“If you read this column at all in the fall, you know that I’m a Dallas Cowboys fan. Living in Northeast Ohio for nearly my whole life has made many people question why I’m not obsessed with the Cleveland Browns, like 95 percent of football fans in this area.”
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If you read this column at all in the fall, you know that I’m a Dallas Cowboys fan.

Living in Northeast Ohio for nearly my whole life has made many people question why I’m not obsessed with the Cleveland Browns, like 95 percent of football fans in this area.

Truth is, I hope the Browns do well every year and have been happy to see the positive direction the organization has taken in the past few years.

My dream would be to see the Cowboys and Browns in the Super Bowl someday, but before I get ahead of myself, Sept. 7 will have to do for now.

The NFL released the 2008 schedule Tuesday at 2 p.m. and though I already knew the ‘Boys and the Browns were playing each other this year in Cleveland, I didn’t expect it on opening day.

Step one to my dream: Sept. 7, Cowboys vs. Browns. I’ll see you in the Muni lot at 5 a.m. Let’s hope for a rematch in Tampa in February.

What living in Northeast Ohio has also done for me, is grown a profound dislike for the Pittsburgh Steelers. It felt great seeing Bill Cowher’s chin, coated with the usual specks of spit, protrude farther than any chin should on a man’s face in 1995 when the Boys took down the Steelers for Super Bowl XXX bragging rights.

However, in December, the ‘Boys travel to Pittsburgh for a winter show down. Seeing Dallas take out the Steelers up close and personal will almost be as fulfilling as being yelled at in the Muni lot at 5 a.m. in September.

All in all, the NFL must have kept me in mind when it created the ’08 schedule, because I couldn’t be happier.

I figured, before I wrote this column, I should try to share my elation with some higher-ups in Cleveland media.

Expecting the worst, I decided to call Kenny Roda of ESPN WKNR 850 AM on my way home from Cleveland on Tuesday. I dropped the news that I was a Cowboys fan, expecting to get hung up on, but was surprised when Roda began a lengthly NFL conversation with me.

After some back and forth analysis about our teams (Roda being a Browns junkie), we came to the conclusion that in order for either team to be successful in ’08, a lack of defensive secondary talent had to be overcome.

The similarities between the Cowboys and Browns ’08 rosters and overall team skills are glaring. Both return veteran quarterbacks, proven running backs, big play wide receivers and strong defensive lines. Though the Browns have been plagued in the past by a tattered offensive line, the team will bring back a solid core upfront laced with veterans. Ditto for the Cowboys.

So, on Sept. 7, whoever can cover the opposing team’s receivers will win the game.

Call this premature analysis. Call me obsessed with the NFL. I’ve already accepted both.

It’s just crazy how media-dominant the NFL has become over the years. Creating excitement five months before the season is always a good sign a professional sports league is on the right track.

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