CLEVELAND — Beau Bell was drafted by the Browns in April, but he put off his first visit to Cleveland Browns Stadium until Friday.
The wait was worth it.
Bell and his teammates were welcomed to their home on the lakefront by 26,108 fans at the franchise’s Family Night — each of whom paid $5 to watch a glorified practice session with fireworks.
“I’m already blown away by these people and how crazy they are about football,” the rookie linebacker said as he scanned the stands. “I always wanted to play in a place like this where everyone loves their team this much.
“If I had three thumbs, I’d give tonight three thumbs up.”
The UNLV product wore an ear-to-ear smile as he talked about his first experience at the Dawg Pound. He was so excited to get started that he drove downtown early in the day, armed only with the directions that “the stadium was by the lake.”
Bell found it in plenty of time, giving him an opportunity to walk around the field and let his imagination run wild.
“I don’t know what it will be like out here in the regular season, but I’m excited to find out,” he said. “Playing against Dallas and Pittsburgh (in Week 1 and 2) is really going to be special.
“I’m so excited right now that I just have to keep taking things one day at a time, focus on learning my assignments better, and get prepared, so I can take advantage of the situation I’ve been put in. This is a great opportunity for all of us.”
Family Night has also become a great opportunity for Cleveland football fans to see their favorite team before it starts preseason play. This marked its third installment, but the first since 2006 as last year’s event was canceled when a water-main break flooded the facility.
Absence made the heart grow fonder as the largest crowd to date was in attendance, including two dozen ex-NFL players and Cavaliers coach Mike Brown.
“That’s an honor to have a coach from the (2007) NBA Finals come out to watch us practice,” Bell said. “It shows how committed he is to this town, just like these fans are to their teams. They can’t wait for us to get started.”
Unlike at previous Family Night practices, though, people actually sat in their seats throughout the two-hour session, intently watching every play. They cheered little-known players like Alex Hall and Steve Sanders, and grumbled when the NFL officials threw questionable flags.
Even Coach Romeo Crennel noticed the difference.
“I’m appreciative of it and I’m glad there is a reason for them to be optimistic,” Crennel said after accepting well wishes from several season-ticket holders. “We’re going to try and live up to the expectations.”
The Browns’ coaches did their part to keep things business as usual, despite having roughly 24,000 more people watching than at free training camp practices in Berea. They conducted numerous game-like situations, including red-zone matchups, special teams plays and blocking strategies.
Among the top sequences were Robaire Smith blowing into the backfield for a touchless sack, Syndric Steptoe running back a kickoff for a score, Braylon Edwards making two touchdown catches, and Steptoe being wiped out on a punt return by Nick Sorenson.
Nine players did sit out the team drills: linebacker Antwan Peek (knee surgery), safety Gary Baxter (sore knees), tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. (hamstring), defensive lineman Corey Williams (shoulder), fullback Lawrence Vickers (hamstring), wide receiver Kevin Kasper (hamstring), guard Seth McKinney (ankle), wide receiver Lance Leggett (undisclosed) and tight end Steve Heiden (knee).
“The change in the routine is good,” Crennel said. “We play at night in the preseason, so to practice at night is good. On Thursday, when the Jets come into town (for the exhibition opener), we’ll look like we know what we’re doing. We got a lot of things done.”
Though the “white team” beat the “brown team” 27-26 on the scoreboard, the actual winner of the night was the Cleveland Browns Foundation, which received the net proceeds.

Contact Brian Dulik at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. 

In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement and discussion guidelines.

Need help? Email Us.