PITTSBURGH — I am going to write a sentence I never thought I would write:
I pity Cleveland Browns fans.
You might not like reading that line or this one:
Browns fans are exactly like Steelers fans.
Knowledgeable. Passionate. Loyal.
They are as great a group of fans as there is in sports.
There is a big difference between Steelers fans and Browns fans, of course. Steelers fans have been rewarded many times over the years by their football team. Browns fans seem doomed to suffer forever.
I really do feel sorry for them.
The distraction created for the Browns last week by running back Kareem Hunt almost seems like piling on. He is not even the starter — that's the great Nick Chubb — but he has asked to be traded unless he gets a new contract. It's not as if beleaguered coach Kevin Stefanski doesn't have enough to handle.
Deshaun Watson, right?
Word is expected any day Watson will be given an indefinite suspension on appeal by the NFL that will last at least the entire 2022 season. You know his history, how 24 women filed civil lawsuits against him alleging sexual misconduct during massages. The Browns certainly knew it, but that didn't stop them from trading three first-round draft choices, a third-round pick and a fourth-round selection to the Houston Texans in March to get him. It didn't stop the Browns from signing him to a five-year, $230 million contract with all of the money guaranteed.
It's impossible to feel sorry for Browns management.
Owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam deserve all of the headaches they are getting with Watson, whose behavior was described as "predatory" and "egregious" by the former judge who initially heard his case and called for a six-game suspension.
But Browns fans?
Haven't they suffered enough already?
Start with the fact the Browns are one of just four teams — Detroit, Houston and Jacksonville are the others — that haven't played in a Super Bowl, although they did come close a couple of times. Do you want to make a Browns fan sick? Walk up behind him or her and yell, "The Drive!" and "The Fumble!"
The Browns lost to the Denver Broncos in the AFC championship game after the 1986 season when they couldn't stop John Elway on a late, game-tying, 98-yard touchdown drive. They lost to the Broncos again in the AFC championship game after the 1987 season when their star running back, Earnest Byner, fumbled at the Denver 3 on his way toward what would have been a late, game-tying touchdown.
The Drive and The Fumble.
But those were just games.
Browns fans lost their team after the 1995 season.
Imagine that. Their team!
Owner Art Modell packed up everything and moved the franchise to Baltimore, where it became known as the Ravens. It wasn't until 1999 that Cleveland got another team, an expansion team.
The new Browns, if you will, have been nothing but laughable, a really bad joke.
Check out these factoids:
— The Browns have had 31 starting quarterbacks since 1999. They drafted Tim Couch, Brady Quinn, Brandon Weeden, Johnny Manziel and Baker Mayfield in the first round, taking Couch and Mayfield with the No. 1 overall pick. It wasn't until the 2020 season that Mayfield passed Ben Roethlisberger as the winningest quarterback at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mayfield was Tom Brady compared to the other Browns quarterbacks — he was 29-30 as a starter and led the team to its only playoff win since the 1989 season in 2020 against the Steelers — but still was put out with the other trash at the stadium he called home so famously in his wonderful television commercials.
Because the team wanted Watson.
— The Browns have had 12 head coaches since 1999. Notable among that forgettable group is Hue Jackson, who followed up a 1-15 season in 2016 by going 0-16 in 2017.
— The Browns have had just three winning seasons since 1999. They had double-digit losses in all but seven of those 23 seasons.
It's hard to imagine this season being much better for the Browns with, as of now, Jacoby Brissett, as their quarterback. It's nearly impossible to imagine it being enjoyable for the team's knowledgeable, passionate, loyal fans because of the Watson stench that will linger long after he plays a game.
The Haslams don't deserve better, but Browns fans certainly do.
