One of the fun things about being a sports fan is the endless amount of cool things a person can buy at the Team Shop. Team hats and t-shirts are an easy and safe purchase – not too pricey and fairly long lasting. Player shirts are not very expensive and offer the fan a chance to support their favorite individual player. Jerseys, on the other hand, require a commitment financially and long term. After spending a couple hundred dollars on a jersey, you certainly hope your player isn’t traded the following season!
We both love our team gear and together have quite a few Browns, Cavs, Indians and Buckeyes t-shirts. I cannot resist buying my favorite player’s shirts and, because we are Cleveland fans, I wear them long after the player has moved on to another team. One of my all-time-favorite Indians players is Victor Martinez, and I still wear his shirt to the games! Asdrubal Cabrera was another of my Indians favorites, now playing for the New York Mets, but I won’t retire his shirt either.
Some teams have players who stick around several years – Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger will probably retire with their current teams. However, the Colts fans probably thought Peyton Manning would retire in Indianapolis too and that didn’t happen. Browns fans just take it for granted that their Quarterbacks will only be around for a season, or less!
A few years ago, my favorite Browns player was Peyton Hillis, who played college football for the Arkansas Razorbacks. Peyton was a dynamic Running Back and led the Browns to a handful of wins in the 2010 season. I had to have his jersey! Don wisely solved that jersey dilemma by ordering Peyton’s college jersey for me – a very smart move since he was traded the following season.
The best way to get a player’s jersey is to win one, like we did at an Indians game two years ago! Carlos Carrasco was pitching at the Fan Appreciation game, and my seat number was chosen for an authentic, autographed Carrasco jersey!