It’s the end of an era in the AFC North, and leave it to the Cleveland Browns to do the deed. They once nearly destroyed the best rivalry in professional sports over stadium issues. Now, 25 years later, the Cleveland Browns are out to destroy the integrity of football itself in the AFC North.
The Browns ownership wanted a new stadium, and Cleveland wanted the Browns organization to renovate their stadium. So what do the Browns do? They have decided to move the team to the Cleveland suburbs and build a new stadium with a dome. It’s a disturbing trend for us old-school fans who remember the NFL in its glory days when football was played in the elements.
Honestly, it’s not the first time the AFC Central or North, as it’s known today, has had a domed stadium. The Oilers played in the Astrodome, but they moved into the stadium two years ahead of the AFL-NFL merger at a time when domed stadiums were more of a novelty item.
However, a dome in Texas in the 1968 season did little to destroy the integrity of a game designed to be played in the elements. Perhaps there might be some rain occasionally in Texas, but you wouldn’t get a blizzard as in Cleveland, Cincinnati, or Pittsburgh. It’s unlikely in Houston to get a windchill of -20 degrees below zero either, which was more common up north. The weather was like the 12th man when either the home team could only field 11 players. Then, in 1975, the novelty of Domed stadiums changed. But Pittsburgh had the advantage in the cold 1978 AFC championship game.
Before 1975, only the Oilers and Saints had domed stadiums. In 1975, the Lions moved into the Pontiac Silverdome, eliminating them from the cold weather elements of football. In 1982, the Minnesota Vikings moved into Hubert H. Humphry Metrodome. Minnesota was one of those places you never wanted to play in, especially in December, when there was either a foot of snow or brutally cold weather. They subsequently got to host two Super Bowls.
Now, 10 NFL Stadiums have domes. Granted, most, except for Minnesota and Detroit, are in hot weather climates. However, Cleveland is not a hot weather climate; now, it will become the 11th NFL stadium with a dome.
Cleveland is an example of why new stadiums are a danger to the integrity of pro football, at least how it was meant to be played. Every time talks come up that a team needs a new stadium, the question of whether it will have a dome is the number one question asked.
Honestly, the NFL and its quest to make every team worthy of hosting a Super Bowl so long as it’s indoors, like Superbowl XL, or in the warmer climate of Tempe, Arizona, is a disturbing trend. Some of us prefer games in the snow. How often have there been AFC games in Cleveland in which brutally cold weather has affected the game? It’s hard to say, but each one the Steelers play in is memorable.
The NFL disagrees; it would prefer every stadium be domed. However, there used to be a different mindset in the NFL. There was an extreme blizzard before the 1948 NFL championship game between the Chicago Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles at Shibe Park. The NFL didn’t cancel the game but promised all fans who brought a shovel would get free admission. Don’t forget that Ben Roethlisberger’s first career start was in hurricane remnants in 2004.
In 2024, what does the NFL do when there is a blizzard? It cancels its games. If you recall, they postponed the Steelers-Bills 2023 playoff game. The NFL had even talked of moving it to Detroit.
If you recall, in 2023, lightning led to a long postponement between the Steelers and Cardinals. During the intermission, while they waited for the lightning to stop, the Steelers radio broadcast, to fill the time, invited Ron Wolfley, Craig Wolfley’s brother, to partake in their broadcast until the game resumed. Ron Wolfley noted that in the early 80s, despite the lightning, the game would not have been postponed.
The point is, once Cleveland gets a dome, how long will it be before you see other cold-weather teams with domes like New England, Denver, or, god forbid, Greenbay? Even the Chicago Bears are planning on a new domed stadium. It seems the NFL and team ownership continually rotate toward the almighty dollar and fantasy football fans while being able to use their new stadiums to host a Taylor Swift concert and, eventually, a Super Bowl.
Perhaps that’s great for Fairweather fans. Still, the move to domed stadiums removes that crucial weather element. Really, do Steelers Fans want someone other than Chris Boswell to boot 50-plus-yard field goals on a windy day in Pittsburgh? Apparently, those of you who have Cleveland’s placekicker on your dynasty team want a domed stadium on the AFC North teams.
The point is that the NFL and, eventually, the ownership of all teams will want a dome. They want to make the weather a nonfactor for all games. So much for infamous games like the Ice Bowl or the Fog Bowl. So long as a fan can drink his Bud Light comfortably, that seems to be all the NFL is interested in. Certainly not the game of football.
