CLEVELAND — I have to make an admission to you all today.
When the issue of Browns Stadium comes up, I always get nervous. Maybe some of you share the same uneasy feeling when the talk turns to the City of Cleveland and the Browns heading down the path of a stadium, which in the current world of the NFL is becoming obsolete. I have these feelings because of the scar that will never heal from Art Modell moving the Browns in 1995. Now I know the Browns aren't packing up and heading elsewhere. But I just can never forget the helplessness we all felt when that horrible time came upon us and there was nothing we could do to reverse a very selfish, unjustified decision.
I just remember those Sundays without the Browns and it was awful. THAT IS NOT HAPPENING AGAIN.
Instead, I am excited that we could be experiencing a new place to watch the Browns. In traveling around the NFL, I now sit in beautiful stadiums that have made that city and the areas around the stadium flourish, providing a huge boost to that town.
Cleveland Browns Stadium was put on a strict, tight timeline when it was built for the team's return in 1999. We had three years to tear down the old stadium and erect the new one with a mandate to be ready by July of 1999. And let's face it...it wasn't. I remember the opening night of Browns Stadium, which was a preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings. As we got set for kickoff, workers were still drilling and hammering trying to get to the finish line. I remember Al Lerner telling me if he had only gotten ownership of the Browns earlier he would have jumped into the construction of the stadium and made it better. I remember there were no escalators to take fans to the highest regions of the stadium and so Lerner quickly reached into his own pocket to make the installation of those escalators happen. Like all stadiums and arenas in sports, our house on Lake Erie has needed tweaks and facelifts. But can you keep pouring money into that building and make it what you really want it to be?
I think a new stadium would be thrilling. I think a Sunday gameday in downtown Cleveland is electric. I think that Thursday night when the Browns clinched their playoff spot in a win over the Jets is an evening that I'll never forget. The city was bursting with excitement and spirit as old Cleveland Browns Stadium sparkled that evening.
So I hope for a resolution to the stadium issue. Is it Cleveland? Is it Brook Park? Is it a dome? Who knows? But I do know a football Sunday in Cleveland is special to all of us. So don't mess with it!
I'll see you tonight on 3News!
Previous reporting on Cleveland Browns Stadium:
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