Cleveland Retires ‘Racist’ Browns Name; Changes to Cleveland Turds
CLEVELAND — The National Football League has granted the Cleveland Browns permission to place a brown turd emoji on both sides of their helmets, ending the franchise’s long-standing status as the only major professional sports team without a distinctive, immediately recognizable mark.
The decision followed a multi-year branding review conducted by an outside marketing firm. Owner Jimmy Haslam said the process was exhaustive.Owner Jimmy Haslam said the change was the product of years of listening sessions and focus-group testing.
“We heard the community,” Haslam said. “We wanted to keep the color brown, but having the team name ‘Browns’ was simply no longer tenable. The turd is inclusive. It has no ethnicity. It just sits there.”
Team officials said the search originally produced three finalists. A massage-table concept was discarded after focus groups registered little enthusiasm. A second option—a white woman with a black eye and a missing front tooth—was set aside because executives concluded it would exclude battered Black women. That left the turd.
Merchandise featuring the new mark went on sale within hours of the announcement. Early sales figures were described as strong.
Haslam reiterated that the selection process was rigorous. A massage-table concept was discarded after testers found it “unclear.” A second finalist—an illustration of a white woman with a black eye and missing tooth—was rejected because it “failed to represent battered Black women.” That left the turd.
Merchandise featuring the emoji went on sale immediately. Early reports indicated strong demand for hats, flags and “Flush It Down” towels.
Longtime season-ticket holder Masz O’Kist said the rebrand captured the fan experience with unusual precision.
“If it’s brown, flush it down,” O’Kist said. “We’ve been saying that for 27 years. Now it’s official.”
League officials said the new mark complies with NFL uniform and content guidelines. The Browns will wear the updated helmets Sunday.
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