DeSiree Wheeler and Charles Bevel’s wedding, which took place just hours before the Cleveland Browns’ home opener versus the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, will be one of the most memorable occasions for fans. According to WOIO, the couple confessed their love for each other and the Browns in front of everyone in Muni Lot by Huntington Bank Field.
In a video uploaded to X, retired Browns wide receiver Webster Slaughter spoke and said a prayer while Hans Schneider, widely known as “Browns Batman” and the mayor of Wellington, Ohio, presided over the ceremony.
“It was perfect. It had the right vibe, the Browns fans’ energy, especially in week one,” Bevel told the outlet.
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The thrilled couple said they met at a tailgate and that they have been traveling to Browns games for years as passionate fans.
While going through a divorce and his kids were away at college, Bevel returned to his childhood home in Glenville, Ohio, after 20 years in North Carolina, according to Cleveland Magazine.
“I realized that I didn’t know who I was,” he explained to Cleveland. “I actually went through the process of trying to find myself.”
As the excitement of the gridiron action swept over him, he started to “find” himself. He went to his first Browns game outside of his home state in 2019 in New Jersey and found that going to games by himself kept him occupied and forced him to step outside of his comfort zone.
Soon after, he joined online friends at tailgates and gained reputation for dressing up in the stadium stands wearing sunglasses and a brown-and-orange “Spiderman” superhero suit.
At the time, Wheeler was an empty-nester who had lost her mother in 2018, according to the magazine. She started going to tailgates at home and on the road in an effort to find a sense of community. She took a selfie with Bevel, who she knew from the Browns community on X, during a game in Cleveland in December, but that was it.
The two later met again during a trip to Kansas City, when Bevel joined a group of Browns fans, including Wheeler, on their way to a club. They eventually got together and started 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 Magazine of the couple’s shared passion for football.
“It is a full circle moment for both of us. We were living parallel lives that collided. To have it start and end here, this next chapter of our lives is amazing,” she said of her wedding to WOIO.
Bevel proposed having the wedding before the opening game of the season. Wheeler thought it was a brilliant idea, though, and never resisted.
“When I said it out of my mouth, it was a half joke, but our love started with the Browns,” said Bevel.
As reported by People, Wheeler, 50, who is known as “First Lady” on X, wore a white outfit with orange trim around the waist and a veil fastened to a white Browns cap. The 57-year-old groom, who goes by “Brown Spider” on the internet, also wore a Browns-inspired ensemble that included a bright orange dress shirt, white pants, a white vest with orange floral elements, and a white tie. He also accessorized with his trademark Spiderman spectacles and a Browns cap.
When the team learned of the large wedding, they gave the newlyweds tickets for the 50-yard line.
“Don’t invite me to anything on Sunday at 1 o’clock because I am watching the Browns,” Bevel joked.
Meanwhile, the couple remains positive about their and the Browns’ futures.
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