AP

It sounded like a story from The Onion: The Browns said this week that they would hand out white flags for the fans at Cleveland Browns Stadium to wave during Sunday’s game against the Steelers.

Now the team has scrapped the idea.

In a statement released by a team spokesman, the Browns said on Saturday that they were no longer going to ask their fans to wave the white flag.

“After further and careful consideration, we felt it was in the best interests of everyone involved that we not have a giveaway item at tomorrow’s game,” the statement said. “It is something that was intended to be fun for our fans and that they could rally around, and we regret that some didn’t perceive it that way. We want to thank all of our fans for their tremendous support and we look forward to seeing them out in force at the stadium tomorrow.”

It’s surprising that the Browns didn’t anticipate that some fans would perceive waving white flags as a symbol of surrender. It’s fine that the Browns wanted to counter all the Terrible Towels that Steelers fans would be waving, but white flags aren’t exactly the kind of look you want if you’re trying to convince fans that you haven’t given up on the season. The Browns were wise to scrap this idea.