Maybe, Just maybe, this is the browns’ year

I’ve been ruminating on the Cleveland Browns much of this NFL season, particularly since aging Joe Flacco stepped in as starting quarterback, leading the team to impressive late-season victories and securing a rare playoff spot.

Then today I learned today that Frank Ryan, the Browns’ QB of my early fandom, has died.

Could it be that the Browns, the winter-defying diversion for the faithful fans in the erstwhile “Mistake on the Lake,” are destined for glory 60 years after their last championship?

Flacco’s games have had a vibe reminiscent of the Brian Sipe-led “Cardiac Kids” in Cleveland during the late 70s and early 80s. Travis Kelce and his brother Jason, of Cleveland Heights, are on top of the pop culture world. Add the memories stirred by Ryan’s death into the memory mix, and we Cleveland natives can for the first time in a long time dare to dream: is the Super Bowl within reach? Will the Browns, for just once during whatever remaining life I have left on this planet, give me a reason to drive back to Euclid Avenue for a Super Bowl champions’ parade?

My God, I hope so.