THEIR LOVE AND LOYALTY NEEDS TO BE RECOGNIZED, AND REWARDED

Despite a lousy team and lousy weather, Browns fans showed up in good numbers at Sunday’s home finale against the Miami Dolphins at Huntington Bank Field.

These fans are incredible. Really, they’re amazing.

The Browns, despite their bleak record of 3-12 entering the game, played hard — mostly anyway — and did some nice things defensively. But once again they played without enough discipline and with hardly a clue as to how to make a big, game-changing play at just the right time.

The fans all knew full well that’s how it was going to play out in yet another loss — a fifth straight one, this time by a score of 20-3 — but they showed up on the off-chance that things would be different. And when they realized they wouldn’t be, and that the weather wasn’t going to get any better, either, they still stayed to the end.

That’s loyalty to the nth degree. These people love the Browns. They’ve always loved them, and will continue to love them. Yes, they’re frustrated and disappointed and saddened and they’re just tired of it all, but that love wins out every single time.

They are the best fans in the world. They are the only fan base to fight so hard for so long that the powers to be had no other choice to give them their team back after it left 30 years ago.

But what has happened since then is not what they expected, or wanted.

The Browns’ top people owe this fanbase a huge apology, and, more importantly, a promise in to make things right, and not five years down the road, either. The situation needs to be markedly better by this time next year.

Anything less than that is unacceptable.

They deserve a winner, and a consistent one that will compete for a championship and someday soon win one.

Indeed, their love and loyalty needs to be recognized, and rewarded.

Steve King