Cleveland Browns Fans, Who Met at Tailgate, Marry Outside Stadium Ahead of Home Opener

Two Cleveland Browns superfans tied the knot in the very spot where their sporty love story first began.

Charles Bevel Jr. and his now-wife, DeSiree Wheeler, exchanged vows in a festive ceremony on Sunday, Sept. 7, just hours ahead of the NFL team’s home opener against the Cincinnati Bengals, according to Cleveland magazine and WOIO. They held the nuptials at a makeshift altar in Muni Lot, adjacent to Huntington Bank Field — and naturally, the event highlighted their team spirit, from their wedding attire to the cake.

Wheeler, 50 — who goes by “First Lady” on X — wore a white dress with orange detailing at the waist, along with a veil attached to a white Browns cap. The groom, 57 — known as “Brown Spider” online — also sported a Browns-inspired look featuring a bright orange dress shirt, paired with white pants, a white vest detailed with orange floral accents and a white tie. He, too, accessorized with a Browns cap, plus a pair of his signature Spiderman sunglasses.

The bride and groom, who first met at a tailgate, share a special connection in that they both leaned into their Browns fandom during a difficult time in their personal life, per Cleveland. Bevel moved back into his childhood home in Glenville, Ohio, after living in North Carolina for 20 years. He was going through a divorce and his kids were off at college.

“I realized that I didn’t know who I was,” he told Cleveland. “I actually went through the process of trying to find myself.” 

As it turned out, he would begin to “find” himself amid the thrill of the gridiron action. He attended his first out-of-state Browns game in New Jersey in 2019, and discovered that traveling alone to games pushed him out of his comfort zone and kept him busy. He soon joined tailgates with friends he met online, and became well-known for dressing up in a brown-and-orange “Spiderman” superhero suit and sunglasses in the stadium stands.

Wheeler, meanwhile, was a single empty-nester at the time and had lost her mother in 2018, per the magazine. In search of community, she began attending tailgates, both at home and on the road. At one December game in Cleveland, she and Bevel — who recognized each other from the Browns community on X — snapped a selfie together, but that was that.

Then, during a trip to Kansas City, the pair crossed paths again when Bevel ended up joining a group of Browns fans, including Wheeler, who were headed to a club. They eventually began dating.

“It’s been like nothing else I’ve ever experienced with any past relationships. It really always gives us something to connect on and something to come back to together,” Wheeler told Cleveland of the couple’s shared passion for football.

Despite the rainy weather on Sunday, guests gathered to watch Bevel and Wheeler’s game-day wedding. Hans Schneider, aka “Browns Batman,” who is also the mayor of Wellington, Ohio, officiated the ceremony, and retired Browns wide receiver Webster Slaughter said a prayer and gave a speech. A video shared on X shows the bride making her triumphant entrance.

When the groom was asked that all-important question at the altar, he enthusiastically responded, “I do, I do, let’s f—— go!”

Slaughter said in part, per Cleveland: “Marriage celebrates the wins big and small. When the Browns win a game, any game, the entire city erupts in joy. Why? Because victory is precious when you know what it took to get there. Marriage is the same.”

The festivities included a wedding cake topped with a small Browns helmet and a framed stadium selfie of the couple.

The newlyweds told WOIO that it was Bevel’s idea to get married before this season’s home opener in Cleveland.

“When I said it out of my mouth, it was a half-joke, but our love started with the Browns,” he said.

Wheeler described the ceremony as “a full-circle moment” for the two. “We were living parallel lives that collided. To have it start and end here, this next chapter of our lives is amazing,” she told WOIO.

According to Cleveland, Bevel and Wheeler plan to continue traveling to games together — and their honeymoon will take them to London in NFL week 5 to see the Oct. 5 matchup between the Browns and the Minnesota Vikings at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. During the Browns’ bye week, they plan to travel to Buffalo, N.Y., to watch the Bills play before they move into their new $2 billion stadium in Orchard Park.

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And while the Browns disappointingly didn’t give the newlyweds a win on their wedding day — the Bengals came out on top with a close score of 17-16 — the team did gift Bevel and Wheeler a pair of 50-yard-line tickets when they heard about the Muni Lot ceremony.

Ever the devoted fans, the couple remains hopeful about the Browns’ chances this season.

“I am always optimistic,” Wheeler told Cleveland. “After all, that’s what being a Browns fan is all about.”