Opinion: Cleveland Browns ride hype train in wrong direction again with failed new logo

Hayden Grove
Wed, 25 Feb 2015 04:20:22 +0000
Football, Sports, cleveland, Cleveland Browns, Johnny Manziel, logo, NFL

If there’s one thing the Cleveland Browns can boast above any team in the NFL, it’s their ability to create misleading hype that ultimately lets fans down.

We’ve seen it with numerous first-round NFL Draft busts — including, although he’s not quite earned the name “bust,” Johnny Manziel — and fast starts, like the 7-4 start to the 2014 season that ended in a laughable five-game losing skid.

In an effort to combat this disheartening carousel that’s known as the “same ole’ Browns,” the organization preached “evolution” and “change,” all the while promising a new logo that would push the perception forward and put the old ways behind.

Of course, these mysterious words created quite the buzz on the shores of Lake Erie, as plenty of Browns fanatics put their Photoshop skills to the test, imagining a new future and a new hope for their beloved franchise.

Finally, Tuesday’s announcement arrived and the Browns, as they’ve done so many times before, proved themselves to indeed be the lovable letdowns Browns fans have known them to be, rolling out a “new” logo that was nothing more than a brightened hue of orange, a new font and a cartoon dog.

Cleveland Browns unveil new logo that’s just as boring as before http://t.co/QtzyMZf1Iy
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) February 24, 2015

The logo itself remained unchanged, it’s still the same rounded helmet that’s been employed by the organization since 1999. That model of helmet itself hasn’t been used in the NFL since about 2007. The only real change is a new brown facemask. The Browns said they used two years of fan-based research to make the “changes” to the new logo, but according to social media, the fans were not too pleased.

You have to feel bad for Browns fans. Even their new logo release is disappointing…

— Eric Stangel (@EricStangel) February 24, 2015

The problem with the logo changes was not the changes themselves, as the new hue of orange is most certainly more eye-catching and the new Dawg Pound logo is the perfect blend of snarly and cuddly.

Rather, the problem with the logo “changes” was the way in which they were presented: as “change.”

Browns fans were expecting the aforementioned “evolution” to offer hope for a better future and, most importantly, a better on-field product. Instead, they bought in once again to the endless Browns hype train that chugs along with seemingly no direction or destination.

This was a chance for the Browns to start on a different set of tracks, ones that were finally parallel with those of its passionate fanbase.

Once again, however, they opted for the old route — the one in which the Browns finally, in one way or another, seem headed in a different direction, only to fall back on their old, failed ways.

Sure, the Browns will have another chance to show tangible change and progress when they unveil new uniforms on April 14, but the first step of this “evolution” was yet another massive organizational failure, something that the Browns can’t seem to avoid on or off the field.

Thus far, the proposed “evolutionary” Browns of 2015 are nothing more than the “same ole’ Browns.”