A Piece of Cleveland in Virginia Beach, VA
Cheryl Workman props her injured leg up on a nearby chair, takes a drag from a cigarette, and proceeds to describe the unique décor of her family room at home. “I don’t have the pictures with me today, but my living room is done in Cleveland Browns.
It’s got orange walls, brown carpet and there’s Browns memorabilia all over the place. We even have Cleveland Browns refrigerator.” But the love of the Browns doesn’t stop there. She offers to reveal a tattoo of a Cleveland Browns helmet emblazoned on her back side, but luckily it’s the same design as the one clearly visible on her husband Rick’s beefy bicep. Rick and Cheryl are just one of about 50 die-hard, rabid Cleveland Browns fans huddled at Tango’s Tavern in Virginia Beach, Virginia for NFL Draft Day.
Tango’s is located in a fairly generic looking strip mall a good 9,908 football fields southeast of Cleveland Browns Stadium. “This is nothing today,” says Ed Miller, president of Chapter 42 of the Tidewater Browns Backers Association, or TBBA for short. “During the regular season, this place is sheer pandemonium.” He points his finger to the floor, draws an imaginary line, and references a far wall that is emblazoned with large red letters that spell out O-H-I-O. On it hangs a Buckeye’s 2002 NCAA Football Championship poster. “From here over to there, on any given Sunday during the season, this place is packed with Browns fans. It’s incredible.” Ed hails from Canton, Ohio, home of the legendary Pro Football Hall of Fame, and has been president of the TBBA chapter since 1999.
Currently, they have a roster of about 110 members. Ed says that “the Cleveland Browns has one of the largest sport fan bases in the nation. No matter where you go, you’re bound to find one in just about every city.” Ed started the Browns Backers of Sand Hills in Pinehurst, North Carolina back in ‘94. A quick check of the Cleveland Browns website says there are 40,000 registered members world wide in places like Kenai River, Alaska, Perth, Australia, and Misawa, Japan. The goal of today’s gathering is to watch the draft, enjoy the company of fellow transplanted Ohioans, and recruit more Browns Backers.
Membership dues for draft day were reduced to $20 person or $35 a couple. Normally, they are $25 a person or $45 a couple. Ed explains that “along with the camaraderie, you get a T-shirt, discounts on sports merchandise, email updates, a newsletter, and the ability to buy tickets to the ‘Dawg Pound.’ We go to Cleveland as a group at least once a season, and we have an end of the season banquet. Hopefully, this year it will be a Super Bowl party”.
Point of clarification: the Browns have never been to a Super Bowl. Dave Stauffer, another Browns Backer and this season’s TBBA secretary, is quick to point out “we did win the NFL championship in 1964 before they had the Super Bowl. Beat the Colts 27-0.” Aside from rooting for the Browns on Sunday and the Ohio Buckeyes on Saturdays, the TBBA raises money for the local Polar Plunge, the Mayflower Food Drive, The Ronald McDonald House and Cleveland Browns Foundation which raises money for Cleveland area youth.
During lulls of the televised draft show, vice president Rick Vollmer seizes a microphone and begins quizzing the crowd on obscure Browns trivia. “How many times has Cleveland shut out the Steelers?” Four. “Which one of these running backs has not lead the Browns in rushing and receiving in the same season?” Leroy Kelly. “During their career which quarterback never had a 300 yard game passing for the Browns?” Gary Danielson. For the folks gathered today, these answers come as easy as “What did you have for breakfast?”
Ed and Rick are talking football next to the Browns Hall of Fame Wall at Tango’s which emits an eerie orange glow on the nearby pool tables. Other than the obvious sea of orange, the wall sports a painting of the signature “dawg” and two lists, both of which are scrawled in black magic marker. One list is that of famous Browns Hall of Famers and the other is that of not-so-famous past presidents of the TBBA. Ed proudly announces that they renewed 50 members and signed up 10 more today. He’s optimistic about the TBBA and the Browns franchise in general. He speaks of the Browns as if he is part of the team, which in a way, he is. “We are looking for a big year this year. We were 4-12 last year. I’d be happy if we were 8-8. We have a new coach and a new GM. We’re entering a new era.”
The article was a freelance assignment for The Viginian-Pilot Beacon in 2005.