Cleveland Browns: A Solution For The NFL's Preseason Problem

It is tough to watch Cleveland Browns preseason football and preseason football in general. One key change in particular should change that.

Penn State started it all with their “white outs” and every NBA playoff team followed suit. In fact, the Cleveland Cavaliers went for a ‘black-out’ in game six of the NBA Finals. Now, the Cleveland Browns dug their box of Crayolas out for another football season with various color schemes.

During their first home preseason game against the Atlanta Falcons, First Energy Stadium was in full ‘orange out’ mode. It appeared that over half the crowd was masquerading as empty plastic seats. Expect a repeat of this vibrant art show for the preseason finale against the Chicago Bears.

Let’s face it, August football in Cleveland is not exciting at all. For years, NFL head coaches have limited playing time in fear of injuries. The serious back injury that Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback Tony Romo suffered on Thursday will only make them more gun shy to put key players in harm’s way.

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Season ticket holders are thus stuck paying full price for two home games where starters play a quarter or less. TV viewers are then tortured watching games that have the entertainment equivalency of a political station.

One other equivalent option may be the traditional January Browns’ season finale led by your favorite third string (or lower) quarterback (flashback to Doug Pederson, Bruce Gradkowski, Thaddeus Lewis, Connor Shaw, and Austin Davis).

What’s the solution to this mess of mediocrity? The most obvious solution would be to simply cut the preseason down to two games. However, the NFL is legally obligated to provide 10 games to their stadiums. So NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has proposed replacing two preseason games with two regular season games.

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League owners would do Simone Biles-like flips if this change was put in place. Two more weeks of regular season football could probably buy them two more private islands! The concussion issue also has created an image-damaging hurricane that the NFL has yet to escape.

Forcing another two regular season games on players would eliminate any credibility to the commissioner’s emphasis on player safety. What other options are there?

Here is my earth-shaking proposal: Keep it the same…with one simple twist. The NFL will likely stick to 16 regular season games.

Considering that, I say that four preseason contests is better than two. Let’s face it. Watching crappy NFL football is better than watching no NFL football. Fans continue to watch, and teams continue to rake in TV money.

As an NFL fan and U.S. citizen, I have the right to choose whether to watch Cody Kessler run out of the end zone, or not. On the other hand, even the highest priced Direct TV package won’t allow you to tune into a third or fourth preseason game that would no longer exist.

Yet, local TV stations, as well as the national networks, don’t want to lose the opportunity to show these games. Most importantly, all of those preseason games serve the very important role of giving hundreds of backup players the stage to showcase their talents.

Just look at the Browns’ preseason finales over the last three years. Without those extra practice games, we likely would have missed Brian Hoyer’s 307-yard statement in the 2013 (starter Brandon Weeden sat, and back-up Jason Campbell bowed out due to sickness).

Picture Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /

How about Isaiah Crowell’s 13-carry, 103-yard performance in the game four of 2014, which likely saved him from being cut? Who can forget watching Terrelle Pryor’s epic 2015 debut? Zero catches, but some respectable blocking earned him a spot on the Browns’ 53-man roster. That is, until they cut him several days later.

So who is the only true victim of the current setup? The season-ticket holder. This loyal fan is stuck paying some serious ‘cash for clunkers’.

According to statista.com, the average 2015 NFL ticket price ranged from $57.65 (Jacksonville Jaguars) to $123.40 (New York Giants). The Browns were at $69.13. So if you are an average Browns fan and own two season tickets, you are forking over $276.52 for two preseason games.

For Goodell, that’s the price of a tie. For many Cleveland fans, that’s a good portion of the monthly house payment. So here is the goodwill card that the NFL can serve up for its loyal fans: cut preseason ticket prices in half.

Sure, the owners would lose some money. If the Browns sold all of its 67,431 seats at that average price, it would be a loss total of $4,661,505.30. It’s not pocket change, but consider that Cleveland is taking a cap hit this year of $4.33 million for some guy named Johnny Manziel.

Who knows how many former head coaches and front office personnel are still on the Browns’ payroll. For all of the dough that owner Jimmy Haslam and his fellow owners waste on bad personnel moves, they should have no problem giving back to their fans.

Next: Lee Is Traded To Carolina

Of course, the National Football League is always looking for ways to make money instead of give it away. I have one more wrinkle for the structure of the NFL season that would bring in money well above the losses due to discounting tickets. Unfortunately, you are going have to wait until the Browns’ Thursday night game on November 10th for the revealing of this golden ticket.

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Cleveland Browns: A Solution For The NFL’s Preseason Problem

By Andrew Aljancic | Aug 30, 2016

It is tough to watch Cleveland Browns preseason football and preseason football in general. One key change in particular should change that.

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