SANDUSKY, Ohio — For years, Cleveland Browns season ticket holder and devoted fan, Jeff Panovich, has let his hair grow as his team saw losing season after losing season.
That changed this year with the Browns ending the regular season 12-5, so Panovich got his first hair cut in six years on Saturday, the Port Clinton News-Herald reported.
In 2014, Panovich vowed not to cut his hair until his team had a winning season, the newspaper reported. That was when quarterback Brian Hoyer had lifted fans’ hopes with a 7-4 start that then spiraled into despair with five end-of-season losses. The Browns’ last winning season before this year was in 2007.
Panovich told the newspaper he’s held season tickets since 1991 and only missed two games in 28 years before the pandemic.
“Sitting in the Dawg Pound, there had been a couple times where the guys would say, ‘This is the year you’re getting your hair cut,’ but it never happened,” Panovich told the newspaper while at a hair salon on Saturday, referring to a section of the bleachers at the Browns’ stadium.
Panovich donated his hair to Wigs for Kids, a nonprofit based in Westlake, which makes wigs for children who have lost hair because of medical issues.
Photos show Kristy Fullenkamp, of Port Clinton, who owns and operates Making Waves salon, cutting Panovich’s ponytail and finally taking a pair of clippers to finish his new look.
