As bad as it’s been for the Browns in the expansion era, it could be worse.

Really.

In fact, Browns fans remember when it was worse. That occurred from 1996-98 when the Browns franchise was held in trust by the NFL after the original franchise moved to Baltimore. That’s a fancy way to say the Browns didn’t really have a team.

Joe Shapaka holds his six-year-old son, Matthew, at their seats in the bleachers at Cleveland Stadium after the Browns-Cincinnati Bengals game which may have been the final Cleveland Browns game there Sunday, Dec. 17, 1995. (AP Photo/Jeff Glidden)

This has been on my mind for weeks, and it comes into play more now with the fact that there is a regularly-scheduled NFL owners meeting today and Wednesday in Houston at which the possible relocation of three teams – the St. Louis Rams, San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders – to Los Angeles will be the main topic on the table.

It appears at least two of those franchises will be playing in L.A. next season.

That stinks for fans of the Rams, Chargers and Raiders, just like it stunk for fans of the Browns two decades ago.

Yes, I get the fact that this is a business and it’s all about money and the bottom line. That’s the way it has to be. It is how you and I would run those teams if we owned them.

But that doesn’t make it stink any less for the fans in St. Louis, San Diego and Oakland.

So while fans in Cleveland want to rip their hair out as Browns owner Jimmy Haslam tries once again to get it right, there’s part of me that says they should just be thankful they have a team.