AFC PLAYOFF NOTEBOOK : His Honesty Grows on Browns

Bud Carson got off to a rough start early in the Browns’ training camp last summer.

He said he couldn’t understand why people kept asking him about Pro Bowl cornerbacks Frank Minnifield and Hanford Dixon in tandem, as if they were the same man.

Dixon, Carson said to set the record straight, is not the player Minnifield is.

He may have been right, but Carson spent the rest of the summer repairing bruised egos. But gradually his players came to appreciate his brutal honesty.

“Bud is never going to pull any punches,” kicker Matt Bahr said. “The players like that, because they always know where they stand.”

The Denver Broncos have a big following, and Robin Johnston may be their biggest fan.

Her wardrobe consists of blue makeup, orange nails and orange clothing. Not just this week, she says, but every day of the year.

What’s more, she has two Bronco tattoos.

On her right arm: a Bronco helmet, and next to that the number seven, worn by her favorite Bronco of all, John Elway.

On her left arm: the Bronco logo.

“Everybody tried to talk me out of it,” she says of the tattoos. “I may regret it when I’m 80 years old.”

Her horse is named John Elway.

Her car license plates read “BRNCO 7.”

“People always run up to the car thinking it’s him, and they’re always disappointed,” she says.

With a name such as Cleveland Brown, it’s not easy to cheer for the Broncos, especially this time of year. But living in suburban Denver, it’s even harder to root for the Browns.

Mr. Cleveland Brown, 55, of Littleton, Colo., was named after his father Grover Cleveland Brown. He was born in Indianapolis and lived in St. Louis and Detroit before moving to the Denver area five years ago.

“It could be worse,” he said. “It could be Oakland Raider. That would be a hard name to carry around.”

The weather forecast for game day in Denver calls for mild, breezy weather with increasing afternoon clouds and temperatures in the low 50s.

“It’s perfect football weather,” meteorologist Joe Baskin said.