The Cleveland Browns are headed to the playoffs. They officially clinched with a win last Thursday night, then on Sunday became locked into the AFC’s top wild-card spot after the Ravens routed the Miami Dolphins in Baltimore.
Because I expected the Ravens to win that game, and because it was a weekend off for the Browns, I wasn’t thinking much about the playoffs Sunday afternoon as I ran a few errands and pretended to be interested in helping my wife take down the Christmas decorations.
Then I saw the photo. The one I’ve been chuckling about since.
My colleague in Baltimore, Jeff Zrebiec, was making his walk toward M&T Bank Stadium when he saw this man wearing a Joe Flacco Browns jersey and took the picture. Things get done fast these days, but Flacco’s children didn’t even have that replica jersey until last Thursday’s game.
Outside M&T Bank Stadium: pic.twitter.com/Rf9vPVpYUz
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) December 31, 2023
I don’t know the man in the picture, and I don’t know his story — or the story of how he secured the jersey and why he chose to wear it to the Ravens-Dolphins game. None of us know how the fascinating and wildly improbable story of Flacco elevating the Browns and pushing them to the playoffs is going to end, but he’s been good enough to…
