The Cleveland Browns are getting hit with a lawsuit for a mistake they made with a fan. According to court records obtained by ESPN, Eric Smith is suing the team due to him being blamed for pouring beer on Tennessee Titans cornerback Logan Ryan at the Browns season opener last month. When the Browns identified Smith as the culprit, they banned him from coming to any more games at FirstEnergy Stadium.
The only problem with this is Smith was not at the game. In fact, when talking to Fox 8 Cleveland back in September, he said he hasn’t been to a Browns game in nine years. On the day the incident happened, Smith said he at a wedding because he was the DJ.
Videos by PopCulture.com
“He just kind of doubled down on everything like, ‘We know it was you.’ And I got mad, I got really angry and I started raising my voice at him. He said, ‘You don’t have to get defensive. If you are innocent, then you wouldn’t be so defensive and if you are not a fan like you say, then this won’t matter to you.’ I was like, well it kind of matters,”
Once the Browns found out it wasn’t him, they apologized to Smith privately and then issued a statement saying they had “not explicitly identified the individual involved or taken any formal action of punishment.” Smith is seeking a public retraction from the Browns and financial damages.
The beer pouring on Ryan occurred when he picked off a Baker Mayfield interception and returned it for a touchdown. The following day, Ryan went on SiriusXM radio to rip the fan that poured beer on him.
“Yeah, you know, in this day and age it’s ridiculous,” Ryan said. “I understand that we play football. I understand that we’re modern-day gladiators. I understand that fans feel like they can yell and say and degrade, whatever, but you know, we’re human beings.
“And I think in society nowadays that’s, with everything going on and everybody deserving their rights, I think as a player to hop up over the rail and to have beer splashed in your face and you’re not allowed to respond. … Fans are allowed to throw beer in our face and yell whatever they want to yell at us and there’s no penalty?”
