Brandon Jackson

For the first time since 2002, the Cleveland Browns will be playing in a football game that takes place after week 17. The Browns will be playing in the postseason. The last time the Browns were in the playoffs, anyone that’s high school age or younger right now wasn’t even born yet.

It wasn’t pretty, and it wasn’t easy. The Browns struggled to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers who didn’t play most of their best players, but it doesn’t matter. They found a way.

They have battled through losing their best offensive weapon, losing a top 5 RB for a quarter of the season, and multiple people being put on the covid-19 list. They won 10 games. We will have all week to talk about the matchup that’s coming up next Sunday, but today, Browns fans should enjoy a feeling that has not been in the city for about two decades.

Today is a day of celebration. It’s not a day to worry about what the stats looked like, or worry about Baker’s fifth-year option, or how the Browns will fare against the Steelers at full strength. It is a day to celebrate the fact that the national media will have to discuss the Cleveland Browns and have to acknowledge the Browns as a competent organization. It is a day to celebrate the fact that Cleveland is not the butt of a joke this year. It is a day to celebrate that the most loyal fans on the planet have finally been vindicated.

Enjoy this Cleveland, you have earned this, and you deserve this. You have earned the right to be excited, and no one can take that away from you.