August 21, 1999

If memory serves me, and believe me, that night my memory was REALLY bad. August 21, 1999, the first game played in the new stadium was with the Vikings. A group of Newark Browns Backers had tickets to the game. We had a motel some distance from the stadium. We started early, had breakfast and started partying shortly thereafter. Our motel sold Bud Lite. We partied a bit. We had some tickets to an upcoming game and traded them for another room. Walked to the stadium and found our seats. I left at halftime, for a reason that I cannot remember and started walking toward our motel. That weekend, in Cleveland, downtown, the NAACP was having a convention. The KKK was having a convention or meeting of some kind. All had demonstrations going on downtown. I somehow got to the motel, carrying a few cups of liquids, some souvenirs and other items, walked through both demonstrations and a parade of those cars doing those jump, jump things. How, I will never know. Oh, the game, what game?

Tradition is such an important part of the Browns, so it's important to note that ever since they were born in 1946, they have played on the same site on the shores of Lake Erie. From 1946-95, their home was Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The Browns won all eight of their league championships there and hosted 17 postseason games. It is also where 16 men -- 15 players and one coach - built careers that eventually landed them in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

On that same footprint is FirstEnergy Stadium, Home of the Cleveland Browns, which was opened in 1999. To keep that tradition going, the playing field at FirstEnergy Stadium runs east to west, just like it did before, and the Dawg Pound can still be found on the east side of the stadium.
But that tradition has been tweaked and enhanced with a myriad of modern amenities and conveniences that give FirstEnergy Stadium the look and feel of a 21st century facility. It fits right in with its modern neighbors, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Great Lakes Science Center.