The Cleveland Browns suck. They haven’t made the playoffs in more than a decade. They haven’t ever appeared in a Super Bowl, let alone claimed a victory in one and most of their most famous moments involve horrendous failure, such as being on the losing end of The Drive. At one point, owner Art Modell even up and moved the team to Baltimore before the NFL gave the fans another franchise with the exact same name. Safe to say, there’s been a lot of heartache over the years, and Scott E Entsminger experienced it all. So, when the fifty-five-year-old diehard fan was on the verge of passing away, he came up with the perfect way to be honor and stick it to his beloved Browns.
Here’s an excerpt from Entsminger’s hilarious obituary that recently ran in the Columbus Dispatch…
That’s right. He requested that six members of the Cleveland Browns attend his funeral and serve as pall bearers so that he may be let down one final time. From one angle, that could be interpreted as bitchy and mean-spirited, but upon further review, that really doesn’t seem to be the case. Entsminger was a longtime season ticket holder who attended every game, no matter how bad the team was. He recorded a song during every off season and sent a copy to team headquarters, and he even routinely mailed in letters with advice about which free agents he thought the team should pursue in the off-season. If nothing else, he considered himself in the same boat as the team, which is why he must have written that final request with tears that felt both funny and sad.
Teams have a way of bringing an entire city together. Whether they win, lose or turn into a comedy, they offer an easy way for people to bond and find common ground. Entsminger clearly partook in that happiness during his lifetime, even when it felt like more pain, and for his sake, I hope a few members of the team have a sense of humor about it and honor his final request. After all, some day, all that luck is going to turn around. Some day the Browns are finally going to figure it out, and when they do, it’s going to be in honor of men like Entsminger who toughed it out and pumped their fists after every single first down, no matter how meaningless.
Pop Blend’s sincerest thoughts go out to Entsminger’s family during this time of need. Here’s to hoping everyone who shows up wears their Browns attire proudly.
