On this, my last chance to comment on the Browns in 2016, I have appallingly little to offer. But I need to thank those who have fed my Browns fandom through this famine.

Foremost is my father, who, truth be told, practically dragged me to a game this year. Fortunately, it was last week’s Christmas Eve skid-stopping success, the team’s first victory in over a year. It was a surprisingly fun December day on the lakefront, the first NFL game in 17 years in which a team got sacked nine times and still won.

I’ll take it anyway and file it away as a unique and fond memory.

Thanks, too, to the Browns’ coaches and players who refused to pack it in, reminding us that no matter the circumstances, you do play to win the game. Nothing changes the culture quite like a taste of success, even when it feels more like relief than triumph.

I also appreciate my local Browns Backers club for the community they foster here in Michigan. They brought the charismatic Josh Cribbs, my favorite Brown of the new era, to town last March. And two weeks back, I got to meet the fine former safety Felix Wright at our game day gathering.

Gratitude aplenty goes to my partner here at Browns Plainly, Kevin Roth. His skill, enthusiasm, and kindness are all blessings I’m glad to have experienced. And especially given the personal doldrums that have left me largely speechless over the course of this awful Browns season, his forbearance has been remarkable. I hope to redeem myself in the coming weeks, months, and years, and I await our first in-person meeting, perhaps when his beloved Packers visit Cleveland next fall.

Thanks to all my fellow fans, from the casual readers and contest entrants here, to the crowd at SEMBB, to the message board denizens of the OBR, to the fun folks who brave December winds to watch an 0-14 squad shock the sports world and bring a grizzled veteran like Joe Thomas to tears. It was a joy to meet a fellow Michigander named Greg last week as he brought his seven-year-old son to his first Browns game, one he’ll surely never forget.

Regardless of what happens in Pittsburgh tomorrow or to the Browns’ draft position, may this mark the end of the annus horribilis and the first spark of light that kindles the next great era of Browns football.