The Browns have nine training camp practices open to the public over the next several weeks.

Yes, you read that correctly in that there are nine camp practices open to the fans from Bedford to Bucyrus, North Royalton to North Canton, Chagrin Falls to Cuyahoga Falls and everywhere in between.

Nine. Just nine. As in one less than 10, and one more than eight.

Sigh.

What’s going on here?

Because of finances, work schedules and/or the distance they live from Cleveland, a lot of Browns fans are unable to take in a home game at Huntington Bank Field. So, they count on going to team headquarters in Berea to watch a camp practice to satisfy their up-close-and personal Browns fix.

Giving fans just nine opportunities to do that is a personal affront. It’s embarrassing. The Browns ought to be ashamed of themselves for doing that to their fans. On any day they practice, it should be open to the public. Why not? There is nothing to hide from the 31 other NFL teams. Nobody is reinventing the wheel. It’s just football practice. The Browns should be happy that fans care to come.

It was 40 years ago, during those fun, exciting and successful 1980s, when their camp was held at Lakeland Comminity College near Kirtland, that the Browns regularly drew 10,000 fans a day to their practices. Kevin Byrne, the team’s vice president of communication then, would get asked how the club knew for sure that there were actually 10,000 fans in attendance when there was no turnstile at the gate. People just showed up and walked in free of charge. Were the Browns inflating the numbers?

“No!,” Byrne would always say.

“One day, we were handing out pennants, one to each fan coming into the stadium,” he recalled. “We had 10,000 pennants. When we ran out of pennants and there were still people walking in, I knew for sure that our estimates were accurate.”

Those camp days seemed to go on forever each summer, perhaps because there were indeed a lot of open sessions — many more than nine. There were no ultra-strict, overbearing rules, stifling much of the fun, because they weren’t needed. People behaved. They were thrilled to be there.

That was a long time ago. We miss those days.

Steve King