Wednesday marked the beginning of April and the now-annual tradition of not believing anything you read on the Internet. The Cincinnati Bengals got into the spirit of April Fool’s Day at the expense of their Ohio rival Cleveland Browns.
The Bengals posted a “major” news story on their website with the tagline “a nod to players of the past while looking forward to things to come.” The story? A logo redesign that saw their trademark striped “B” logo move to a different shade of orange, parroting the miniscule Browns logo resdesign announced earlier this year. Kudos to the Bengals for a successful troll.
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This wasn’t the only jab at Cleveland’s expense. The Cleveland Orchestra also unveiled a new “modern” version of their logo which looked remarkably similar to their current one (it was exactly the same).
As Coley Harvey of ESPN.com noted, with regards to the Browns logo announcement, “expectations around the NFL were high that the Browns were going to go in a radical direction from their old, traditional logo and uniform.
Once the changes were made public, the Browns were met with criticism about how hyped the alterations were.”
April Fools is all in good fun, but the japes highlight the microcosm that is the Browns since the team was brought back to Cleveland. There is a pattern of building anticipation and hype only to massively disappoint.
Nov 16, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; A detailed view of the Cleveland Browns Salute to Service logo on a goal post before the game between the Cleveland Browns and the Houston Texans at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Last year’s media and fan frenzy over the drafting of Johnny Manziel is the obvious example, but there are others. Look at the flash in the pan season of Trent Richardson (a situation the Browns actually handled very well), going all the way back to the number one overall pick of former quarterback Tim Couch.
Players bust all the time but the Browns seem to have had an excessive percentage of big name busts. And the missteps aren’t limited to players.
Two years ago owner Jimmy Haslam raised eyebrows when he fired first-year coach Rob Chudzinski after only one season – giving up on Chudzinski before he had control over most of his roster or the ability to implement and develop any sort of a plan.
In business, such moves are usually the sign that leadership doesn’t know what they are doing.
Obviously, the team’s fans aren’t the only ones who’ve noticed.
As a player it would be easy to let these marginally innocent jokes by the Bengals and the city philharmonic get under your skin. That’s not always a bad thing. It’s more fuel on the fire to make this year different.
Browns safety Donte Whitner is one player who took notice. In response to the jokes he tweeted:
"Best jerseys in the league! Hands down! 9 different color combos!"
For the sake of team pride, I hope Whitner is right. Team president Alex Scheiner did say that the uniform changes would be much more significant than the logo changes, as reported by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
The Browns need a shot in the arm after an off season that has seen little to cheer about. The Browns made some solid moves to shore up depth with veterans and didn’t overpay for flashy players. But that kind of reserve also does little to excite the fan base.
What will be exciting is watching the Browns (in whatever new uniform concoction they’ve dreamed up) annihilate the Bengals when they meet them twice this season.
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