Much has been made of the attendance – or the lack thereof — at Browns home games late last season and at the annual Orange and Brown Scrimmage, especially at the beginning of Friday night’s event at FirstEnergy Stadium.

That may be a story in some people’s estimation, but it’s certainly not news. That’s a freight train that’s been headed on down the tracks, bearing down on this team, for some time now.

It’s what happens when you lose and lose and lose for nearly 20 years when the expectations of the fan base for the original Browns was always to win and in and win. Nothing else is acceptable in this town, nor should it be.

The fans – not the politicians – fought to get the team back, and what the Browns have put onto the field is not the quality for which they worked so hard. It’s not even close.

So how does the situation change? Simply by winning, of course.

It’s great that the Browns have done so much to make the fan experience good at FirstEnergy Stadium. From the upgrades to the stadium to the kind of entertainment that goes on before and after games and at halftime, the Browns get an A. They’ve made it fun.

But everything gets watered down with all the losing. It’s like putting on tuxedo for a big event and then spilling spaghetti sauce all over it. People don’t see the nice clothes. They see the big stain on them that covers everything up, making it look ugly.

It’s all about winning. Browns fans will show up at a city park and sit on buckets to see winning football. They proved it by the way they filled up old Cleveland Stadium week after week. Nobody griped about the bad restrooms and posts obstructing their view when the Browns were going to the AFC Championship Game three times in four seasons from 1986-89.

The people running the Browns get all that. Thy understand it. They really do.

They know that when the team starts winning again, the fans will come back in droves. Those fans haven’t really left. They’re just waiting for better results and a reason to buy tickets.

And when that happens, it won’t be news, either.

It will just be common sense.

So nothing should be made of that.