An Ohio man's tongue-in-cheek obituary has blamed the winless Cleveland Browns American football team for contributing to his demise.

The obituary published in the Sandusky Register said Paul Stark died on Wednesday at a hospice facility after a brief illness "exacerbated by the hopeless condition of the Cleveland Browns".

The team won one game and lost 15 last season and had lost all 15 this year ahead of Sunday's finale in Pittsburgh, which they also lost.

Even so, Mr Stark's obituary included a nugget of the optimism voiced by some long-suffering fans. It said the 80-year-old Mansfield native "passed just before the Browns were prepared to turn the corner".

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