Do you hear the buzz about the Browns as the start of training camp looms on Thursday?

 

No, I don’t, either.

 

And that’s understandable. Here are the obvious reasons for it:

 

*The Indians – the defending American League champion Indians, that is – are in a tight pennant race in the American League Central after completing a three-game sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays over the weekend. The Indians, who are in first place, had capacity or near-capacity crowds at Progressive Field, and more big crowds are expected Monday when they host the Cincinnati Reds in a make-up game and then the Los Angeles Angels Tuesday–Thursday. The Indians are as popular as they’ve been in some time.

 

*The Cavaliers – the guys who have been to the NBA Finals in each of the last three years, with a championship in 2016 – have been making news, even if it’s of the controversial variety as Kyrie Irving has asked to be traded. What does LeBron James think about all that? The Cavaliers are more popular than they’ve ever been.

 

*And then there are the Browns themselves. They are their own worst enemy. While the Cavs and Indians are really cool right now, the Browns are a low ebb. They’re coming off a franchise- and NFL-worst 1-15 record, avoiding a winless season in the next-to-last game. They’ve not had a winning season since Joe Thomas’s rookie year of 2007. That equates to a franchise-record nine consecutive losing seasons. They’ve had two winning marks in the 18 seasons of the expansion era. They drafted horribly for years.

 

So they’ve dug themselves a huge, huge hole. No team in any sport in any city can mess up like they have for as long as they have and not take a hit.

 

As I wrote recently, the Browns are still the No. 1 team in town – by a large margin. It’s not even close. The fans haven’t gone away. They’re just mad and are watching from afar.

 

As soon as the Browns show signs that they’re starting to get things turned around – their seemingly good performance in the NFL Draft this year, especially with their three first-round picks, helped that effort – the fans will begin to pay closer attention. The Browns understand that. And they also understand that they’ve done this to themselves. They’ve earned what they’re getting – or not getting, as it were.

 

It’s just the way it is.

 

Now we’ll have to wait and see how long it takes the Browns to change that.