My Cleveland Browns Helmet Got a Makover
Here is a post that has nothing to do with fantasy football. It is more of a trip down memory lane. A shining example of how ingrained the NFL is in my life history.
In the comments section of yesterdays post “Don’t Hurt Your Fantasy Football Team by Being a Die hard Fan,” it was brought to my attention that fellow fantasy football blogger FanProphet is a Cleveland Browns fan. This conjured up a Cleveland Brown memory in me
When I was a kid my dad bought me a Browns helmet and a Brian Sipe jersey. Not sure why my dad, the Vikings fan, went with the Browns but none the less I was the only kid in the neighborhood with Browns gear.
Many fall Sundays, many of us neighborhood kids would go over to Gabrych Park to have our own NFL Pro Bowls. We had representatives from the Vikings, Oilers, Cowboys, Lions, and a few others.
I remember one kid in particular. He used to paint his helmet (a one-bar face mask Joe Theisman style) different colors each week. One week he would show up as a Giant, Redskin or even an occasional college team. I thought this was a pretty cool idea.
After sporting the Browns helmet for awhile it was time for a change. I pealed off the stripe in the middle and used black permanent marker to make Bengal stripes. Again, that was cool for awhile, but it was time for a change. I wanted to see what else I could do. I took out the magic marker and proceeded to darken the rest of the helmet until it was completely black. At this point the only thing missing was a Steelers sticker. I never got one.
What was I thinking?
Looking back, it is kind of funny now that I understand the rivalry between these AFC North teams. I think I can relate to how Browns fans might feel about such actions. I am a Vikes fan and we are in a similar situation with our division rivals. Neither of our storied franchises has an NFL title but we have bitter rivals that do. In Minnesota we have Packer and Bears fans rubbing our nose in their titles every chance they get and I imagine this happens quite a bit with the Steeler and Ravens fans as well.
Looking back I suppose I would have got my ass kicked doing something like that had I been in Cleveland (defacing the sacred colors like that). Sorry about that Cleveland.
Tags: Cleveland Browns, helmet, NFL, rivalry