NBA title is swell, but Cleveland is really pining for the Browns to be great again

Gregg Patton writes Cleveland will celebrate its first title in 52 years with no shortage of exuberance, but the true heart of the city belongs to American football and the hapless Browns.

LeBron James, right, embraces Cleveland Browns legend Jim Brown at the Cleveland Cavaliers NBA championship parade. Tony Dejak / AP Photo

LeBron James’ hometown of Akron, Ohio doesn’t offer much in the way of tourist attractions.

But a few miles away in Canton sits the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Not surprisingly, in American football-mad Ohio, the Hall was voted the most popular destination in the state in a 2015 poll conducted by the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

The NBA title was great. Any title would have been great. Still, there's a bigger wish in Cleveland.

Surely James’ Cavaliers are the darlings of the city, having ended its 52-year-old pro championship drought. But at the celebratory ceremony this past week, it was hard to tell who were the most revered athletes, the Cavs or the former Cleveland Browns heroes in attendance.

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Legendary NFL running back Jim Brown was on hand, a living bookend to the last title team, the 1964 Browns. Also getting lots of attention was native Ohioan Bernie Kosar, whose nine solid years at quarterback in the 1980s and 90s marked the last highly competitive era for the Browns.

No doubt, there is a grand feeling of relief in the city these days. A sense that the Cavaliers lifted something heavy and oppressive from their sports consciousness. There is renewed hope that titles can come.

Just look, baseball’s Cleveland Indians are in first place in the American League Central, reviving interest in a team that once sold out a then-record 455 consecutive home games from 1995 to 2001.

But it is still a football-first region. Naturally, Urban Meyer, the head coach at The Ohio State University, was among the more popular attendees at the Cavs celebration. On the whole, Ohio probably enjoyed the Buckeyes’ college football championship in 2014 as much, if not more, than the Cavs first NBA title.

If an estimated 1.3 million people showed up to help the Cavs celebrate their NBA title, imagine what it would be like if the Browns won a Super Bowl?

For now, of course, why bother? The Browns are the Cleveland team most stuck in a pathetic rut. The Browns have endured eight consecutive losing seasons, and haven’t reached the play-offs in 13 years.

That’s hard to do in the NFL, which structures its draft, salary cap and schedule to lift their bad teams into contention.

Instead, dubious draft choices, poor head coaches and a general sense of expected failure have plagued the organisation for decades.

It isn’t a coincidence that two years ago the Browns pinned their future quarterbacking hopes on loose cannon, Johnny Manziel. No longer with the team, and facing legal problems, it will be an upset if Manziel ever throws another pass in the NFL.

The Browns went 3-13 last season as a sideshow to Manziel’s off-field drama, then fired coach Mike Pettine. Linebacker Karlos Dansby, now with the Cincinnati Bengals, told SiriusXM NFL Radio that the relationship between the Browns front office and coaching staff was so dysfunctional that players had “just shut down”.

The Cavs' achievement hasn't lessened pressure on the Browns. Oddly, it may have raised expectations. After the Cavs' Game 7 victory, Browns veteran cornerback Joe Haden wrote a piece for Sports Illustrated's online site, Monday Morning Quarterback.

“This is motivation for our city, and motivation for our team,” Haden wrote. “I am just so ready to go win a championship right now.”

It is understandable that someone who has spent his seven-year career in Cleveland would get caught up in the excitement of the moment. After all, long-suffering sports teams do rise every year, from Kansas City to Leicester City.

And it is nice to dream. But Cleveland’s biggest still seems a long way off.

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