Monday, January 23, 2006
Why Do Browns Fans Still Hate Steelers?
As a lifelong Cleveland Browns fan, I grew up learning to hate the Pittsburgh Steelers. I had to hate their colors, their emblem, Three Rivers Stadium, and anything else that was Steeler-related. I hated Franco Harris, Terry Bradshaw, and I especially hated Jack Lambert (how could a guy from nearby Kent State University play for the nefarious Steelers?).
Chuck Noll? Hated him! Art Rooney? Hated him, too. I was, of course, too young at the time to fully comprehend this intense malice — it was enough just to be told by my elders that as a Cleveland Browns fan, it was my sworn duty to be a devout hater of anything Pittsburgh born and bred.
So I hated throughout my youth and well into my adulthood.
Then, something strange happened. Art Modell packed up the Browns one night, drove them to Baltimore, and Cleveland was left without a team. Suddenly, the rivalry that fed the thirst for Pittsburgh blood was gone and, remarkably, my hatred of the Steelers subsided, as well.
Of course, as any self-respecting football fan knows, the Browns returned to Cleveland a few years later (a completely-rebuilt expansion team, hiding beneath the historic nickname and colors), and the Browns/Steelers legend was to be revitalized.
Seven years later, the rivalry continues to lie dormant. The average Browns fan, however, continues to hate Pittsburgh with tireless ferocity. Which, I suppose, makes me a bit of an aberration as a Browns backer. My hatred, you see, has disappeared, almost as mysteriously as the Browns did a decade ago.
Much to the chagrin of my comrades, who are dying a bit more with each Steeler playoff victory, I find myself actually rooting for Pittsburgh in this year's postseason. In fact, I'm quite unabashed in my newfound role of Black and Gold cheerleader, recently telling my friends and family that I hoped Pittsburgh would defeat Indianapolis and even advance to the Super Bowl.
Now, don't get me wrong. I am not one of those ridiculous converts, who have grown so tired of watching Pittsburgh throttle Cleveland every year that they simply decided to turncoat completely. No, I am still a Browns fan through and through. I love Cleveland, even though I curse much of what they do. I root hard for them weekly, finding myself completely miserable and depleted by their hapless efforts. And I'll do it again next year and the next.
So, why am I pulling for the once-hated Steelers? It's difficult for even me to understand. The long and short of it is I simply can't find any reason to hate. I'm not a kid anymore. I don't need to blindly follow the orders of big brothers telling me it's just the way we do things as Browns fans.
I also don't see an existing rivalry. A rivalry implies the chance that your team will win occasionally. They are geographic in nature, which these battles continue to be, but when there is complete dominance by one team, the rivalry dies. Can anyone in his right mind believe that the Steelers feel that they have a rivalry with the Browns? More likely, they look at the schedule and check off two sure-fire victories each season.
Finally, if there was anything I understood about the rivalry as a kid, it was that many of the old, aforementioned Steelers were built for hating. Lambert was mean and nasty. Bradshaw just didn't come off smart enough to be a winner. Noll always looked calculating and arrogant. And Harris was always running out of bounds, just before getting waxed by a charging defensive back. All of this, plus the fact that the Browns won once in awhile, made for a legitimate rivalry and some real hatred.
The Steeler team I see now is nothing like this. Bill Cowher can be annoying with his sideline antics, but he is a decent, hard-working coach and a good family man. He's got the longest tenure of any coach in the NFL with one team (an astonishing 14 years), which certainly merits respect and admiration.
Ben Roethlisberger, fresh out of Miami of Ohio, is calm and cool and has all the makings of a great quarterback. Jerome Bettis is soon-to-be a Hall of Famer and is one of the kindest guys in football. Then, there is rookie Troy Polamalu. Not that I'm a religious man, but this guy prays after every down, and he doesn't do it to draw attention to himself. He is both a spiritual man and a fierce competitor. Browns fans would love to have him in Cleveland.
Many detractors say Cowher can't win the big one. He's already won one championship game, and the win over Indy was truly awe-inspiring. To me, he's an easy guy to root for. When the Steelers played Dallas in the Super Bowl in 1996, Cowher's young daughter told him that win or lose, he'd always be a hero to her.
He lost on that day. A decade later, I'm sure Cowher is still a hero to his daughter. This year, I hope he'll be a winner, too.
Mark Barnes is a novelist, regular contributor to fantasy football site 4for4.com, and NFL football radio analyst. He appears weekly on ESPN radio in High Point, NC and on WBAL in Baltimore, MD, where he discusses pro football and fantasy sports. Mark's novel, "The League," is the first-ever published work of fiction with a plot based on the dangers of a multi-million-dollar fantasy football league. Learn more about "The League" and Mark's work at NFLStory.com.