Jim Donovan and Phil Dawson both joined the Browns in 1999
The storied history of the Cleveland Browns fell on some rough times in the 1990s. With Art Modell stealing the team from the city, the fans rallied to keep the team’s history, name and colors but little else remained.
The rush to bring back the team in 1999 led to a lot of quick fixes and, unfortunately, not a lot of winning for a couple of decades.
Despite that, kicker Phil Dawson and Voice of the Browns Jim Donovan stood out from the crowd, among a few other great players. Unfortunately, this year Donovan shared that he had announced his last game as he continued his fight with cancer.
Earlier this offseason, the Browns announced that Dawson would be the newest member of their honorary group. Then Donovan’s announcement happened and plans changed.
Donovan’s story with the team is not over as he will join Dawson as the 2024 Class of Browns Legends. Dawson got to make the call to Donovan to inform him of the honor:
“I get the honor to inform you that you will be joining me in this year’s class, you will officially be a Cleveland Browns Legend,” Dawson said on the call to Donovan. “And I can think of no better honor than to get to make this phone call.”
The parallels between the two do not start with going into together this year. Donovan signed on as the team’s “voice” in that return season of 1999, the same year Dawson signed with the team.
Dawson spent 14 of his 20 NFL seasons in Cleveland. In 215 games, Dawson made 84% of his kicks and had a flag placed at the team’s home stadium (the “Dawson Flag”) to help get a proper gauge of the wind coming off of Lake Erie.
DBN caught up with Dawson for an exclusive interview a few years ago where they discussed the flag and how a Secret Service sniper helped him understand the wind dynamics.
As Dawson prepares for this weekend’s honor, his thoughts are on Donovan:
As Dawson prepares to visit Huntington Bank Field on Sept. 22 and officially be inducted into the Browns Legends, he’s hoping the focus is not on him, but rather Donovan.
“What I’m hoping to communicate this weekend is, this is a ‘we’ award,” Dawson said. “It’s not a me award. And I think it’s incredible in light of that Jim’s going to go in with me, and I sincerely hope that people will focus on Jim and celebrate what he’s done for the Browns. I was just one of many players trying to do his job. There was only one Jim Donovan. So, I’m thrilled that he’s going to be going in with me.”
DBN joins the rest of the Cleveland fanbase in congratulating Donovan in joining Dawson as a member of the 2024 Class of Browns Legends.