Make it two straight posts. Grew up in CLE, started following them during Marty Schottenheimer years. Loved watching Mack and Byner grind teams down while the Dawgs strangled offenses. Still hate Elway and the Broncs to this day. Hate Art Modell even more. The day they moved to Ballimer, I was done. I was a sophomore in college, in SE Ohio, so the only football we were afforded was either Pittsburgh (never ever never) or Cincy (who would do this to themselves?). I spent close to ten years not paying any mind to football. It sucked.

Married a girl up there, and her family lived in the armpit of Florida. Moved down here to be closer to her family. Everyone were gators, nobody paid any mind to Sunday ball. Got a divorce. Stayed in Florida, even though I had no real ties to the area outside of a decent enough job. Coworker was a STH, invited me to a few games, bought a 3-pack in 02 or 03. Got season tix the next year, and kept that going until I remarried and ended up too busy between multiple jobs, travel to and from games, and other commitments.

Enough can't be said about the value of Vic's column and the old Jungle for keeping me hungry. May not have been going to the games, but every day read about the latest signing, mock draft, or cap implication of every decision the team made. I lurked for ages, occasionally got a question posted by Vic, and stayed a fan through highs of playoff runs and lows of Gene Smith headscratcher picks and Gus Bradley's soft-serve defense. For all you long-time Jungle vets on this board, thank you for being a part of what kept me interested in a team that brought frustration more often than it brought elation.

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