Something disconcerting kept happening as I helplessly rooted for the Detroit Lions on Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks: I kept thinking it was Thanksgiving.
Joe -- I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: all NFL owners suck (some more than others), so you have no choice but to become a Packers fan because they are owned by actual non-billionaire people. They also
It's too bad you aren't doing Browns updates. The Browns defense made the Falcons running backs all look like Jim Brown. To be fair, the Browns were missing 3 of their defensive linemen (Myles Garrett managed to have a one car auto accident while driving home from practice) & I'm assuming that's why the Falcons, with their suspect offensive line, decided to run it down their throats. But it would have been a good update nonetheless. Hearing about the ineptitude of the Bears and Lions, and the Panthers, really isn't new (or interesting) ground. And while I've been able to adopt the local teams after my numerous moves, it's pretty hard to adopt non local teams, mainly because there just isn't media coverage. The local teams get print, TV and online/social media coverage in large quantities. That allows you to really get to know the team & follow them knowledgeably.
I am not much of a football fan but I enjoyed and sympathized with you for rooting for teams that just don't perform. How many years did I root for the Rams when they were in LA to have them win the Super Bowl after moving out? Finally they win it in Los Angeles and are defeated by the Niners just last night. Yes, I do root for rivals. I am also rooting for the 49ers just as I root for the Dodgers and the Giants. I would love to root for the Athletics but....
The current version of the Cleveland Browns were in effect an expansion team in 1999. In 1995, the original Cleveland Browns owner, Art Modell announced he was relocating the team to Baltimore. As a result several NFL teams made known their desire to relocate to Cleveland. In 1996. Modell's newly branded team was renamed the Baltimore Ravens. The NFL had reached an agreement with Art Modell about the Cleveland Browns Intellectual Property (IP), i.e., (Team name, colors and stats) when it became obvious that there would soon be a new team in Cleveland. The Agreement considered the Cleveland Browns franchise to be in suspension for three years. In 1999, the new Cleveland Browns came into existence. They inherited all of the former Cleveland Browns' IP, and although they filled their roster via the NFL Expansion Draft, they were not legally considered an Expansion team. This is what is known as a 'Legal Fiction' where form means more than substance, i.e., reality.
If Art Modell had kept his team in Cleveland the Browns would have beaten the Giants and the 49ers in the Super Bowl. Cleveland Browns fans in a manner of speaking got some comeuppance on Art Modell when the NFL made Model sell 49% his team due to continual financial hardships for the organization. In 2004, Model sold the remaining 51%. the NFL took an unusual move and directed Modell to initiate the sale of his franchise.
According to the NFL, the Cleveland Browns went into a three-year hibernation, traded all their players to Baltimore for the Browns uniforms and stats. That's a lot for a team that doesn't even have a logo on their helmets.
I have followed Posnanski since 1990s Kansas City Star. But honestly had forgotten how that Art Model move played out. So thank you. But your delivery sounded like Cleveland was lucky. And Cleveland and luck just doesn’t match up since Paul and Jim Brown left.
I'm surprised that you deemed my post as Cleveland being lucky. I stated that they would have won two Super Bowls but for art Model moving the franchise.
The majority of us know all about this - some of us because we too are hopeless Browns fans, others because we have followed Joe and his Browns digest for years. And the Browns got especially screwed - many of us thought the league would give us at least the same expansion deal the Jags and Panthers got. You may have noticed those franchises were almost instantly competitive (never mind how quickly they went down the pipe after). But noooo - all we got was the #1 draft pick, and the rest of the league got to protect everybody who had ever actually made a play in the NFL. Poor Tim Couch - he might have actually gotten to be a good QB, had the OL not been a particularly spinny set of turnstiles.
I’m a liberated former Texans fan. I broke up with them two years ago after being a season ticket holder for sixteen years. I’ve been looking for a new team, too. I think the answer is pretty simple for both Joe and I. Joe, didn’t you work in Kansas City? I just moved three hours away from there. Let’s quit being miserable and root for Mahomes and the Chiefs!
A season in any sport is a continuing, developing story. Jumping from team to team doesn't let that happen + you don't get to know the players or coaches. I keep hoping the story will change but maybe Einstein was right about repetition.
Well, as long as I'm paying for it, I figure I might as well read it. I am tired of the smug, analytics comments in every baseball story. The best are the baseball and football player profiles & the Browns' diary. Maybe I should just unsubscribe. I've been subscribing for years but I do skim a lot now.
Why did you "like" my first comment, Mike? I'm curious.
I've always had a soft spot for the Lions because of Thanksgiving, Barry Sanders and Billy Sims. I had never watched Hard Knocks before this year but just happened to watch it when there was nothing else I felt like watching. I kind of fell for them and wish their games were on up here in New England. I hope they figure out the defense and can put together a decent season. I'd like to see them have some success.
I have been pounding the table for Joe to give my Lions a chance, and I'm so glad he did! I also don't feel like he ever really said no during the article, so while he is doubtlessly stringing me along, I choose to believe that the Lions still have a shot. Which, I suppose, is quite fitting. Typical Lions fan, choosing to hope despite having almost no reason to.
I’m not sure the Lions will be losers that much longer. They beat the Commanders and barely lost to the Eagles and Vikings who seem to be two of the top NFC teams. The loss against the hawks they were down their top receiver and running back. They have their top draft pick coming back soon. They could make some noise and even if they lose, it’ll be fun to watch!
The Lions have had two of the best offensive talents of my lifetime play for them (Sanders and Johnson). And won one playoff game during my lifetime. One. Good trivia question: Which future HOF laden team is the only team the Lions have beaten in the playoffs in the merger era?
i so want to like the Lions, i feel a bit of a soft spot for any team as perpetually snakebitten and woebegone as them, but as i've never had any real connection to Detroit besides living in Ann Arbor for 3 weeks on the way to NYC in 1980, i can't give them my love- interested pity, maybe- but not love... the fact i'd even consider liking them is due to a certain (beyond) amazing running back they once employed (and wasted, just like everything else they touch), Barry Sanders!
so glad my 49ers have had a bit of success over the last 40+ years...
Came to say this. My most salient memory of Billy was watching him sweep all the Gatorade cups off a table in frustration after he had spent another Sunday running roughshod over an NFL defense, and the Lions losing anyway. Again. It's why Barry retired when he did. Why continue to get beat up if your team is just never gonna win enough to make it worthwhile?
So my comment is out of left field- but when I read your (Brown’s) coach’s post game summary- about halfway thru- my thought was-wait, Is this Bill Mallory who coached the Indiana U football team from 84 to 96 and coached the Hoosiers to the most wins of any IU coach with a record of 69-77-3. He was actually a good coach and probably did as well with the Hoosiers as possible, but his press conferences after losses were pretty much the same-“I’ve just got to get the boys to snap those helmets on a little tighter and grind this week in practice a little harder. And we’ll be all right.” A variation of that after every loss.
Joe, I know you are still searching your soul for a team to get behind. I really think you should move over to the Bills. Great fans. Rust belt. Plenty of cold weather (way plenty). And a bright young quarterback that unfortunately the BroXXX's failed to draft. I see a few others feel the same way I do.
Joe -- I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: all NFL owners suck (some more than others), so you have no choice but to become a Packers fan because they are owned by actual non-billionaire people. They also
It's too bad you aren't doing Browns updates. The Browns defense made the Falcons running backs all look like Jim Brown. To be fair, the Browns were missing 3 of their defensive linemen (Myles Garrett managed to have a one car auto accident while driving home from practice) & I'm assuming that's why the Falcons, with their suspect offensive line, decided to run it down their throats. But it would have been a good update nonetheless. Hearing about the ineptitude of the Bears and Lions, and the Panthers, really isn't new (or interesting) ground. And while I've been able to adopt the local teams after my numerous moves, it's pretty hard to adopt non local teams, mainly because there just isn't media coverage. The local teams get print, TV and online/social media coverage in large quantities. That allows you to really get to know the team & follow them knowledgeably.
I am not much of a football fan but I enjoyed and sympathized with you for rooting for teams that just don't perform. How many years did I root for the Rams when they were in LA to have them win the Super Bowl after moving out? Finally they win it in Los Angeles and are defeated by the Niners just last night. Yes, I do root for rivals. I am also rooting for the 49ers just as I root for the Dodgers and the Giants. I would love to root for the Athletics but....
The current version of the Cleveland Browns were in effect an expansion team in 1999. In 1995, the original Cleveland Browns owner, Art Modell announced he was relocating the team to Baltimore. As a result several NFL teams made known their desire to relocate to Cleveland. In 1996. Modell's newly branded team was renamed the Baltimore Ravens. The NFL had reached an agreement with Art Modell about the Cleveland Browns Intellectual Property (IP), i.e., (Team name, colors and stats) when it became obvious that there would soon be a new team in Cleveland. The Agreement considered the Cleveland Browns franchise to be in suspension for three years. In 1999, the new Cleveland Browns came into existence. They inherited all of the former Cleveland Browns' IP, and although they filled their roster via the NFL Expansion Draft, they were not legally considered an Expansion team. This is what is known as a 'Legal Fiction' where form means more than substance, i.e., reality.
If Art Modell had kept his team in Cleveland the Browns would have beaten the Giants and the 49ers in the Super Bowl. Cleveland Browns fans in a manner of speaking got some comeuppance on Art Modell when the NFL made Model sell 49% his team due to continual financial hardships for the organization. In 2004, Model sold the remaining 51%. the NFL took an unusual move and directed Modell to initiate the sale of his franchise.
According to the NFL, the Cleveland Browns went into a three-year hibernation, traded all their players to Baltimore for the Browns uniforms and stats. That's a lot for a team that doesn't even have a logo on their helmets.
I have followed Posnanski since 1990s Kansas City Star. But honestly had forgotten how that Art Model move played out. So thank you. But your delivery sounded like Cleveland was lucky. And Cleveland and luck just doesn’t match up since Paul and Jim Brown left.
I'm surprised that you deemed my post as Cleveland being lucky. I stated that they would have won two Super Bowls but for art Model moving the franchise.
I assure you that Joe is familiar with the history of the Cleveland Browns.
Who said that my post was directed to him? My apologies if my post offended you. I thought somebody might find this information interesting.
The majority of us know all about this - some of us because we too are hopeless Browns fans, others because we have followed Joe and his Browns digest for years. And the Browns got especially screwed - many of us thought the league would give us at least the same expansion deal the Jags and Panthers got. You may have noticed those franchises were almost instantly competitive (never mind how quickly they went down the pipe after). But noooo - all we got was the #1 draft pick, and the rest of the league got to protect everybody who had ever actually made a play in the NFL. Poor Tim Couch - he might have actually gotten to be a good QB, had the OL not been a particularly spinny set of turnstiles.
We also got former mob lawyer Carmen Policy and Dwight Clark. That didn't help.
That, I did not know. I totally agree with you.
I’m a liberated former Texans fan. I broke up with them two years ago after being a season ticket holder for sixteen years. I’ve been looking for a new team, too. I think the answer is pretty simple for both Joe and I. Joe, didn’t you work in Kansas City? I just moved three hours away from there. Let’s quit being miserable and root for Mahomes and the Chiefs!
I used to feel the sane about the NFL. Bengals have gotten pretty good again. But I’m finding I just can’t invest my Sundays.
Flip a coin and choose a team. This is really boring.
Nobody is forcing you to read it, CA.
A season in any sport is a continuing, developing story. Jumping from team to team doesn't let that happen + you don't get to know the players or coaches. I keep hoping the story will change but maybe Einstein was right about repetition.
Well, as long as I'm paying for it, I figure I might as well read it. I am tired of the smug, analytics comments in every baseball story. The best are the baseball and football player profiles & the Browns' diary. Maybe I should just unsubscribe. I've been subscribing for years but I do skim a lot now.
Why did you "like" my first comment, Mike? I'm curious.
Joe this is suitable for your obit or engraving on your tombstone:
No, I was born into the Browns, and the losing was the inedible appetizer that came free with the meal.
I too have spent my life on this diet.
That is one of the best lines in the piece, which is full of many of them.
I've always had a soft spot for the Lions because of Thanksgiving, Barry Sanders and Billy Sims. I had never watched Hard Knocks before this year but just happened to watch it when there was nothing else I felt like watching. I kind of fell for them and wish their games were on up here in New England. I hope they figure out the defense and can put together a decent season. I'd like to see them have some success.
I have been pounding the table for Joe to give my Lions a chance, and I'm so glad he did! I also don't feel like he ever really said no during the article, so while he is doubtlessly stringing me along, I choose to believe that the Lions still have a shot. Which, I suppose, is quite fitting. Typical Lions fan, choosing to hope despite having almost no reason to.
I’m not sure the Lions will be losers that much longer. They beat the Commanders and barely lost to the Eagles and Vikings who seem to be two of the top NFC teams. The loss against the hawks they were down their top receiver and running back. They have their top draft pick coming back soon. They could make some noise and even if they lose, it’ll be fun to watch!
The Lions have had two of the best offensive talents of my lifetime play for them (Sanders and Johnson). And won one playoff game during my lifetime. One. Good trivia question: Which future HOF laden team is the only team the Lions have beaten in the playoffs in the merger era?
Did they beat the Aikman/Smith/Irvin Cowboys that one year they went to the NFC Championship game?
Yes they did. Kicked their backsides actually.
Why cam I remember that, but not why I walked into a room?
I feel like we will keep reading this odyssey and end up finding out you chose no one.
That would be the best possible punchline, even if it is predictable.
Chiefs feel inevitable to me
i so want to like the Lions, i feel a bit of a soft spot for any team as perpetually snakebitten and woebegone as them, but as i've never had any real connection to Detroit besides living in Ann Arbor for 3 weeks on the way to NYC in 1980, i can't give them my love- interested pity, maybe- but not love... the fact i'd even consider liking them is due to a certain (beyond) amazing running back they once employed (and wasted, just like everything else they touch), Barry Sanders!
so glad my 49ers have had a bit of success over the last 40+ years...
Barry was better but Billy Sims was awesome too.
Came to say this. My most salient memory of Billy was watching him sweep all the Gatorade cups off a table in frustration after he had spent another Sunday running roughshod over an NFL defense, and the Lions losing anyway. Again. It's why Barry retired when he did. Why continue to get beat up if your team is just never gonna win enough to make it worthwhile?
So my comment is out of left field- but when I read your (Brown’s) coach’s post game summary- about halfway thru- my thought was-wait, Is this Bill Mallory who coached the Indiana U football team from 84 to 96 and coached the Hoosiers to the most wins of any IU coach with a record of 69-77-3. He was actually a good coach and probably did as well with the Hoosiers as possible, but his press conferences after losses were pretty much the same-“I’ve just got to get the boys to snap those helmets on a little tighter and grind this week in practice a little harder. And we’ll be all right.” A variation of that after every loss.
Joe, I know you are still searching your soul for a team to get behind. I really think you should move over to the Bills. Great fans. Rust belt. Plenty of cold weather (way plenty). And a bright young quarterback that unfortunately the BroXXX's failed to draft. I see a few others feel the same way I do.