CLEVELAND, Ohio — Thursday morning started off with the best kind of news regarding the radio play-by-play voice of the Browns, Jim Donovan. He rang the bell three times at University Hospital to signify the completion of his cancer treatments.
“My last radiation treatment. 25 up, 25 down,” he said in a video posted on Instagram by Meghan Donovan and shared by the Browns on their Twitter account. “What a team I had, what an honor. Ring the bell three times.”
Donovan announced last May that he was once again battling leukemia and said at the time he had been receiving chemotherapy for about 18 months but was going to begin a new, more comprehensive treatment plan.
“We were knocked for a little bit of a loop when we got the news about this, but we’ve kind of steadied ourselves and we’re ready to go once again, ready for the fight,” he said in announcing there would be lapses in his appearances on WKYC and in his duties with the Browns. “I have total confidence in the medical professionals who are handling my case, the doctors, the nurses, the medical professionals at the Seidman Cancer Center at University Hospitals. They have done an amazing job for many, many years treating me and I am ready to put my case in their hands once again.”
Donovan called the Browns’ Week 1 win over the Bengals last season and then announced he would be stepping away from the booth. He returned 10 weeks later when the Browns hosted the Steelers and he even smashed the guitar pregame before rushing back up to the press box to call the team’s 13-10 win.
“I never expected the unbelievable support of the fans,” Donovan told Terry Pluto. “It started the moment I got out of the car. People kept saying, ‘So glad you’re back!’ They were yelling ‘Good luck’ across the parking lot.
“I thought they’d introduce me (to smash the guitar) and there would be a nice little round of applause. But when I came out, there was this unbelievable ROAR! It’s something I’ll never forget.”
Donovan has been the radio voice of the Browns since the team returned in 1999.
