Naples Browns Backers

No one missed playing in the Brent Batten Memorial Golf Tournament more than Brent Batten himself.

For those who didn’t know Brent, or the depth of his lifelong devotion to the Cleveland Browns, here’s a little background on the man our annual Browns Backers Golf Tournament is named after.

Brent grew up in Somerset, Ohio, a small town about two hours south of Cleveland. Because he lived outside the old NFL’s 90-mile local television blackout zone, he could watch Browns games on the Columbus station, and that’s where his loyalty to the team began.

After moving to Naples in 1984, following the Browns wasn’t quite as easy. We watched games at the old Sports Page on Shirley Street, on the good days when its temperamental, hand-cranked satellite dish could actually find the game. You also had to arrive early enough to call dibs on a TV because the satellite could only pull in a limited number of games.

By the late 1980s, a barbecue restaurant on Bonita Beach Road became the area’s first Browns Backers bar. That was where we gathered to watch, and suffer through, that painful trio of playoff losses to the Denver Broncos.

Then came the ultimate heartbreak. When the Browns left Cleveland, Brent didn’t adopt another team. He simply played golf on Sundays.

Since the Browns returned, Brent had been a loyal member of the Naples Browns Backers, watching every week until his cancer prevented him from attending last season. He was still playing golf on Saturdays, but by Sunday, he often had little energy left to make it out to the club.

Golf and the Browns were two of the great passions of Brent’s life, bringing him plenty of exhilaration and joy, along with more than his share of frustration and torment.

Brent spent the final month of his life at Avow, receiving around-the-clock comfort and care from the outstanding staff at its peaceful, lakefront facility. As Browns fans, we can take comfort ourselves in knowing that the money our club raises for Avow helps provide that same care to others like Brent.

I’m sure Brent would be pleased to know that our annual golf tournament now bears his name. But I’m even more certain he’d rather be here with us, complaining about his golf game and the Browns.