The Cleveland Browns are entering a new era — on and off the field.
Rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders will have a chance to fight Kenny Pickett and Joe Flacco for the right to be the future franchise quarterback.
By the end of their rookie deals, the Browns will have a state-of-the-art, $2.4bn new home in Brook Park after deciding to abandon 80 years of history in downtown Cleveland when their lease expires in 2028.
One of the men who graced the lakefront arena was quarterback Brian Sipe, who led the famous Kardiac Kids of 1979 and 1980.
The team thrilled fans with incredible last-gasp comebacks to earn their nickname, and Sipe said the Browns’ current home and passionate fans played a huge role.
“Gordy Helms was one of the front office people that picked me up at the airport after I was drafted,” Sipe told cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot.
“He drove me to straight to the stadium. We came into the old Browns offices and we walked through the concessionary and up one of those ramps, and that view out into the huge stadium, and then the lake beyond, the whole thing was just a thrill for me.
“I was just so enthralled with that the old stadium and the location right there downtown and on the lake.”
The Browns’ decision to abandon Lake Erie and move to a new site near the airport is controversial and will leave a ‘hole’ in downtown Cleveland.
Their new stadium will boast a dome, crucial for bringing a Super Bowl to Ohio.
Pat McAfee discussed the possibility of alienating ‘real fans’ on his popular show and Sipe, who named MVP in 1980, has found memories of the current site — years before the Dawg Pound was born.
“I’ll never forget that walk through the city, down to the stadium,” the 75-year-old said. “The closer you got to the stadium, the more it was like streams feeding a river. The chanting would get louder and louder, and the enthusiasm was just peaking by the time you started crossing the beltway there and it was just so fun.”
Sipe was selected with the 330th pick in 1972 He is one of the best QBs in Browns historyHKS The Browns are set to build a domed stadium away from downtown ClevelandHKS Shedeur Sanders could get to place in the new stadium during his rookie dealGettyDespite hailing from warmer climates, Sipe — a 13th-round pick in 1972 — also thinks the new arena not being exposed to the elements is a potential loss.
“I was a Southern California boy and I never had to learn how to throw a football in the rain,” he said. “Growing up in San Diego, I not only had to learn to throw a wet ball, I had to throw a ball when there was freezing rain, and then I had to throw the ball when it was snowing.
“While it was snowing — I’ve said this many times — I actually didn’t mind bad weather because I was an undersized, slow guy, and the whole game slowed down when the weather was bad. I actually was rooting for it.”
Sipe, who played until he was 35, enjoyed Flacco’s performances in 2023 and insists there is no reason the veteran can’t perform.
But he sees no harm in throwing rookies Gabriel and Sanders, whose $4.6 million contract runs through 2028, into the fray.
“That was thrilling whether he was a little long in the tooth or not,” he said of Flacco’s last spell in Cleveland. “That was just so fun to watch. I have high hopes for the season.
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“The whole thing’s changed. I couldn’t believe I was still playing at age 35 but now guys have personal trainers and all of that in the offseason. That whole world has changed.
“When I came in, it was just kind of understood that rookies didn’t play the quarterback position.
“In hindsight, I think it’s been that’s been proven wrong. But I think the game is being coached differently than when I played. I had no contact with the coaches until I went to training camp, so there was no way a rookie could start.
“Had I gotten coached up properly, I probably could have played. Early on, based on what I was seeing, I felt that I could play in the NFL, but it was understood I was not going to for a while.”
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