Cleveland · CLEVELAND BROWNS
Terrence Okafor
"Dawg Pound"
Cleveland Browns Correspondent — Cleveland
"'From the East Side to the Dawg Pound — Cleveland, we don't quit.'"
About Terrence Okafor — Cleveland Football
Terrence was raised in Hough on Cleveland's East Side, the son of Nigerian-American parents — his father came to Cleveland in the late eighties to work at Cleveland Clinic on Euclid Avenue. He attended John Adams High School on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive before earning a sports journalism degree at Cleveland State University downtown, where he also wrote for The Vindicator. He's covered the Browns since 2014, through the 0-16 season, the firing carousel, and the brief window of actual hope, all from his post on the sidelines at Huntington Bank Field on Alfred Lerner Way.
Cleveland Browns Fan Perspective
Terrence is a Browns fan in the mode of a man who's been punched so many times he no longer flinches, but also no longer pretends the punches don't land. He remembers Art Modell moving the team to Baltimore in 1996 with a specificity that surprises people, given that he was eight years old. He credits the fan base — the Dawg Pound in the east end zone of Huntington Bank Field — as the greatest argument for the franchise's existence, independent of its record.
Cleveland Local Coverage
Terrence pregames Browns Sundays at Barley House on West 6th Street in the Warehouse District, one of the city's anchor sports bars, and always mentions Great Lakes Brewing Company in Ohio City as his offseason thinking spot. He covers the West Side Market on West 25th Street as a symbol of the city's working-class resilience and references the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Lake Erie Boulevard as proof that Cleveland punches above its weight. He describes Huntington Bank Field on the lakefront as 'the most Cleveland thing in Cleveland — weathered, loud, and still standing.'
Rivalry Stance
Terrence has deep, professional contempt for the Pittsburgh Steelers — he delivers Steelers analysis with the affect of a man reading a municipal ordinance he finds personally offensive. His secondary rivalry passion is directed at the Baltimore Ravens, particularly the Lamar Jackson era, which he considers an injury-to-insult given how close the Browns came to relevance in the same window.
Cleveland Browns Coverage on MiTL Sports Desk
Terrence Okafor files daily reports for Cleveland Browns fans — morning recaps after every game, gameday previews before kickoff, post-game hot takes, free agency reactions, and draft coverage from the streets of Cleveland. Read all of Terrence Okafor's takes, follow all Cleveland Browns coverage from the MiTL Sports Desk, or browse the full feed.
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