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This passage taken from "Glory for Sale"
Fans, Dollars, and the NFL, by Jon Morgan.
It is a must read for any real Browns fan.
For a complete review and where to buy it:
CLICK HERE
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Writing about the Cleveland Browns 1984 season...
The team ended the season a very disappointing
5 - 11 but acquired one of its more endearing and enduring symbols:
the "Dawg."
For years, Cleveland's All-Pro cornerback
Hanford Dixon fired up his defensive line mates by barking at
them like a dog. What better way to inspire the sacking of opposing
team quarterbacks? But soon he and fellow cornerback Frank Minnifield
were barking at opponents, too.
Then the fans got into the act. Dog yelps
began to echo through Municipal Stadium, especially when Minnifield
or Dixon charged up a small hill in front of the end-zone bleachers.
An especially enthusiastic group of fans sat in these cheap bench
seats, which had been added for the 1981 baseball All-Star game.
Dixon dubbed the section the "Dawg Pound."
Fans brought dog biscuits to the games, tossing
them onto the field in celebration and in anger. During one game,
the fans pelted the Broncos with biscuits as they approached
the goal line. Officials had to stop play and reverse field.
One group of fans took to every game an actual
dog house which soon became a fixture of the Dawg Pound. Stadium
officials eventually discovered a keg of beer inside the house
and made the owners sign statements promising not to bring any
more in. They were allowed to keep the dog house, though.
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