Throughout the long history of the NFL, there have been a number of famous groups within certain fan bases. From the Hogs in Washington, to the Black Hole for the then-Oakland Raiders, to even the 12th Man in Seattle, the fans have an impact on games weekly.
For former Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor, that includes the Dawg Pound in Cleveland.
Appearing on the 102.5 WDVE Morning Show in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Taylor — who played for the Steelers from 2003-2014 — stated that out of the three places the Pittsburgh Steelers have to play within the AFC North yearly, Cleveland is the toughest place due to the Dawg Pound.
“Hands down the Dawg Pound. I don’t care what you say. The Dawg Pound. I don’t care what they record is, the Dawg Pound is crazy,” Taylor said of the toughest environment to play in, according to audio via the WDVE Morning Show podcast page. “The Dawg Pound is crazy, man. Them people crazy. Them people crazy. The Ravens fans do give it to you, too. But at the Dawg Pound? They throw milk bones at you, man.
“Let them people alone, for real.”
The Steelers will have to deal with the Dawg Pound on Sunday for the only time in the 2023 season — potentially. Though Pittsburgh has typically dominated the matchup against the Browns, holding an 81-61-1 all-time record, it hasn’t been able to figure out Cleveland recently.
Last season, Pittsburgh dropped an ugly 29-17 game on the shores of Lake Erie in Week Three on Thursday Night Football.
Prior to that, the Steelers won on the road in Cleveland in 2021, 15-10, in quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s final trip to Cleveland — his home away from home. In 2020, the Steelers lost in Cleveland in the final week of the season, playing the backups with a playoff spot locked up, 24-22, and then lost in 2019, 21-7, which was the Myles Garrett/Mason Rudolph game.
Aside from the last four games, the Steelers have owned Cleveland in its home stadium, historically. Prior to 2019, the Steelers had beaten the Browns in Cleveland 14 times, including eight times from 2001-08.
But, with Cleveland a very good team now with the league’s best defense, the Dawg Pound will be fired up for Sunday’s matchup, backing its defense just the way the fan section was created.
If you didn’t know, the Dawg Pound was formed in 1985. That season, the Browns’ defense was having a tough time in practice of slowing down the offense under Bernie Kosar. In an effort to challenge and fire up the defense, defensive backs Hanford Dixon and Frank Minnifield assessed that every player on the defense were dogs and Kosar was the cat, according to dawgsbynature.com.
During those practices, any time that a Browns defender would record a sack, a hurry or an interception, Minnifield and Dixon would bark like dogs right there on the field. Fans caught on and started doing it in the stands. Next thing you know, the Dawg Pound had been born. It’s been around ever since.
Like Taylor stated, leave them people alone on Sunday. They’ll be fired up and looking to make an impact.
