Discover the Facts Behind the Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns are an American football team that plays in the National Football League. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the Browns play in the North Division of the American Football Conference (AFC). The Cleveland Browns were founded in 1945 in the now defunct All-America Football Conference. The Browns joined the NFL in 1950 after the AAFC was discontinued (the AFFC fell apart largely due to the Browns' domination of the league).

The name of the Cleveland Browns was the result of a somewhat convoluted fan contest to determine the name. The top logo choice by fans at the time was the Panthers, but Paul Brown, the soon-to-be head coach of the team, was disinclined to accept that name. Supposedly this was due to a past Cleveland team with the same name and a reputation for losing. The second most popular choice was "The Brown Bombers," a reference to boxer Joe Louis. The reference was somewhat lost when the name was shortened to simply the "Browns," and it seems likely that Paul Brown may have had an interest in giving his team his own name.

The Browns entered the NFL as a surprisingly strong team. They suffered from an image as merely a big fish in a small pond. Despite phenomenal success in the AAFC, their origin in the league marked them as a second class team. However, the Browns had an unusual assemblage of talent. Coach Paul Brown had developed an extensive network of talent recruitment from his days as a college football coach. When the Browns played their first NFL game, they were largely dismissed and expected to be humiliated. However, they crushed the Philadelphia Eagles and went on to have a very strong first season.

In the 1960's a power struggle developed between long-time coach Paul Brown and new owner Art Modell. Eventually, Modell would buy Brown's minority holding of the team and fire him. Brown went on to found and coach the Cincinnati Bengals, which, if one takes the time to notice, had almost the exact same uniforms as the Browns.

In 1995, Art Modell would again shock Cleveland by attempting to move the team to Baltimore. After more than a hundred lawsuits, congressional hearings and widespread protest in Cleveland and other cities, the decision was made to not bring the Brown's name to Baltimore. The team and management itself did move to Baltimore to become the Ravens, but the Brown name was left to Cleveland to be reincarnated in 1999.