Cleveland Browns

Before this year, the last time the Cleveland Browns had won a playoff game was 1994. Since then, the team moved, was resurrected, started over 30 different quarterbacks, made a lot of bad coaching hires and arguably somehow worse draft selections, culminating in 2017’s 0-16 season. That lone postseason win against the Steelers does not erase any of this, but it makes those other memories a lot easier to hold.

On January 3, the Cleveland Browns played their first playoff game in 19 years. It was something I’d been waiting for for years and now that it had arrived, I could hardly bear it. My devotion had been rewarded and I didn’t want to see the bubble burst quite yet. The Browns scored a touchdown on the first play of the game, after the Steelers botched the snap, and I let out the biggest, heartiest exhale of my life. Cleveland then went on to score 28 points in the opening quarter, and while they allowed the game to get closer than I would have liked, they still won 48-37. It was a long time coming.

The default for so long has been abject pessimism, a fatalistic refrain of Same Old Browns echoing after every game. Some people look back on a history of failure and think that their team’s luck has to change; Browns fans wonder why things would ever be different. And yet there always remained the hope that better days would come, and after last year, there is reason to actually believe that they may. The 2021 season has been largely defined by injuries so far, but the future remains bright. Even if they fail to replicate the success of 2020, they are closer to Super Bowl contention than at any point since the franchise was revived in 1999 (though I guess that’s not really saying much). I refuse to ever hold on to actual optimism when it comes to this team, but my hope feels less foolhardy than it has in a very long time.