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It seems the Cleveland Browns banned the wrong fan for throwing beer, because, well, Cleveland Browns

September 12, 2019

Good news, everyone! (Spoken in Dennis Green voice) The Cleveland Browns are who we thought they were! After months of Super Bowl hype (Baker Mayfield and Odell Beckham! What could go wrong?!), America's lovable losers laid a total egg in their first game, getting drubbed at home by the mighty Tennessee Titans, 43-13. But the team's biggest gaffe appears to have come after the game was over.

According to a Cleveland man named Eric Smith, he was informed he had been banned by the Browns from going to future games. Smith was told he was being punished for throwing beer on Titans defensive back Logan Ryan, who leaped into "The Dawg Pound" to celebrate Malcolm Butler's pick-six. Going into a place called "The Dawg Pound" as an opposing player seems like a pretty stupid thing to do, but nevertheless, we understand why Logan was upset about the incident.

To the Browns' credit, it seems they acted swiftly on the matter. According to wkyc.com, the team used security footage to track down the suds slinger and link him to a ticket bought by Eric Smith. Just one small problem. The Eric Smith the team contacted wasn't at FirstEnergy Stadium, he was working as a DJ at a wedding during the game.

In fact, Smith claims he hasn't been to a Browns game since 2010. Considering Cleveland trotted out the three-headed monster of Colt McCoy, Jake Delhomme and Seneca Wallace that year, we don't blame him. At least he got out before things really went south during the Hue Jackson Era!

Looks like a case of BEARDism. You really hate to see it.

After Smith's story of misidentification made the rounds, the Browns released the following statement on Wednesday night:

“Our investigation of the fan incident on Sunday at FirstEnergy Stadium remains ongoing. While we are continuing to gather information and have been in contact with multiple people as part of that process, we have not explicitly identified the individual involved or taken any formal action of punishment at this time. We will have no further comment until the investigation is complete.”

Hopefully, they catch and ban the right fan. In the meantime, they should offer this Eric Smith some free tickets.