Newly acquired shooting guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Donovan Mitchell along with Darius Garland served as Dawg Pound captains for Cleveland Browns’ Thursday Night football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The match is being held at the FirstEnergy Stadium, home of the Browns.
What is Dawg Pound?
The Dawg Pound is the name of the bleacher section behind the east end zone in FirstEnergy Stadium, home of the Cleveland Browns, an NFL team based in Cleveland, Ohio.
According to Hanford Dixon, a Browns cornerback at the time, Dixon gave his defensive teammates the nickname “Dawgs” to motivate them ahead of the 1985 season. Before the first preseason game at old Cleveland Stadium, Dixon and fellow cornerback Frank Minnifield put up the first “Dawg Pound” banner in front of the bleachers.
Dixon and Minnifield conceptualized the pound by utilizing the quarterback-versus-defense relationship. The bleacher section had the cheapest seats in the stadium, and its supporters were already known for being the loudest. Dawg Pound fans also drank copious amounts of alcohol while hurling Milk-Bones, eggs, batteries, and other objects at visiting teams.
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“Brownies, it’s time to go! – Wow! Wow! “is the most commonly heard chant in the Pound, particularly on drives (either offensive or defensive).
When FirstEnergy Stadium was finished in 1999, team officials dubbed the east-end sections of the stadium the Dawg Pound. The new Pound is distinguished from the original by the presence of two decks. The team has also officially recognized the new Pound. The team trademarked a Dawg Pound logo, which it uses on limited edition fan merchandise.
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Ticket prices for the Dawg Pound are currently $50 per game, with season tickets typically required.
Hank Aaron, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, would frequently attend Browns games at Municipal Stadium and would sit in the Dawg Pound among the fans, albeit incognito.
