tough and tenacious Linebacker for our defence besides the obvious top-notch safety. jmho Special bows to Bill Callahan, OL coach in finding and developing the good talent we have to protect Mayfield and make the running attack as good as it is.
Another point....
In years past, after 11 games, we would be elbows deep in draft prospect analysis, and scoreboard watching. Only in past years, it was trying to determine draft position.
Scoreboard watching this year to see about playoff position is way more fun.
Grateful.
Love this thread! Sorry I wasn't super active last week.
Ditto and great work to Brooksie for the thread and OP. This team is a JOY to watch and I'm beyond grateful.
While we're at it, I want to express gratitude to everyone on this forum. This Browns group has been my Browns Family for over a decade and it's been a blast getting to know y'all while we survived the insanity together.
To now have this forum, in this season, in this shitty year, has been an incredible blessing. I actually don't have the goofy emails that come in because it's kinda fun to see who's posting and because we now all mostly know each other, it's less annoying than it might be.
So cheers to this group. Love and appreciate you all. Stay well and safe and let's get through 2020 making the good kind of history together watching this team do things no Browns team has ever done! 🍻