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It is a cool fall Sunday, and the Cleveland Browns are playing the Kansas City Chiefs. From the television, crashes erupt as the Browns’ defense makes contact, competing for a ball knocked loose. Inside the home, roars of excitement echo as the scent of burnt ends lingers in the air.

Every Sunday that the Browns play away, ��ñ��alumnus Kyle Kovach, cooks a dish based on the city the Browns are facing, reflecting his motto: “In order to beat the team, you have to eat the team.” He was selected as the 2025 .

“Kovach shares his Browns pride everywhere, whether it’s mentoring his students as a counselor at Orange High School or crafting a Sunday meal for his family inspired by the Browns’ opponent,” the . “He uses football and his love for the Browns to teach his students and twin sons about teamwork, perseverance and resilience.”

Before becoming a guidance counselor at Orange High School and a Cleveland Browns’ season ticket holder, Kovach earned his from ��ñ��in 2017.

While pursuing his master’s degree, Kovach and his wife were unable to attend Browns games in person and had to find a way to make his lifelong fandom special despite their busy schedules.

As he laughed about how his wife had married into this crazy fandom, their tradition of making homemade meals reflecting the Browns’ opponents on the road developed into a special family tradition.

“To this day, my wife and I will go to a bar on a date night in the springtime. We’ll get the Browns schedule, go through every week picking out what we’re eating, and we’ll do research at the bar,” Kovach told ��ñ��Today.

Some of the meals Kovach planned over the years include clams casino for the Las Vegas Raiders, crab cake sandwiches for the Baltimore Ravens, Juicy Lucy burgers for the Minnesota Vikings and gumbo for the New Orleans Saints.

A few years after his graduation from Kent State, Kovach officially became a Browns season ticket holder and still is today, forging more traditions alongside his wife and connecting with others through the shared love of Cleveland Browns football.

“When we go down for the home game, we go to the Flat Iron Café in the Flats. We always eat breakfast there, and I love it because of the different types of Browns fans you see,” Kovach said. “You’ll see people in their 70s, people in their 20s, college students, 30-year-olds like me. It’s just a great chance to be around so many different people. We might all be different, but something brings us together.”

Kovach has been in education for 15 years, using his passion for football to build meaningful connections with students, and has received an outpouring of love and support reflected in the Cleveland Browns’ Instagram announcement of his being named Fan of the Year.

Social media comments were flooded with messages from students and community members, including “that’s my counselor,” “the GOAT himself” and “the best counselor ever.”

On the day of Kovach's nomination, he was like a kid in a candy shop, he said. Walking through the Browns’ facility, analyzing play calls on whiteboards and meeting players on the team.

Kovach was introduced to rookie defensive lineman Adin Huntington, a ��ñ��alumnus who joined the Browns in May of this year.

“I brought up to him, ‘Have you ever eaten at Ray’s Place?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, it’s great!’” Kovach said. “That’s what I love about just having those Kent conversations.”

As the season continues, Kovach is still taking in the shock of being named the Cleveland Browns Fan of the Year, an honor that now comes with the experience of a lifetime.  

This February, Kovach and his wife will head to the Super Bowl to represent the Browns, the city of Cleveland and his alma mater, Kent State, for a chance to be the .

“She’s really excited because we heard about the red carpet, and the day after she sent me everything,” Kovach said. “She was like, ‘I’m gonna wear all this,’ and it’s a brown dress, and she found these orange shoes, and bedazzled football purse, and I was like, ‘dude, awesome!’”

For Kovach, it is more than a trip. It is the culmination of years of fandom, family traditions and the relationships he has built through football, a chance to carry his community with him onto one of the biggest stages in sports.