Show me and I'll believe

I always feel bad for Doubting Thomas, mostly because we all know his name because of his doubt and not because of the rest of his life. If you are unfamiliar with Doubting Thomas, he was one of Jesus's 12 disciples and after Jesus's death and subsequent resurrection, word spread that he had returned. Thomas, in a moment of pragmatism that belied any of his other accomplishments in life, told the rest of the disciples "I can't get behind this, I will believe our Lord has risen when I can put my fingers in the holes of his hands." ((Gerbs translation.)) When he was finally in front of the resurrected Christ, Jesus didn't shy away from being a smart aleck and told Thomas "here man, check it out" ((Again, Gerbs translation.)) The story is told and shared in a way that tries to convey to Christians and other believers that faith, while being important, does not need to be blind to be real.Thomas had just witnessed the man who he believed to be the Messiah beaten and killed in front of him, had seen him placed in a tomb, and seen the boulder rolled in front of the grave. Sure, he believed that Jesus was who he said he was, but with everything in front of him, he couldn't get there in the moment when he heard the news about the resurrection. Isn't that also kinda how it feels with Browns fans and this team this season? I know I feel a little like "Show me and I'll believe it".We've seen the front office try to add to the defensive line opposite Myles Garrett to no avail. Jadeveon Clowney and Olivier Vernon and Emmanuel Ogbah and Danny Shelton and Larry Ogunjobi were all names along the D-line, both inside and out, that were going to finally be the last piece of the puzzle to help take the pressure and double teams off of Garrett, with all of them failing along the way to varying degrees. So you'll forgive me for wanting to see Za'Darius Smith and Ogbonnia Okoronkwo and Dalvin Tomlinson and Shelby Harris actually do it before I believe fully that the personnel problems along the defensive front are finally fixed.The QB Jersey list is long and overplayed and may be over entirely now that Deshaun Watson is in the building. But are you sure of that? Can you really have full belief that Watson is the "savior" of the franchise when last year we saw him exercise and exorcise rust and demons alike after not being on a football field for nearly two years? I want to! but I'm not there yet. I need to see the shuffling and scrambling and arrows launch into the sky before I fully commit to burning all the other memories of Baker Mayfield being the one to lead us to the promised land. And we can see how that turned out as Mayfield is set to become the first person to ever start a game for four different franchises in the span of two years.As Browns fans, we are the city in the valley who has heard the boy come running down the hill, scared out of his wits about a wolf getting into his flock only to be tricked once twice 16 times too many. Is this time the right time? Is this the moment we've all been waiting for? I don't think even the most diehard fan can say with certainty that this amalgamation of players is the one that makes the Super Bowl. It doesn't help that there are only two teams in this year's AFC that you can safely bet on to not make the playoffs. Every other team has paths and avenues and scenarios that can make it possible to outseat the Browns for a wild card or division title.So while today starts the NFL season (not for Cleveland fans of course) we stare another year in the face asking, "is this finally it?" And I think most fans can agree with me, even with the mounting evidence that this may in fact be it, we are all a little like Thomas. "Show me and I'll believe it."