Berea as a training camp site - Browns Daily Dose

Berea as a training camp site

By STEVE KING

The Browns have had some great training camp sites through the years.

But Berea as a training camp site, which the Browns have used since 1992, isn’t one of them – not even close.

It’s in too tight of an area, which, in the warm, humid weather of late July and August, makes it way too uncomfortable for most fans. There’s just not enough breathing room.

That begins to come into play Friday as camp opens to the public for the first time, and that’s a shame.

Camp is meant to be just that – camp, spread out over the countryside with plenty of room to roam. It should not be tucked into a sardine can- and telephone booth-like area.

I know, I know, a lot of teams have camp at their training facility/headquarters now. It’s a heckuva lot more convenient. Nothing has to be moved, especially the bulky equipment. And as such, it’s much cheaper.

But the Browns and all these teams lose something by not going away to a different place to bond as a unit and concentrate on football and limit distractions, which coaches hate.

Indeed, other than the fans, what’s the difference between a camp practice and one during the regular season? There isn’t one. It’s the same thing, the same routine. Blah, blah, blah.

The expansion-era Browns almost moved camp out of Berea twice, to Heidelberg University in Ada and then to Columbus. I thought either one was a great idea. But they didn’t pull the trigger.

This is just one of the many mistakes the Browns have made since 1999.

Paul Brown, the iconic first head coach of the Browns, picked BGSU as the first camp site because he wanted to get away from the Cleveland area.

But camp was moved to picturesque Hiram in 1952 because BG was too far from Cleveland and the fields were too hard for Brown’s liking.

After 23 years there, the Browns outgrew Hiram and moved in 1975 to Kent, where they had more room.

Kent didn’t last long because camp interfered with the Golden Flashes getting ready for their own season. So the Browns went to Lakeland, in Kirtland, in 1982. Camps there were fantastic, often drawing 10,000 fans and more during the popular Kardiac Kids and Bernie Kosar eras.

But then came the fateful decision to go to Berea.

Berea is a great place and the team facility/headquarters is beautiful.

It’s just not the place for camp, though, and never will be.