Things I've Learned from Watching the Browns

by Terry Pluto

Award-winning Cleveland Plain Dealer sportswriter has more than twenty books to his credit, several of them about his beloved Cleveland Browns. In his latest tome, he bares his chest about why C-Town's football faithful can't give up on their hometown favorites. (P.S. Not to rub it in, but over the last seven seasons, the Brownies record has been 38-74. Now that's true fan love.)

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction, Football

256 pages, Paperback

First published November 4, 2010

About the author

Terry Pluto is a sports columnist for the Plain Dealer. He has twice been honored by the Associated Press Sports Editors as the nations top sports columnist for medium-sized newspapers. He is a nine-time winner of the Ohio Sports Writer of the Year award and has received more than 50 state and local writing awards. In 2005 he was inducted into the Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame. He is the author of 23 books, including The Curse of Rocky Colavito (selected by the New York Times as one of the five notable sports books of 1989), and Loose Balls, which was ranked number 13 on Sports Illustrateds list of the top 100 sports books of all time. He was called Perhaps the best American writer of sports books, by the Chicago Tribune in 1997. He lives with his wife, Roberta, in Akron, Ohio."

Reviews

[Matthew Kobilarcik · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Browns are probably the worst NFL team (but luckily they did better this year :))In this book, the author tries to answer this one question: Although the Browns are terrible, why do Browns fans still exist? The way he answers this, is by showing multiple perspectives of several Browns fans. I like how you get those multiple perspectives from a single book, talking about how selfless the old Browns players were. The problem, is that this talks about the old Browns players, and I'm not a big Browns fan. This story did help answer the question of "why do Browns fans still exist."

[Dave Cottenie · Rating 3 out of 5]

My dad was actually the Browns fan in the family, and I read “Things I’ve Learned From Watching The Browns” for him. The stories and opinions that Terry Pluto puts forward are interesting and fun at times. His chapters are peppered with messages and anecdotes from fans who are far more fanatical about the Browns than I am. Well written and a decent read. Those who are big Browns fans will enjoy far more.

[Bob Redmond · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book mainly for people from Cleveland. Or if you're not, then understand it's a decades-long conversation you'd be joining, summed up in the following three words (also the title of a song by the Michael Stanley Band! North coast represent!): "Misery Loves Company." The Browns, for the 50s and 60s, were THE most successful professional football franchise. Led by coach Paul Brown, quaterback Otto Graham, and later, running back Jim Brown, they played for the NFL championship eleven times between 1950 and 1969, winning four titles. Paul Brown practically invented the modern game (you can look it up); Graham defined the modern passer, and Jim Brown averaged over 5 yards a carry for his entire career. The Browns had no equal.

Then the 70s happened. The Cuyahoga River caught fire for the 10th time, the city went bankrupt, and the Browns--having fired Paul Brown (thanks Art Modell!) began their inexorable slide towards failure. Even in the late 70s and early 80s, when they played three times for the AFC championship--one play from victory each time!--they found a way to lose.

In 1996, the team was moved to Baltimore to become the Ravens, where the rebuilding efforts began in Cleveland finally bore a Super Bowl title. Meanwhile, the "new Browns" reappeared in Cleveland in 1999. Since then they have been the second-losingest franchise in the NFL--only better than the Detroit Lions, proving the resonance of the current slogan in Cleveland (applied to more than football): "At least we're not Detroit." With usual Cleveland flair, the past ten years have been fraught with missed chances, "what if" moments both on the field and off.

And yet. This is a team that inspires love, and not just for an abstract idea, or good vibes for the pros. No, it's love between family and friends, a common bond between strangers. With his own commentary and testimony from 1000 fans, journalist Pluto describes how this can be. How a city that hasn't seen a champion--in any sport--since 1964 (the nation's longest streak of its kind), can get behind a perennial loser. How the spirit of the game, even in this age of overpaid pros and the MBA coach--actually matters.

Our helmets have no logo or symbol. Our end-zone cheering section, the Dawg Pound, was inspired by two players in the 80s who were basically crazy, and would bark like rabid dogs at the opposition (one of these players was 5'9" and 150 lbs soaking wet). Of course, in Cleveland, the fans took this to heart, and a step further. Our favorite quarterback in recent memory (Bernie Kosar) couldn't run, could hardly throw, but had such grit, will to win, and devotion to the city, that he'll be a local legend forever. Cleveland's best current player, Josh Cribbs, was not drafted by any team, and was signed by the Browns for $2,500. Fan favorites are the guys who play hard, don't complain, and aren't far from driving their own rusted-out beaters to work every day.

Reading this book is a heartache, since it recounts all of the hard times of the Browns from the past 40 years. But then again, that's Cleveland, and knowing there's such company in the heartache, makes it something you wouldn't trade for anything.

Go Browns!

*

WHY I READ THIS BOOK: It was a Christmas gift from my brother Brian (he's still in Cleveland, while I'm in Seattle). At this writing, the Browns still have time to put a blemish on the season of the playoff-bound Pittsburgh Steelers with a victory in our last game... although I'm not holding my breath.

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as a gift from my wife- she took a shot at something I might like and hit the bullseye. The author tells in detail many stories about the Browns that I was either only vaguely familiar with or hadn't heard of before. He analyzes in detail famous moments in Browns history like Red Right 88, The Fumble, The Drive... and casts them in a light I'd never before known or understood. His research and writing puts events like the construction of Municipal Stadium, the heydays of the 60's, The Move, etc into a historical perspective that enabled me to appreciate them even more. And throughout his book he has published emails from the fans who took the time to write about why the Browns are important to them, often revealing amazingly personal details of their own lives.

This book is about the Browns and the information and stories I read only served to deepen my love for the team. But the book is also about the Fans and it was great to gain a better perspective on my "extended family" that I am a part of as a proud Cleveland Browns fan.

[Robert Morrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terry Pluto is one of the best sportswriters in the country, and fortunately for Browns fans, the Browns are part of his beat. Here he captures the exquisitely painful history of the Browns since 1964, asking the fundamental question, "Why do Browns fans put up with this?" The answer, as revealed through hundreds of fan e-mails is that the Browns represent something far more than a football team; they're a symbol and a test of our loyalties; they are a shared family and community experience; and they are part of the more traditional American value set that you don't abandon your buddy because he's had a series of tough breaks. I have been a Browns fan my entire life and my wife has constantly questioned my sanity in this regard. This book provides the answer: because they're the Browns and there's never been a team like them.

[Scott Mckenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must read for Browns fans. Some of it can be difficult but it also contains pleasant memories going back many years. What I most like - the book itself brings up topics and reasons for some of the Browns failures which most people don't realize. Chapters like "Red Right 88" is not the reason the Browns lost. "The Drive" and "The Fumble" didn't sink the Browns. For Example, the Fumble game was a game the Browns were trailing 21-3 at the end of the first half - are we really going to pin the loss on that Earnest Byner fumble, a guy that dominated that game to that point? Some intriguing analysis which is accurate and agreed with -

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was great to read the old stories of the Cleveland Browns. Pluto hits on some of the major plays (Red Right 88, The Drive and The Fumble)or fan favorite players (Jim Brown, Bernie Kosar and Josh Cribbs to name a few) giving details but letting fans of the team tell the stories through emails which is an interesting read. After some of the chapters there are sections that are just fans emails talking about what the team meant, and still means, to them after all the years of heartache and terrible play.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fans of the Cleveland Browns will enjoy this stroll down memory lane. The book takes a look at anecdotes both from the author and fans. The book points out a pair of historical draft notes that I hadn't heard before, which added some intellectual satisfaction to something that largely was a way to feel happy about being a fan of the Cleveland Browns.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Browns fans are insane. This I knew. What I didn't know was some of the details surrounding some of the most spectacular "Oh, *Cleveland*" moments that exemplify *why* we're all insane to keep cheering for this team. Highly entertaining and informative.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are a Browns fan, then you will love this book, although Pluto's other works are better methinks.

If you are not a Browns fan, then you can go play on the freeway or do some other useful activity that results in your demise.

[Dan Mejak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leave it to Terry Pluto to tell it like it is. We remember some of the most infamous plays in Cleveland Browns history that seemed to destroy our hearts over and over again. Be prepared for some hard truths. But somehow, it still seems OK in the end.

[Rob Dhillon · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much about all that it is to live and die with the Brownies ('da' Browns!')...it's all about never, never, NEVER(!!!!) giving up. Never say DIE! Quitting ain't S-H-_-_!!

[Alan Mauerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

It brings a tear to my eye.
The Browns used to be good.
What happened?
Lots of heart-wrenching letters from fans in the book.
A must read for Browns sufferers.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Touching and very detailed look at why we Browns fans love our team like we do. I enjoyed Pluto's analysis but found him repetitive. The book would benefit greatly from an index.

[Anthony Mandala · Rating 4 out of 5]

Must read for any browns fan.