Live dog mascot named 'Swagger' will lead Cleveland Browns onto the field this season

7/14/2014
ASSOCIATED PRESS

BEREA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns are going to have a live, barking, panting mascot when they take the field this fall.

Kevin Griffin, the Browns vice president of fan experience and marketing, tells a Cleveland radio station that the team will have a bullmastiff named Swagger leading the players onto the field at FirstEnergy Stadium.

The Northeast Ohio Media Group reports that for years the team has had just costumed canines roaming the sidelines, playing to the raucous fan section known as the Dawg Pound.

A few other NFL teams feature live mascots, including the Seattle Seahawks (Taima the hawk), the Denver Broncos (a white Arabian horse named Thunder II) and the Baltimore Ravens (ravens named Rise and Conquer).