Monday’s news about Myles Garrett wanting out is the latest gut punch to Cleveland fans.
Being a fan of the Cleveland Browns is not an easy task for anyone born in 1965 or later.
And Monday’s news that defensive end Myles Garrett has requested the team trade him was just the latest example. In the end, the option is simple and sobering.
Once one of the NFL’s model franchises, the Browns have more often than not stumbled and bumbled their way through the past 57 seasons with little to show for it.
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And even when those brief moments arrived to give fans hope, it always went south:
- The last of the dynasty years saw the Browns lose to the Baltimore Colts (1968) and Minnesota Vikings (1969) in consecutive league title games and miss out on a Super Bowl berth. The end finally came with back-to-back playoff losses in 1971 and 1972.
- A brief resurgence in the late 1970s culminated in a loss in the playoffs in 1980, the team falling apart due to a drug problem that led to the creation of the in-house Inner Circle program, and finally, the team choosing to let quarterback Brian Sipe leave as a free agent after the 1983 season so Paul McDonald could take over.
- The late 1980s brought three trips to the AFC Championship Game, only for the Browns to come up short each time.
- Since 1999, there have been just three playoff appearances, with a lone win, against 22 losing seasons, including 18 seasons with double-digit losses.
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The faces in the owner’s box, in the front office, and on the sidelines have changed, but the baffling decisions have carried through, including:
- Trading future Hall-of-Famer Bobby Mitchell to draft Ernie Davis only to see Davis never play a down after being diagnosed with leukemia.
- Issuing an ultimatum to future Hall-of-Famer Jim Brown to report to training camp or else only to see Brown retire a year after winning his third MVP award.
- Trading future Hall-of-Famer Paul Warfield so they could draft quarterback Mike Phipps.
- Releasing quarterback Bernie Kosar when the only healthy quarterback on the roster was Todd Philcox.
- Wasting first-round draft picks on the likes of Brandon Weeden, Brady Quinn, Johnny Manziel, Justin Gilber, Corey Colelman, Craig Powell, Tommy Vardell, Clifford Charlton, and Mike Junkin, to name just a few.
- The biggest of all, of course, was former owner Art Modell moving the franchise to Baltimore following the 1995 season because he was the only person associated with the NFL who could not figure out how to make money in the sport.
We could go on all day, but those are the highlights of what it has been like to be a Browns fan these past few decades.
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