CLEVELAND -- Cleveland Browns linebacker Christian Kirksey has never lacked for confidence, and he is not afraid to show it.
Kirksey tweeted Tuesday that he believes the Browns, who went 0-16 in 2017 and 1-31 over the last two seasons, “will be in the playoffs this year!”
Since the message was posted, it has gotten 14,000 likes, 4,800 retweets and drawn more than 500 comments, including positive reactions from fans encouraged by the confidence and those all too quick to make jokes about the Browns’ recent struggles.
By going 0-16 last year, the Browns have lost 17 straight games and are a league-worst 1-31 since the opening game of 2016.
The Browns have not won on a Sunday afternoon since December 13, 2015. The 33 straight Sunday losses are an NFL record, and their 4-49 mark in the last 53 outings is the worst in the league in that four-year span.
Additionally, this season, the Browns set the record for the worst 28-game stretch in NFL history, as they bested the previous mark of 2-26 set by the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the 1976-1977 seasons with a 1-27 mark that got four losses worse since Week 13.
In five seasons under the majority ownership of Dee and Jimmy Haslam, the Browns have posted an NFL-worst 15-65 record. Factoring in the remaining games of the 2012 season after the sale was approved at an NFL Owners Meeting in Chicago, the Browns have gone 19-70.
Also, with Buffalo clinching a wildcard berth in the AFC last December, the Browns have the longest-standing playoff drought in the NFL.
And Kirksey is not the only one that feels the Browns could make the postseason in 2018, as newly signed linebacker Mychal Kendricks believes he can be a part of the turnaround.
“I want to a part of an uprising,” Kendricks said during the offseason program. “That's cool to me. I like that. You know what I mean? We're going to win some games, and I want to be a part of that.
“It's just a belief that you have to have and a passion and a drive and deep knowing within that you're going to do something special. So as long as we've got that here, we'll be all right. I know that locker room in there, they're fired up. They're ready. It's a new day here, and I'm looking forward to it.”
