My first game was Oct. 10, 1976. I was sitting in the 10th row of the wooden bleachers. They’d set up that section on the grass after baseball season ended. Turkey Jones slam-dunked Terry Bradshaw right near our end zone. Being so close to the action was so exciting. I bought season tickets two years later.
Section 61 was all season ticket holders. We were a tight-knit group. During preseason games, we spent more time talking about the kids growing up than about football. The atmosphere was like a family reunion. Everybody was blue-collar workers.
It really wasn’t considered the Dawg Pound until after the [Brian Sipe] years.
[Hanford] Dixon and [Frank] Minnifield had started the dog-barking thing on the field.
One of the guys in the first row came in with a dog skull painted orange and brown.
I had a long strap with a cowbell on it, and around Halloween, I got a dog mask and a three-foot rawhide dog bone that I painted orange. Then, someone made a sign. It just kept on going.
In my 40 years of going to Browns games, I’ve been to some very, very bad years. At one point, until two or three years ago, I had control of 16 tickets. If I didn’t sell a ticket, I didn’t put it online because I couldn’t stand seeing them go to away fans.
Instead, I’d go up to the top of the stadium and find some kids or a young family and bring them down to our section.
Now, the bell is considered a noisemaker and the bone a weapon. I still wear the “D. Dawg” jersey, though. It’s just about the love of the game, the excitement and the adrenaline it gives you and about loyalty to your team. That’s why I do it. — as told to Dillon Stewart
Dawg Pound Vet Talks Browns Fandom
Vince "D. Dawg" Erwin's first game was a memorable one.
