Lifelong fan battling cancer in hospice attends game as Browns end 18-year playoff drought

When lifelong Browns fan Tom Seipel posted on the Browns' subReddit two weeks ago, he did so with the intention of leaving a farewell to his fellow fans.

Seipel, a Columbus, Ohio, native and Ohio State graduate who now lives in Savannah, Georgia, has been battling kidney cancer since his initial diagnosis in November of 2017, when he was working as missionary in Nicaragua.

Now living at his parents' house with his wife, Margarita, and daughter, Mia, he's receiving hospice care. 

"I don't even know why I made the post to begin with when I look back," he said in a phone interview on Monday. "I wanted to say thank you to the great fans. That forum has been such an informative part of my life when it comes to sports that I kind of wanted to say thanks, but at the same time I just got put into hospice. I was bummed out, so I'm sure a part of it was just wanting to hear someone say, 'Get well buddy.'

"I never thought this would turn into anything."

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But the post set off a chain reaction in the community. It eventually caught the attention of Emily Mayfield, the wife of Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield. The latter later sent Seipel an encouraging video message. 

Seipel thought the Browns starter reaching out would be his peak as a fan, but he had no idea that two games later he would be invited to Emily Mayfield's suite at FirstEnergy Stadium to witness the Browns end their 18-year playoff drought in person with a 24-22 win over the Steelers.

"By far it's the best memory," Seipel said. "You can't even ask that question. By far. This weekend blew everything out of the water, it was insane. It's been too good to believe, it's been amazing." 

The chain reaction began when Seipel's initial post on Reddit caught the attention of Rawley Davis, one of the cohosts of the Dawgs of War podcast.

It was Davis who initially got an email through to Emily Mayfield, prompting the video from Baker Mayfield.

"Was just reading up on your story," the Browns quarterback said in part in the video that Seipel later posted on Instagram. "You’re extremely inspirational, man, you’re a warrior. Just want to say, keep fighting. Appreciate your support and we’ll see what happens when we get into the playoffs, we'll see if we make those dreams come true, bud."

Davis also told Seipel's story to Brian Szabo, owner of Szabo Apparel Co., who offered up four tickets to Seipel for the Steelers game. Davis and his podcast cohost Kevin Tuleta also organized a GoFundMe so that the cost of Seipel's trip would be covered. 

At that point, Seipel was in contact with Emily Mayfield. When she found out he was planning on coming to the game, she offered him 10 seats in her suite.

"She is the sweetest thing, so personable," Seipel said. "She was just amazing. The Mayfield name, I knew that Baker was awesome, and I always loved listening to him. But obviously she is not as available to the media since he's the player. She definitely is just as amazing as he is." 

In a statement provided to the Beacon Journal, Emily Mayfield said the focus for her was simply making sure Seipel had a good time at his first game in two years. 

“This isn’t about us," she said. "It’s about Tom who deserved to have a good weekend and see a Cleveland Browns win. We just wanted him to do it right.”

On Saturday, Seipel flew up to Cleveland with his dad, Tom Sr. They were greeted at their hotel by bags of new Browns gear from Szabo. The day of the game, his phone was ringing off the hook with well wishers, and on Monday he was inundated with interview requests.

All of the above had him joking that he felt like a celebrity.

At the game, Seipel also got to meet up with Davis, Tuleta and Szabo.

"Going into that suite and seeing the other guys that were waiting for us, they were like 'The party's here!'" he said. "It was a big party. The guys were giving me water to make sure I wasn't nauseated. I just did everything I could to sit upright and cheer on my Brownies."

And while he has always been a fan of Baker Mayfield, given everything that's happened in the last two weeks Seipel said it was totally different watching him play in-person on Sunday. 

It was also the icing on the cake that it was the quarterback who ended up clinching the game for the Browns. On third-and-2 from the Pittsburgh 42-yard line, he picked up a 3-yard gain on a designed run. The first down allowed the Browns to get in victory formation.

"Any time he touched the ball, that game was so much more just because of him reaching out," Seipel said. "Any time he touched the ball it felt 10-times more important than it ever has for any of the other Browns games, because now I actually know the guy. It's a little different right?

"But once he got past the line it was crazy. It was awesome."

After the game, when Baker Mayfield was in the locker room, he FaceTimed Emily Mayfield, who was still up in the suite.

Seipel got to offer up his congratulations virtually. 

"My jaw dropped, I felt like a big dork, I didn't know what to say," Seipel said with a laugh. "I was like, 'Dude, that's amazing.' He was like, 'I told you we'd do it Tom!' That was just awesome. I thought that was going to be the epitome, like OK, I just saw Baker and I talked to him pretty much in person, even though it was video, I didn't think it could get much better than that, but I was wrong."

A little while later, Seipel got to meet the Mayfields outside of the stadium and got to chat with the quarterback more, even taking a selfie. They even offered him a ride home so that Seipel wouldn't have to wait for an Uber to pick him up. 

"That's the class act that he is," Seipel said. "Baker is every bit of swagger, Mr. Dangerous. He's got that cool, edgy attitude, but at the same time he has the biggest heart in the world."

The weekend was Seipel's most memorable one as a Browns fan, but now back at home in Georgia he is recuperating from the long trip. 

But despite his fatigue and his diagnosis, he hasn't lost his sense of humor, even joking with his friends about finding a way to get to the college football national championship game next week between Ohio State and Alabama.

"I'm completely joking though, just this weekend I feel like I got hit by a car," he said. "My body is so sore. I don't think I could do it again even if somebody wanted me to go. Maybe if we make it to the Super Bowl and I can save up four weeks, and if I'm still kicking and breathing, maybe. I might have to wheel my hospital bed into the stadium then, but this weekend, it's just been an amazing weekend."