CLEVELAND, OHIO (TheOBR.com) - Good morning, Cleveland Browns fans! I looked forward to the Patriots game and the 2026 NFL draft for a few days, but today I feel drawn to the past.
THE DAILY BLOVIATION
Being a webdork is hard to explain. When new friends or acquaintances ask what I do for a living, I tell them I "run a Cleveland Browns website". They usually assume that I run the official site or something similar to it, and it often takes a little convincing for them to accept that something called "The Orange and Brown Report" exists.
But it does, and I've dedicated my life since my mid-30s to it. I'm now in my 60s. I'm not sure how that happened, but I know I was busy much of the time.
I've been fortunate to meet writers and experts who wanted to join forces, and their expertise has enabled the OBR to continue for years. Many fans have flocked to our forums and supported the OBR through their subscriptions and frequent visits to the site. I'm grateful to all of them for making it possible for me to do this and live the second half of my life doing what I love.
But when I think back to when I started all this in the 1990s, it's hard for me to imagine that the Browns' move from Cleveland in 1995 was such an unspeakable affront that it set me on this path. My anger about the move cut deeply, tied in some way to the loss of my youthful naivete about how the world works. It was around that time I discovered that bad people can do bad things and get away with them in this life, and when Art Modell took the well-supported and beloved Browns from Cleveland, it ignited something within me.
I'm not sure if I would feel the same way about the franchise if the move were to happen today. Since 1995, thanks to the NFL manipulating events at the time, and the sheer ineptitude of the organization since the 1999 return, it's hard to remember what this team once meant to its fans, why it fostered the world's largest fan organization, the Browns Backers, and why the city exploded when it was taken away.
Paul Brown Otto Graham
The glory years (Photo: Getty)
Recently, a friend I met via the site sent me a couple of videos that took me way back. The first, an NFL special called "The Legend of Otto Graham," and the second, NFL Quarterback Bernie Kosar: Master of the Unorthodox with Steve Sabol, were found in the deep recesses of YouTube, apparently copied from the original videotapes.
Watching them took me back to my youth, back to when the Cleveland Browns were a dynasty in the days before I followed them (or was even born) and the exciting days of the 1980s when the college game's best quarterback manipulated the system so he could come here. Here, Cleveland: Then the butt of jokes and a place where the river and the Mayor's hair were proven flammable.
In Cleveland's darkest days, we at least still had the Browns, a legacy born of Paul Brown's genius, which was so vital that it could even survive Art Modell's incompetence to remain a bright light in the rising NFL as it climbed the mountain to become America's biggest game.
When I was young, around twelve or so, I recall reading Street and Smith's NFL Preview, where the writers were aghast that the Browns had stumbled to a .500 record. But that's what the Browns were at the time: A dynasty so legendary that they were simply expected to win every year.
If you're under the age of thirty, it's difficult for me to explain what the Browns meant to the City of Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. Championship after championship through the 1940s and 1950s, and even the 1960s, had established the Browns as the enviable Yankees of the NFL: something we could claim and gravitate around while Laugh-In poked endless fun at the city.
Even as the team bumped along through the Modell-operated Browns of the 1970s and stumbled into the Kosar revival of the 1980s, it retained that mystique started by Paul Brown, Otto Graham, Jim Brown and other all-time greats.
Looking back through the prism of the post-expansion era, it's hard for young folks to see the grandeur the team once had. Dealing with sheer ineptitude since 1999, it's nearly impossible to understand what this team once meant.
But the Cleveland Browns were worthy, and deeply meaningful to the people who called our area home, a pulse that ran through the town and united us all. That's why I did what I did during the 1990s, why I exited a productive software engineering career, and came to rest here. I'll go through my life wondering if I should have just shrugged off the team's move and focused on my career. I would probably have a nicer car.
Most people are unaware of the site's history, and the team itself certainly doesn't seem aware. But here we are, and I'm fortunate to be surrounded by the OBR team and to have met hundreds of Browns fans over the years through the forums, who have made my life richer and more meaningful.
Thank you.
Have a good one! GO BROWNS!
Newswire Bloviation Archive
CLEVELAND BROWNS GOODIES
BROWNS VIDEO CLIPS
Inside the Browns Beat ft. BloomDaddy! - (youtube.com)
GARAGE BEERS LIVE - EPISODE 286 - FT DAVE MATZOLD - (youtube.com)
Two-Minute Browns Practice Check-In: 10/22/25 - (youtube.com)
One-Minute Browns Practice Check-In: 10/22/25 - (youtube.com)
BROWNS ARTICLES
Lessons to Learn From Drake Maye and How Cleveland Browns can Find Their Own - Sam
Cleveland Browns News and Rumors 10/22: Checking In with the Mock Drafters - Barry
Cleveland Browns Film Room: Tyson Campbell Impresses Again - Sam
Cleveland Browns Film Room: Adin Huntington is Still Making an Impact - Sam
Cleveland Browns Film Room: KT Levestons Crucial Role - Sam
Cleveland Browns Practice Report: Stefanski Hopeful on 2 Key Starters, Grant Delpit Honor - Fred
BROWNS MESSAGE BOARD POSTS
ASK THE INSIDERS (VIP)
Bond
Garrett Wilson
WR Rumors
OT Is this a creditable source?
Does Gabriel have a weak arm and cant throw deep?
WR impact
Could this be happening
Just chucking it up...
Pete, The Oh so early Qb Question
Non flexible DC Shwartz?
If not AB then to whom does HC Steph answer to?
THE WATERCOOLER
A fantasy football question
Press (Coverage) Rate of CBs
From Browns' PR Dept on Schwessinger
Grant Depilt named Special Teams POTW
LiveWire Thread for 1022 - Twitter, Video, Articles
THE LIFT
Positive news from the world of sports and beyond...
After 4-day workweek success, Lumen SEO took it a step further: 'Work whenever you want' - (goodgoodgood.co)
I had hoped that one positive side effect of COVID would be that more people would be able to work from home and spend their time in more pleasant environs than corporate offices. But, indeed, more workers are being asked to spend their time under fluorescent lights and sitting in cubes these days. That's why it's encouraging to see a company trust its workers to balance life and work differently. I hope it works and spreads.
WRAPPING UP
When not remembering morning and evening commutes, Barry McBride is the Publisher and Founder of the OBR and bloviates this nonsense every morning. You can follow him on Twitter @barrymcbride or write him at barry@theobr.com if you are so compelled.
SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
CONTACT Barry to sponsor the OBR. We have plans for nearly any budget!
OBR Across the Internet
OBR on BlueSky
OBR on Twitter
OBR on Threads
OBR on LinkedIN
OBR on Youtube
OBR on Twitch
Handy Links
Sign up for our newsletter
Sign up for breaking news text alerts
OBR Unpublished RSS Feed
If you have made it this far, you must subscribe to the OBR. Them's the rules.