Why Can't This Team Just Find a Quarterback?: And Other Thoughts on Life in Browns Town

by Terry Pluto

For Cleveland Browns fans who want to know why things keep going so wrong for their team…

For 25 years — since the return of the franchise in 1999 — Browns fans have been more consistently frustrated, befuddled, and disappointed by their team than any other fans in pro sports.

Why?

Sports columnist Terry Pluto (cleveland.com / The Plain Dealer) shares answers.

With insight and insider details gained from decades covering the team, Pluto looks closely at 2014 to 2024 and also back with fresh insight on earlier years of the new The drafts, the deals, the coaching and front-office changes … the onfield disappointments … rare bright spots and moments of optimism.

Above all there has was the ongoing, fruitless, endless search for the right starting quarterback — from Tim Couch to Johnny Manziel to Baker Mayfield (and so many others!) …

And then Deshaun Watson came to town — in one of the most disruptive and disastrous deals in the team’s history …

“Browns fans deserve better,” Pluto says.

If you’ve lived through years of disappointing football with the Cleveland Browns, this book will change how you understand the team.

By long-time Plain Dealer sports columnist Terry Pluto, based on decades covering the Browns40+ starting quarterbacks(!) — from Tim Couch to Johnny Manziel to Baker Mayfield to Deshaun Watson.Explores the heartbreak, hope, and chaos of Browns’ QB decisions.Includes some rare bright spots, such as Nick Chubb and Myles Garrett.Explains key turning points, big deals, and what went wrong (or occasionally right).Features thoughts from fans — including why they still stick with this team.

224 pages, Paperback

Published October 23, 2025

About the author

Terry Pluto is a sports columnist for the Plain Dealer. He has twice been honored by the Associated Press Sports Editors as the nations top sports columnist for medium-sized newspapers. He is a nine-time winner of the Ohio Sports Writer of the Year award and has received more than 50 state and local writing awards. In 2005 he was inducted into the Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame. He is the author of 23 books, including The Curse of Rocky Colavito (selected by the New York Times as one of the five notable sports books of 1989), and Loose Balls, which was ranked number 13 on Sports Illustrateds list of the top 100 sports books of all time. He was called Perhaps the best American writer of sports books, by the Chicago Tribune in 1997. He lives with his wife, Roberta, in Akron, Ohio."

Reviews

[Zack Pytel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did not expect to find my self wiping away tears from reading a book about the browns but sports will do that to you.

Pluto has alway been one my favorite sports writers in Cleveland and this book gave an in depth to a lot of the different reasons about why and how the browns are where they are.

The Jim Donovan chapters got me in the feels and the ending left me with that same hopeless optimism I feel every August. I will forever be a Browns fan, that will never change.

Go Browns!

[Mike Reuther · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pluto's concise writing style, top-notch reporting skills, and vast knowledge of the Cleveland sports scene make for informative and entertaining reading. I can't wait for his next Browns book. Never mind that I'm a Steelers fan.

[Katie Bernard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great summary of the current Browns, with interesting historical background, and touching stories. It honors fans well and Jimmy Donovan would be proud of how he is remembered.

[Brandon Pytel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The premise is simple: Why can’t the Browns ever get this right? And why do so many people, despite their obvious shortcomings, like this team?

Pluto does a good job in going through the history of the Browns since the expansion era, grounding it in the unfortunate, maybe worst trade ever, Deshaun Watson acquisition, “a five month odyssey” that went completely south almost immediately.

But before that, we get some good history on Al Lerner, his role in the move to Baltimore, and his son, who was obviously not up to the task of an NFL owner, only to be replaced by one of the worst owners in the NFL (my editorializing) in Jimmy Haslam, whose tenure has been marked by the amount of coaches and GMs he hires and fires.

Pluto also highlights how the Browns have gone from analytics to traditional football approaches, swinging back and forth over the year and never being able to land on something that worked. The theme here is a lack of patience, which is why we get a bunch of injection players like Watson, OBJ, Manziel, and others, who are more hype than actual contributors on the field.

Touchingly, the book is dedicated to Jim Donavan, the voice of the Browns for 20-plus years, whose long battle with cancer came to an end in 2024, and whose chapters add a personal touch to the book.

So, why do Browns fans stick to this team? “It’s about family and heart. And yes, loyalty. It’s the family connection that interests me most,” writes Pluto, who intersperses anecdotes and write-ins from Browns fans, while successfully landing the plane.

[Jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I struggled to decide how many stars to give this book. While I found the book well written and full of historical and current facts, the ineptitude of the Browns management since 1999 was depressing. It was hard to separate my disdain for the decisions that have been made from the quality of the writing. The fans deserve better. However, I have been an avid fan for almost 6 decades so I am used to disappointment. The fan perspectives and the Jimmy Donovan chapters were especially nice additions.

[Rich · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid chronicle of the Cleveland Browns QB quest from their return to the NFL in 1999. It's a sad story but, as a Browns fan, we are very capable of handling sadness. Well worth reading if you want to be reminded of 25 years of pain.

[Ethan Weingart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good look at the browns struggles at QB as well as learning more about Jim Donovan’s career.

[Jared Mooney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairly good, although I thought he jumped around a bit too much (covers the same people in multiple chapters, which is fine, but these chapters are not in order. Kind of like Reservoir Dogs)

[Ed Hutchinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always like reading Terry Pluto's stuff. This is his newest book, and while a lot of what he talks about I already knew, it was nice to get some insider "scoops" on some of the stories and issues with the Browns. His chapters about Jimmy Donovan were the highlight of the book by far. I read it in one night, after only planning to read for about a half hour. Light read but a very enjoyable one. Pluto is excellent at keeping his books light yet entertaining and informative.