CLEVELAND, Ohio (TheOBR.com) Good morning, Cleveland Browns fans!
Back in the Cleveland Browns’ dark ages, which I define as 1996-1998, though many feel it continues to this day, I had nothing to write about the Cleveland Browns. Still, I was ticked off about the Cleveland Browns’ theft.
So, I created a site called Greedwatch, which started off fairly angrily, but eventually became more satirical, mostly poking fun at the Baltimore Ravens (who struggled back then), and a host of NFL owners who were blackmailing their local communities by threatening to move to Cleveland. Art Modell was a favorite target, of course, but I had plenty of others to poke at, such as the Bengals’ Mike Brown, Oiltans owner Bud Adams (and his toupee), Cardinals’ owner Bud Billwell, and many others.
I hate to say this, but if Greedwatch were still around today and I wasn’t so devoted to the Cleveland Browns, I’d probably be making snarky remarks about Jimmy Haslam. The Browns’ owner seems to fervently desire to make the Browns something Clevelanders can be proud of, is busy trying to make Brook Park something other than an industrial wasteland, and is spending money like crazy to make his vision a reality. There are no shortages of checks with his name on them.
But, boy, he’s making it hard for Browns fans to have his back. And that goes beyond the losing records his team perennially puts up.
I don’t know Jimmy Haslam personally. I’ve never met him. Dude keeps himself in shape, appears to have a good marriage, and has amassed a great fortune, wisely investing in an NFL team when he could. But he needs to stay away from the media. He needs to be the anti-Jerry Jones.
While the iPhone recorders were running yesterday at the NFL Annual Meetings, Haslam was in a position where he had to walk back his (accurate) comments about the Deshaun Watson trade being a swing and a miss. Watson, unfortunately, is still around, healthy, and insisting on a chance to compete for the starting job. Given the state of the Browns’ quarterback room, his candidacy can’t be completely discounted, although most Browns fans fervently want to put this era behind them. So, trying to smooth things over, Haslam says Watson has a chance to turn that swing and a miss into a home run for the Browns in 2026.
Ugh.
Honestly, calling the Watson transaction a “swing and a miss” is a bit of an understatement. It’s been five years of swinging and missing, frankly, in front of a fanbase that lost plenty of members when that trade was made. It’s not a single swing and a miss. Our noses have been rubbed in it daily for this entire time.
The last person that the majority of Browns fans want to hear about is Deshaun Watson, and now we have the owner out there trying to lay the groundwork for his comeback. Watson hasn’t played meaningful football in a couple of years and hasn’t played at a high level since 2020, and we’re supposed to believe he’s going to morph into Sam Darnold? There’s no evidence for that, especially after multiple Achilles injuries, virtually guaranteeing that he’s going to have to be more of a pocket quarterback than the mobile one that Houston Texans fans were able to enjoy during the previous decade.
Not only is the owner trying to put a positive spin on Watson, but he also sounds pretty football-naive to believe that this is anything more than heaving a dart at a dartboard, aiming for a bullseye that is a quarter-mile away. Sure, a miracle could happen, and Browns fans deserve one, but the odds are so remote that it sounds like a pipe dream.
While I sympathize with Haslam being in this awful and awkward position, I don’t think he’s helping.
Maybe taking trade-ins for Shedeur Sanders “12” jerseys for new ones that lose the “1” at the front would be a way to distract fans from the weirdness of a quarterback era that everyone in Brown and Orange is hoping to reboot during the 2027 draft.
Have a good one! GO BROWNS!
OBR GOODIES
OBR VIDEO
– Gang of Three: Annual Meeting Funtime
TONIGHT: Pete and Joe at 8PM
OBR ARTICLES
– Cleveland Browns 2027 Way Too Early Roster Prediction
– 3 Cleveland Browns Draft Thoughts Heading into April
– Cleveland Browns 7-Round Mock Draft, Vol. 2
– Cleveland Browns News and Rumors 03/30/26: Endless Mysteries, Failed Physicals, and Streaming Fear
FROM THE FORUMS
7:15PM Gang of Three Annual Meeting Funtime
A rational discussion on the QB competition.
Gaylord Perry’s only home run – a moonshot.
Serpentini Chevy in Westlake-any experiences? their CarFax lied!
LiveWire Thread for 3/30 – Twitter, Video, Articles
THE LIFT]
Positive news from the world of sports and beyond…
25 years ago, ‘Invader Zim’ arrived, but it was too far ahead of its time
25 years ago, the OBR arrived as well. Then called “Bernie’s Insiders,” we debuted as a credentialed outlet on 9/9/2001. I remember the site launching the day the Browns played (and lost) to the Seattle Seahawks. Two days later, 9/11 happened, and suddenly, no one cared about football. We survived the rough start, but alongside us was another media newcomer and what turned out to be one of my favorite shows ever: Invader Zim. A quarter-century later, Space.com writes a paean to the gone-but-not-forgotten (by me, at least) show that helped to further warp my sense of humor.
WRAPPING UP
When not singing the Doom Song, 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
Handy Links
Sign up for breaking news text alerts
*If you have made it this far, you must subscribe to the OBR. Them’s the rules.*
Copyright 2026 WOIO via TheOBR.com. All rights reserved.