Just one before I die

Disclaimer: I categorized this gofundme under “Mission, Faith, and Church”. This is not a mission trip. The category selections are limited, I will explain my rationale at the end of this post. Bear with me.

Happy new year, my loyal Dawgs of War. I come to you on behalf of a man named Tom Seipel. Tom is a husband, father, pastor, missionary, and all around great dude who has been battling kidney cancer for the past three years. In the past few weeks, Tom was placed into hospice. His time on this earth is coming to an end. Tom is also a diehard Browns fan (I probably should have lead with that fact). I found Tom when he made a post on the Browns Reddit page (s/browns). In my opinion, this is the greatest community of Browns fans that exists. A screen capture of Tom’s goodbye post to his brothers and sisters in the community is shown below:

“Thanks for the memories and fun. I’ll keep rooting with Eric Turner and Otto Graham. F*ck Cancer.” 
OriginalPostLink

I immediately started stalking this dude on all levels of social media. Turns out he did  mission trips all across South America through the church I grew up attending. Small world? I think not. I personally took that as a sign from the big man upstairs.

On Christmas Eve, I reached out to Emily Mayfield to see if she knew anyone who could help make Tom’s final days a little more special. Within hours, Tom received this video from Baker Mayfield:

I realize that this is a picture, not a video. Gofundme is not letting me upload videos. Considering the entire calendar year of 2020  and the subject matter of this post, I believe we can all agree there are more pressing matters in life. I will link a bunch of relevant links at the end of this, including one to this video.

The video is Baker telling Tom how inspiring his battle is (highly summarized, just watch the video). It meant the world to Tom. Emily and Baker Mayfield have hearts of gold. I am proud of who they are on and off the field. Cleveland is lucky to call them their own. 

I believe that the Cleveland Browns are lucky to have a man like Tom in their corner. His loyalty knows no limits. He has been riding with them from quite literally the beginning to the end. While originally from Columbus, Ohio, Tom is with his family in Savannah, Georgia. Tom’s family is battling both cancer and medical bills. In my correspondence with Tom, he said that he would love nothing more than to go to one last Browns game, but money is kind of tight right now. 

That’s where we come in baby!

I am calling upon the loyal Dawgs of War to fly Tom and his father (shoutout Mr. Seipel) to Cleveland for an epic showdown against the Steelers in two days. A Browns victory would award the Browns with their first playoff berth since 2002. Tom Seipel should be there to cheer on our beloved Browns to whatever end awaits. We are raising money for the flights from Savannah, game tickets , their hotel stay, a wheelchair, Uber, and eternal glory.

If we raise anything more than the $1500(ish) this will cost, the proceeds will go to his family to help cover the medical bills. We’re also getting a ticket for his best friend , Phil. You gotta watch the Browns with your homies. Tom is our guy. Ours. Lets send him out with a bang, and get him to First Energy.

Please note: Tom’s hospice doctor approved of this journey, reluctantly. Yolo.

Aforementioned explanation for the “Mission, Faith, Church” category selection:
1) Mission: We’re on a mission, clearly.
2) Faith: Tom has an unyielding faith in Godand the Browns.
3) Church: Tom is very active in the church I grew up attending. I do not believe that was a matter of coincidence.

That is my justification of selecting “Mission, Faith, Church”. I wrote this on the fly. Browns Confirmed.

Here are some relevant links:

Tom’s YouTube channel documenting his battle with cancer: YoutubeChannel 

Tom’s YouTube video showing his reaction to the video from Baker and support from fellow Browns fans (go to the 2:05 mark): VLOGreactionToSupport 

Instagram video showing the actual video from Baker: Video Link 

God bless you all,

Rawley
(@angrybrownsfans )

If you have any questions, please DM me on the Instagram machine.