The streets of Cleveland are overflowed with fans awaiting the celebratory parade in honor of the Cleveland Cavaliers winning the NBA championship.
The title is the first by a Cleveland major sports team since the Browns won the NFL championship in 1964. The star of that team, Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown, is riding in a float during Wednesday’s parade.
Also representing the Browns of the past at the parade are former quarterback Bernie Kosar and former running back Earnest Byner, whose infamous 1988 AFC Championship Game fumble in Denver was a part of keeping the Browns from making their first Super Bowl.
The picture in this story, courtesy of Hayden Grove of Scout.com, shows Byner wearing a Browns jersey and greeting Brown before the start of the parade.
Brown was a nine-time Pro Bowler and eight-time All-Pro. He rushed for more than 12,000 yards in his career and had 1,446 in 14 games in 1964. There was no parade honoring the 1964 Browns; Wednesday’s parade is the first Cleveland celebratory parade since the Indians won the American League pennant but lost the World Series in 1954.
TV cameras caught Brown holding a microphone and addressing the crowd as his parade float made its way through the streets.
The Browns will unveil a statue of Brown outside First Energy Stadium later this year. Brown said earlier this week that Cavs star LeBron James deserves his own statue, and he’ll eventually get his wish.