DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Browns to start Ring of Honor

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Cleveland Browns to inaugurate new Ring of Honor at stadium during Sept. 19 season opener
Published: Saturday, August 14, 2010, 5:32 PM Updated: Saturday, August 14, 2010, 5:40 PM
Tony Grossi, The Plain Dealer

Scott Heckel / Canton Repository

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The Browns have made a decision that some think was long overdue. The organization, now headed by President Mike Holmgren, is creating a Ring of Honor to commemorate the great names of the franchise's storied past. An announcement could come as early as this week.
Tradition has kept the Browns relevant as they and their fans suffer through the expansion era. Tradition is what Cleveland politicians, diehard fans and Browns alumni fought to keep when Art Modell moved his Browns to Baltimore in 1996. But there has never been any permanent reminder of that tradition inside the seating bowl of Cleveland Browns Stadium.

That will change when the first class of franchise greats is inducted into the Browns Ring of Honor.

Plans are for the 16 Browns enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame to be the natural first inductees. Their names will be inscribed on the upper ring of Browns Stadium, clearly visible at least to spectators on the opposite side of the seating bowl. The unveiling of the Ring of Honor will be done at the home opener on Sept. 19.

All seven living honorees and family members of the deceased ones have been invited to attend various events planned for the opening weekend.
At least two members of the class are not expected to attend the unveiling on Sept. 19. The Paul Brown family, operators of the Cincinnati Bengals, and Ozzie Newsome, GM of the Baltimore Ravens, will be in Cincinnati for the Bengals-Ravens game. The Browns are hoping to have both at a gala dinner the night before.

About one-half the 32 NFL teams have a ring of honor displayed in their stadiums, though they all aren't named as such. Dino Lucarelli, the long-time Cleveland sports PR aficionado and former Browns alumni director, always felt it was a void in Browns Stadium.

Holmgren agreed. He developed an appreciation of team tradition while coaching the Green Bay Packers. Every day he went to work, Holmgren saw the hallowed names of Packers greats emblazoned on the facade of Lambeau Field. The display of the names of 21 Packers in the Hall of Fame helped stamp Lambeau Field as a football shrine.

The Browns intend to add members to its Ring of Honor on a regular basis. A committee within the organization will outline criteria for consideration and be the sole authority to decide future members. Exclusivity is what will make the Ring special and it's unlikely that future classes will number more than a few.
And that's not all: Holmgren's dedication to Browns tradition also will result in the re-institution of the Browns Legends program.

The Legends, which was started in 2001 to honor Browns greats, was suspended last year. There are currently 31 Browns players, plus the 16 Hall of Famers, in the Legends.

The program will be modified so that voters will not be restricted to choosing honorees based on the decade in which they played.

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http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2010/08/cleveland_browns_to_inaugurate.html

Read more @ link.

Good move Mike!

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Exactly.... the stadium should feel like a Temple of Browns football

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Man I just got a shiver ....

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Exactly.... the stadium should feel like a Temple of Browns football, not a sanitized viewing/entertainment experience like a movie theater where you simply show up, eat some overpriced grub and then leave.

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