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Watching NFL Network’s A Football Life: Cleveland ’95 brought back some very difficult memories Cleveland fans thought they laid to rest a long time ago. The hour long documentary covered the 1995 Cleveland Browns and the effects the move to Baltimore had on the team as well as Clevelanders. The special also showed how much of a mastermind former Browns coach Bill Belichick is and how he built an incredible coaching/executive tree.
You were not a Browns fan last night if you didn’t get choked up at all when forgiven fan favorite Earnest Byner spoke. That moment sent multiple chills down my arms. Despite being a former Michigan Wolverine, seeing Steve Everitt in his own home talking with that Browns stuff behind him, had to make you feel proud. These are guys that fully understood what it meant to be a Cleveland Brown.
The blue collar tough city of Cleveland and its fans have suffered over and over again. The football Gods do not favor the Cleveland Browns. One of the major reasons the Browns are so highly esteemed is because of the connection with the fans. Most of these people live through the Browns. Talking to Michael of Akron, Ohio, a devastated die hard fan after reliving the pain in last nights’s sixty minute program, “I was crushed. I saw all the potential that was there in ’95 and beyond. I kept thinking that should be us when they showed all the winning programs throughout the NFL. The Baltimore Ravens win was the hardest for me to watch. Watching this ripped my heart out all over again.” I am with you Michael.
There is no doubt in any Browns fans’ mind that if Art Modell doesn’t move the Browns, Cleveland wins at least one Super Bowl. It is extremely disheartening to know that the Ravens and New England Patriots won Super Bowls based on Cleveland’s blue prints. If there is any silver lining in putting ourselves through this misery, despite the 0-4 start to this season, the tide is slowly turning.
Ryan Ruiz – Cleveland Browns Writer
Please Follow Me on Twitter @ryanpruiz24
