Koza: Browns Fan Living A Mile High But Feeling Low

This column is about a good friend who is a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan. Okay, there are a lot of long-suffering Browns fans out there-me included. But this guy roots for the Browns smack dab in the middle of Denver Broncos’ crazies. That’s right-he lives just outside of Denver, Colorado. He has been there since the ‘80’s, and has had to deal with the Browns losing to the Broncos in AFC Championship games. My friend had to eat a dog bone on television because the Browns lost to the Broncos-talk about embarrassing. And to rub it in-as a news photographer for a Denver TV station, my friend’s job was to go out and film “Broncomania” for the evening news. Ugh! And while in Denver, my friend has stuck with all of his Cleveland pro sports teams throughout his time there. And there have been more losing seasons than winning ones for his favorite teams. The worst thing is there hasn’t been a single Cleveland pro sports championship for him to celebrate in his lifetime. He barely remembers the Browns’ NFL Championship win in 1964-before there was actually a Super Bowl. The Browns have never been to a Super Bowl. Unfortunately, there are only a handful of NFL teams that can say that. Yet, the Denver Broncos have been to the Super Bowl an incredible eight times. And after Sunday, they have now won three Super Bowls. My buddy actually was at a Super Bowl party Sunday that was filled with Broncos fans. What was he thinking? He nearly wore his Browns jersey, but I told him it would be tough enough to be amongst Broncos fans, but to give them even more fodder by wearing your Browns garb would be downright wrong. Ugh! Of course, my friend had a feeling that the Broncos would win, even though the Panthers were the favored team. He was right. And now he has to deal with the Broncos fans celebrating their latest Super Bowl triumph. Again! What was the count Tuesday afternoon at the Broncos parade and rally? An estimated one million Broncos fans filled the streets of downtown Denver. And one Cleveland Browns fan stuck in the middle of that doggone celebration. He’s called me every day since the Broncos Super Bowl victory, tiring of “Broncomania.” Maybe a lot of our world was rooting for Denver’s veteran quarterback Peyton Manning to go out on top, since it is expected that he is going to retire. Maybe a lot of our world was rooting for Denver, because of the cockiness of Carolina quarterback Cam Newton, going into the Super Bowl. But feel for my friend, alone in Denver, and stuck with the Broncos celebrating another darn championship. And it’s “wait ‘til next year” for his favorite NFL team-the Browns. And probably the year after that. And the year after that. And maybe never. I’m feeling like I am in Denver right now, too. Ugh! .neFileBlock { margin-bottom: 20px; } .neFileBlock p { margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px; } .neFileBlock .neFile { border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa; padding-bottom: 5px; padding-top: 10px; } .neFileBlock .neCaption { font-size: 85%; } http://limaohio.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/web1_Koza_Vince.jpg Reach Vince Koza at koza@cmgroup.co.