It's easy for most football fans to be dismissive of the Cleveland Browns.
After all, it's a franchise that has had a mostly downtrodden history since it re-entered the NFL in 1999. The so-called "factory of sadness" has manufactured misery in many ways:
- With Josh McCown taking over at quarterback for the injured Robert Griffin III, it means the Browns have set an NFL record by using multiple starting quarterbacks in a 15th consecutive season.
- The team is playing with an even younger roster than usual, with 17 rookies and first-year players on active status. That's the second most at the start of the season in league history, topped only by the 2002 Ravens (19).
