REDWOOD CITY -- The Browns may be nearly 2,500 miles away from the home field advantage of Cleveland Browns Stadium, but as the team prepared to play the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, they were welcomed to the Bay Area by their fans.
The three-day trip started with a welcome party at the team hotel Friday night and continued Saturday with the Backer Bash at the Sofitel Hotel in nearby Redwood City, California. Fans at the Backer Bash had the opportunity to meet, greet, get autographs from and take photos with former Browns running backs Eric Metcalf and Kevin Mack.
“People were here at five, just to get ready for the Browns,” said Kelly Carroll, manager, Browns Backers Global. “They had their gear on; everyone had brown and orange on. There were a lot of people in jerseys chanting, barking, high-fiving. It’s an awesome opportunity for Browns fans to meet and build that camaraderie. They can tailgate together and it’s an awesome community of fans.”
The Bay Area Browns Backers hosted the party and proceeds from a raffle for pregame field passes benefitted both the Silicon Valley Humane Society and Guide Dogs for the Blind.
Bay Area Backers president Bud Genovese -- who grew up in Shaker Heights and Warrensville Heights before moving out to San Jose -- brought his passion for the Browns with him to the West Coast.
“It’s beautiful to live out here, but you can never forget your heritage from Cleveland,” Genovese said. “I still love Cleveland and the Browns and the Indians and the Cavs (Cavaliers). It’s so rewarding to see all of these people together from all over. We have members in our club from New York, California and all over Ohio. Tonight, we have people from Canada and even London. It’s just great to see Browns fans get together.”
Even before Metcalf and Mack entered the party, they were greeted by fans extending handshakes and words of thanks for games of the past, as well as the famous, “Here we go, Brownies. Here we go!” chant and familiar dog barks.
“The Cleveland Browns fans always show love to the players who play now or who have formerly been with the organization,” Metcalf said. “Knowing that they respect you and treat you the way that they do, it’s always pleasant. It doesn’t surprise me because Browns fans are loyal to the team. They enjoy what they saw in the past and hope that one day, they can get back to that.”
Metcalf was greeted by fans throughout the evening, including some who remembered the team’s 30-24 overtime victory at the San Diego Chargers on Oct. 20, 1991.
“One guy had a photo of my mother and some other guys talked about being with my mother at a game against San Diego and celebrating after we won in overtime,” Metcalf said. “It’s just all the fond memories of being a Brown and the memories that the fans have as well that make it enjoyable.”
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