CANTON, Ohio — In the hallowed halls of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, you'll find the bronze busts of Cleveland Browns legends Otto Graham, Paul Warfield, Jim Brown, Ozzie Newsome and Joe Thomas.
If Joe Flacco keeps winning games for the Browns into the playoffs, a statue of him may very well be erected in Downtown Cleveland.
The orange-and-brown faithful are hoping the magical season continues as the team gets ready for its round 1 playoff game Saturday afternoon against the Houston Texans.
North Ridgeville residents Scott Fedor, 56, and his son, Colin Fedor, 24, visited the Hall of Fame on Monday. Scott wore a Nick Chubb jersey, and Colin donned a Myles Garrett Jersey.
But both men agreed it's Joe Flacco who has given the Browns the mojo needed for a possible long playoff run.
"The way Flacco is playing, yeah absolutely, I don't think there's anybody in the playoffs right now that the Browns are afraid of. They're ready to take them on," Scott Fedor said.
Colin is equally optimistic about the Browns' chances, and although he admits he hasn't witnessed too many good seasons over his lifetime, he will always stand by his team.
"It was born, bled and beaten into me, so we're gonna be Browns fans," he said.
Many fans feel like the Browns, who won 11 games during the regular season, are becoming a team of destiny.
They have overcome many season-ending injuries, including to running back Nick Chubb, quarterback Deshaun Watson, and offensive tackles Jedrick Wills and Jack Conklin.
The Browns are the first team in NFL history to make the playoffs after starting four different quarterbacks in a season.
A fifth quarterback, Jeff Driskel, started in a loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. The Browns rested much of their starting lineup for the game to avoid possible injuries before the playoffs.
Here's another fun fact surrounding the playoffs: Three Great Lakes teams— the Detroit Lions, the Buffalo Bills and the Browns— made it to the postseason together for the first time.
"Don't the Browns and the Lions kind of seem like teams of destiny?" said Rich Desrosiers, a spokesperson for the HOF. "It has been since the 50s that both the Browns and the Lions both won 11 games in the same season."
The Fedor family is also buying into the destiny dream, hoping the Browns found lightning in a bottle with Flacco. He was the MVP and won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens in 2013.
The hope is he will hoist the Vince Lombardi trophy once again— this time for the Browns.
"I think it's an amazing opportunity for him to finish off and cap off an amazing career that he's had," Colin Fedor said.
