Browns Digest

Must See: Jim Donovan Takes Part In Browns Pre-Game Ritual

The voice of the Browns, Jim Donovan made an emphatic return to the broadcasting booth ahead of matchup with Steelers

Spencer German

In this story:

Traditions are part of what makes football so special. For Browns fans, hearing the voice of Jim Donovan on the call of games have become a tradition for more than 20 years. More recently, the team's new pre-game guitar smash is a newer phenomenon on game day.

In Week 11, with the Pittsburgh Steelers in town those two traditions collided.

With Donovan making a long-awaited return to the booth after spending the last nine weeks going through intensive treatments for leukemia, he was chosen to handle the honor of smashing a Steelers painted guitar prior to kickoff.

It was objectively cool moment as fans cheered in support of the legendary broadcaster.

Earlier this season, Donovan called the Browns season-opening win over the Bengals but announced on the air that he'd be stepping away from the booth to focus on his cancer treatments.

In his absence, the Browns relied on a rotating cast of voices to carry the play-by-play duties, including Cleveland native Chris Rose of the NFL Network, his colleague and noted Browns fan Andrew Siciliano, the legendary voice of the Ohio State Buckeyes, Paul Keels and most recently, Philadelphia Phillies announcer Tom McCarthy. 

Ahead of Week 11, the team shared though that Donovan was set to his rightful place in the Browns radio booth. The good news came on the heels of the team announcing that quarterback Deshaun Watson was out for the season.

On Sunday, Donovan officially reclaimed his seat as the voice of the Browns and did it emphatically with the accompanying guitar smash.

Published
Spencer German
SPENCER GERMAN

Spencer German is a contributor to the Northeast Ohio cluster of sites, including Cavs Insider, Cleveland Baseball Insider and most notably Browns Digest. He also works as a fill-in host on Cleveland Sports Radio, 92.3 The Fan, one of the Browns radio affiliate stations in Cleveland. Despite being a Cleveland transplant, Spencer has enjoyed making Northeast Ohio home ever since he attended college locally at John Carroll University, where he graduated in 2013.

Home/Browns Video