Monday, September 13, 1999

No tickets, no problem; just party on

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Cleveland celebrates return of Browns

BY MICHAEL PERRY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The Cleveland Browns take the field Sunday for the team's first regular season game in three years. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        CLEVELAND — It was, of course, more than a football game.

        When the Cleveland Browns returned Sunday night from their NFL hiatus to play their first regular-season game since Dec. 24, 1995, it was a cause for celebration. And for showcases of loyalty. And for some serious lunacy.

        Jill and Don Marugg drove a silver 1971 Airstream land yacht from their home in Wasilla, Alaska. It took them 10 days.

        They arrived outside Cleveland Browns Stadium with Jill's brother Kurt Schmitz, who is from Elyria, and his girlfriend at 7:15 a.m. Sunday, a good 13 hours before kickoff. And they didn't even have tickets to the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. They planned to watch on TVs in the parking lot.

        “We wanted to be here for this,” said Jill,

        who grew up in a small town just south of Cleveland. “This is a big game.”

        John Russo and his family drove in from Geneva, N.Y., and arrived around 1 p.m. They have season tickets in the Dawg Pound and will make the four-hour trip for every home game.

        “What do you mean, why?” said son Brian, 21, whose face was painted with orange, brown and white stripes. “They're the best.”

        Comedian Drew Carey, a Cleveland native, wore a Browns 99 jersey as he whipped the crowd into a frenzy, having them chant “Cleveland rocks,” just before he signaled for the team to come running onto the field.

        “I'm excited,” Carey said. “It's like, "Oh, this is what people do on Sundays in America.' I've ignored the NFL, except to watch the Ravens lose. I have to learn the NFL all over again.”

        The perimeter of the Browns' new 73,200-seat stadium was abuzz with pregame activity the entire day, making it seem more like a Super Bowl or Final Four atmosphere.

        Former Brown Hanford Dixon's Cleveland Kennel Club was handing out stickers. A credit card company was signing up new customers by the dozens with the promise of a Browns t-shirt.

        Fans walked around with Browns helmets and plastics bones on their heads. They wore jerseys that spanned the Browns history: From Sipe (17) to Kosar (19) to Testaverde (12) to Spielman (54) and Couch (2). Adults and kids of all ages were having their faces painted. Grills were fired up in parking lots, making it seem like a Saturday morning at Ohio State.

        Inside the stadium, four giant TV screens showed four different NFL games live.

        John Thompson, the Big Dawg, was signing posters, bones, hats and towels in the Dawg Pound two hours before the game. Fans were lined up to take take towels in the Dawg Pound two hours before the game. Fans were lined up to take pictures with the man who became the celebrity poster child for abandoned Browns fans everywhere.

        “It's big time,” he said. “It's been a long time coming. When they line up over there, it's going to start to tingle a little bit. I think people are going to be surprised. (The Pound) may not be as wild, but it will be just as loud, if not louder.”

        The Browns paid tribute to their past, having Hall of Famers Leroy Kelly, Dante Lavelli, Lou Groza, Bill Willis, Frank Gatski and Paul Warfield help with the coin toss, along with Ray Motley, son of Hall of Famer Marion Motley.

        There were 719 media credentials issued, just 21 fewer than last year's AFC Championship game.

        It was fitting that the Browns opened with their fiercest rival, the Steelers.

        Really, the opponent didn't matter to the sellout crowd, which erupted when the Browns came running through an inflated giant helmet at 8:18 p.m., led by defensive back Corey Fuller, waving an orange towel. Several players ran straight to the Dawg Pound, where Fuller tossed his towel into the stands.

        Fireworks shot off. Fans hugged. Nobody sat.

        Former Bengal Solomon Wilcots was on the field before the game, getting ready for his duties as sideline reporter for ESPN's telecast. He spoke highly not only of the atmosphere, but of the way Cleveland rejuvenated its lake-front area around the stadium.

        “This place was a ghost town,” Wilcots said. “I'm looking around and I can't believe I'm in Cleveland. It's just so beautiful.”

       

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