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October 20, 2010Danny Green Officially Waived by the Cavaliers, Manny Harris To Take His Spot
October 20, 2010
I’m not sure how this flew under the radar around these parts, but Browns fan Eric Barr most certainly deserves some attention.Â
While you may have read the story over the weekend, Barr is a former resident of Hartford, Connecticut who had an epiphany to drop everything – his job, home, and family – to move a few states west and “live his dream” by following the Cleveland Browns.
Doing what most of us do for a few hours on a Sunday afternoon, Barr has decided to make it his life.Â
In East Hartford, the 33-year-old had a job, with full benefits. He had family. He had furniture.
Now sleeping on the floor of his basement apartment in Berea, Barr has none of that: no job, no family, no furniture. His health insurance runs out at the end of the month.
Yes, ladies, he’s single.
But before we mock the guy, there is something kinda wonderful about him.
“My ancestors came over from Ireland with nothing,” he says. “I have a blanket. I’m already one step ahead of them.”
The kicker? Barr has never lived in Cleveland and has no real ties to the Browns aside from fandom. The backing was handed down by his father, who also never lived in Cleveland, but liked the team’s blue-collar ways. Citing the toughness of the “glory days,” he began attending one game per year. Barr’s 1992 Nissan Sentra now has nearly 200,000 miles on it due to his attendance of every home game over the past three seasons despite living over 500 miles away.Â
Now a resident of the Cleveland area, Barr spends his weekdays applying for jobs and playing basketball.Â
Eric is confident he won’t be jobless for long, partly because he isn’t picky.
“I’ll do anything,” he insists. “I just can’t work Sundays.”
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Photo: Joshua Gunter, The Plain Dealer
36 Comments
Ummmm…awesome?
poor sap. Too bad he didn’t pick a team that might give him some joy occasionally. I was born into this misery.
hm. good for him I guess? *cringe*
“As either Oscar Wilde or William Butler Yeats once said, because the two of them said everything that was ever said, the Irish are comforted in times of joy by knowing that misery lies right around the corner.” – Frank McCourt
I think the Browns should step up and give him a job….Offensive Coordinator, or Executive Advisor to the Owner perhaps? Seriously though, give the guy a job in the equipment dept, or groundskeeping or something! This is a great PR opportunity for the Browns.
@ Chuck…What’s the guy’s 40-yard dash time? Maybe he can play corner back.
The part I found most disturbing when I read the article was how the PD reporter just glossed over the fact this guy left his wife and kids to do this.
This is a sad story. Randy Lerner definitely needs to give him a job. If he can pay Butch Davis, Phil Savage and Romeo Crennel to walk away he can pay this guy $30k to DO something… anything!
Seriously, though, he sounds like an irresponsible, borderline mental case.
It also said in the column that his car tops out at 54 miles per hour. I honestly couldn’t imagine anything worse than traveling the entire expanse of I-80 through Pennsylvania at 54 miles per hour. And to do it round trip, 8 times in 4 months.
@ Titus – There is a quote in there that said “Yes, ladies, he’s single.”
Maybe the “family” was his brothers, sisters and parents?
Ha
/The only thing that comes to mind
I will never complain about driving from South Columbus 8 times a year.
Ok, I probably will, but that’s absurd.
“Yes, ladies, he’s single.”
But if already spoken for by the time you reach out, here is the address for the Grafton Correctional Institution, where other eligible bachelors are standing by: …
I was wondering the same thing. When it says “he left his family” is that like parents/brothers/sisters or did this jackass walk out on his wife and kids to watch the browns suck? 1 of these is ok, the other definately does not merit a PD report.
On the other hand, his mom probably would have given him at least a chair to sit on. Wife most certainly would have kept everything.
Just sayin.
@Rick,
Women are always cold. I doubt any wife would have let him get away with that awesome blanket.
On reflection it does seem that I may have misread when it said family. I assumed that meant wife and kids, but it seems likely that it was siblings/parents. I think I’ve been brainwashed by the conservatives about what constitutes a real “family.”
@13 and @15 — Oof… you guys are brutal. Funny stuff, though.
I need to point out that Eric left family — dad, mom, sister — out East, not HIS family.
He was not married and did not leave his wife and kids.
I should have been more clear with that in the article.
Also, I’ve gotten tons of emails and phone calls from people offering furniture, job leads, bedding. I’ll be doing a follow-up shortly.
– John Campanelli, PD reporter
@Titus – yeah I remember all those conservatives telling me that parents and siblings aren’t really family…
wtfayta?
Thanks for the comment, John. Looking forward to the follow-up.
Out of curiosity, did anyone offer their family? 🙂
wow. Not sure if I should pity him or commend him. Still confused how anyone can be a Browns fan w/o living in Cleveland and having it ingrained in your DNA since birth. When I tell people I’m a Browns fan outside of CLE, they usually say “Ouch, sorry? I guess you’re FROM Cleveland.” I have honestly never met a Browns fan who was not from Cleveland.
I have, however, met Cavs and Indians fans who are not natives, so go fig.
I think they guy has a misplaced sense of priorities.
I gave up waiting for next year when the Modell Browns went to Baltimore. I usually found out Sunday’s results through office chatter on Monday morning.
This is pure dedication/insanity on his part…come to think of it, that’s exactly what it takes to be a Browns fan nowadays.
Go Browns!
Best fans in the world. I’ll always remember walking into a bar in Beijing wearing a Delonte West Cavs jersey, and having the manager come up to me and ask me if I was a Cavs/Browns/Indians fan, and subsequently talking Browns for the next 2 hours. Unmatched passion and loyalty. Whenever I get down about the Brownies performance, I always just remember that I am in good company.
@16 – indeed. I have that blanket. it not only looks awesome, but it is incredibly soft/comfortable. great blanket (though my youngest son has ‘stolen’ it from me for the time being).
I don’t think this guy has his priorities straight, but it’s each to their own in life, so good luck to him. He’s going to need it when the browns go 1-15 and he still has no job and no money.
This guy loves torture, he chose unemployment AND chose to root for the Browns…
If only LeBron loved Cleveland this much.
Awesome story
Only way this would have been better is if he would have told his boss that he was taking his talents to Northeast Ohio.
Hey, I have a house you can live at until you get on your feet. Life took me away from Cleveland and you can fix up the house until you find that job. I even have a bed there, and it’s a 2 minute walk from the rapid when you need to go to the game.
He probably reads this if he’s that big a fan.
Yes I’m serious, I can’t sell the place in this market, and my folks came to Cleveland from Ireland with nothing too so I sympathize.
WFNY- Please forward historycat’s offer to the PD so they can offer it to Mr. Barr
how can this guy be so irresponsible? he should have been blogging about this!!
frankly, the story turned away from freak/weirdo status into intriguing status when you realize he left his mom’s basement instead of his wife’s basement for his own basement.
BALLER
Good for him if this is what he really wants to do with his life, but I hope for his sake that he finds something a little more fulfilling. Cheering for 22 year old millionaires gets old after awhile.
I wonder what this guy does with himself during the offseason?
@30 Awesome…..