TOWSON, Md. — Deep in the heart of Ravens country, it's not exactly a common sight: flags placed across the windows and walls of a Baltimore County bar's back porch, supporting the division rival Cleveland Browns.
"We meet here every Sunday, every game day, throw up our banners and meet together and cheer for the team," said Bill Hurd, president of the Baltimore Browns Backers, a local network of Cleveland fans with over 1,500 followers on Facebook.
All football fans are welcome at the Glory Days Grill in Towson, but its back patio has come to be the frequent adopted home of Cleveland Browns fans.
For more than a decade, Baltimore Ravens fans watched and cheered as Joe Flacco started at quarterback. But this year, he's come out of nowhere to lead the division rival Cleveland Browns to a playoff spot.
Baltimore and Cleveland fans have an unexpected common friend in the former Ravens world champion Flacco. Once the bane of the Browns' existence, he's leading that team to the playoffs, more than ten years after he led the Ravens to a championship.
"It's just fun to have him come here, and actually lead our team, like he led the Ravens," said Bruce Rurka, a Browns fan living in Bel Air.
Flacco didn't have a team to begin the year, but now, on the Browns, he holds a 4-1 regular season record with 13 touchdowns in five starts; the team clinched a playoff berth with Flacco starting.
It's a run Ravens fans have admired, too.
"There's been a lot of Ravens fans that have actually embraced this, at least the ones that I know, that have said, 'hey, we wish Joe luck. We love seeing him be successful,'" Rurka added.
Depending how the seeding and first round shake out, there's a chance the Flacco-led Browns could play the Ravens in the playoffs in Baltimore this month - and what a homecoming, what a story that would be.
But as goes for each fanbase, the team comes first.
Browns fans here are optimistic they'll see Flacco in Baltimore this January. For the time being, both fanbases, at a stalemate, can celebrate Joe's success.
"We had hopes, and he has really exceeded all expectation," Hurd said.
