The Browns are, unfortunately so, looking up at just about all the rest of the teams in the NFL right now.

But it goes beyond that. In their own region and state, the Browns are looking up at teams as well outside of the NFL.

You may be aware that the Ohio State Buckeyes won the College Football Playoffs championship game Monday night, defeating Notre Dame 34-23. Ohio State football is the biggest overall sports brand in the state, so all of Ohio is thrilled beyond belief.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are off to the best start in their history. Their record, as of this writing, is an NBA-best 36-6 and, in the Eastern Conference, they lead the defending league champion Boston Celtics by 6-1/2 games. Even LeBron James is impressed with what his former team is doing.

And the Cleveland Guardians, who will begin spring training next month, are coming off a 2024 season in which they captured the Central Division title going away and advanced all the way to the American League Championship Series.

The Browns need binoculars to see any of that after going 3-14 this season, including losing their final six games, the last five of which they did not score more than 14 points and were held to single-digit totals three times.

Ugh.

These teams all compete with each other for fans, and right now the Browns are out of sight, out of mind.

Steve King