Kevin Stefanski would have preferred to be on the sideline Sunday for the Cleveland Brown’s first postseason victory since 1994.
Instead, the Browns head coach was stuck watching the game at home after testing positive for COVID-19 earlier in the week. In fact, he actually didn’t get to see the first play of the game (a fumble recovery-turned-touchdown) live.
Stefanski told reporters Monday he’d paused his television for about 45 seconds at the beginning of the game. He only realized he’d forgotten to fast forward when he heard his children celebrating.
“My kids were going crazy upstairs,” he said, via ClevelandBrowns.com’s Anthony Poisal. “I had an inkling something good was going to happen on that first play.”
In the end, Stefanski said he discovered ” a newfound respect” for Browns fans watching games week-in and week-out. He called it a “unique” experience to watch his team from afar.
“It’s a strange feeling. I just turned into a fan of the team and pumped for our guys like crazy. It’s a very unique feeling not to be there with them. There was a ton of nervous energy that doesn’t usually exist on a sideline for whatever reason, but it existed for me last night.”
Stefanski currently is on track to rejoin his team for Sunday’s divisional round game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
