Cleveland Browns

Overview

The Cleveland Browns are a National Football League (NFL) franchise that began play as a member of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) in 1946. The Browns are unique in the NFL in that they are the only team named after a person, former coach and general manager Paul Brown.

Quick Facts

Inaugural season: 1946

Home field: FirstEnergy Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

Owners: Jimmy and Dee Haslam.

Team colors: Brown, orange, white.

For the first decade of its existence, Cleveland was the most successful franchise in professional football, winning seven championships between the AAFC and NFL. However, following its last NFL title in 1964, the team has struggled to recapture its championship form. The Browns enjoyed a period of success in the late 1980s, but after several down seasons in the early 1990s, the team was moved to Baltimore prior to the 1996 season. The Browns franchise lay dormant for three seasons until it was revived in 1999. Since that time, Cleveland has consistently been among the NFL’s worst teams, even tying a league mark for futility in the 2017 season. Going into the 2024 NFL season, the Browns had an overall franchise record of 559 wins, 534 losses, and 14 ties. The team also had a playoff record of 17–22.

History

In 1945, businessman Arthur B. McBride purchased the Cleveland franchise in the newly formed All-America Football Conference. At the time, the NFL was not the dominant league it would later become, and the AAFC was seen as a potential challenger and relative equal in terms of talent. McBride hired Paul Brown as the team’s head coach and general manager. Brown was a football innovator, introducing many of the strategies and elements used in the modern game. For example, he was the first to call plays from the sidelines, hire full-time assistant coaches, use playbooks, develop game plans, and teach players in a classroom-like setting. Brown also helped revolutionize the forward pass by including more quick-strike throws and creating a “pocket” of blockers around the quarterback to give him more time to find a receiver.

Before the franchise’s inaugural season, McBride held a fan contest to choose a name for the team. The top choice was to name the team after Brown, who had been a popular high school and college coach in Ohio. Brown reportedly felt uncomfortable with having his name on the team and rejected the idea. The next choice was “Panthers,” but according to some accounts, that name was already copyrighted by a Cleveland businessman. In the end, Brown relented and agreed to allow the new franchise to be named after him.

When the AAFC began play in the 1946 season, the Browns quickly established themselves as the league’s best team. In the four years of the AAFC’s existence, Cleveland lost only four games and won the league championship each season. In 1948, Cleveland went 14–0 as part of a longer 29-game winning streak that stretched over three seasons. After the 1949 season, the AAFC folded and the league decided to merge with the NFL. Some people associated with the AAFC believe the Browns’ dominance hurt its competitive balance and was one of the reasons for its demise. Cleveland, along with AAFC rivals the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Colts, were admitted to the NFL where the Browns’ success continued. Cleveland won the 1950 NFL Championship and advanced to the title game again in 1951, 1952, and 1953, only to fall short each time. In 1954 and 1955, the Browns won two more NFL titles, making them the only professional football franchise to play for their league’s championship in each of their first ten seasons.

In 1953, McBride sold his interest in the team; and in 1961, the Browns were sold again, this time to New York businessman Art Modell. Coach Brown and Modell often butted heads, and when the team missed the playoffs from 1959–1962, Modell fired Brown in January 1963. Under new coach Blanton Collier, Cleveland would win the NFL Championship in 1964 and play for another title in 1965. Brown went on to become part owner and coach of the expansion Cincinnati Bengals in 1968, beginning a rivalry that continues into the twenty-first century. Cleveland won division titles from 1967–1969, but were bounced from the playoffs each time.

Since 1948, the team logo had been a football-carrying elf nicknamed “Brownie” after the tiny sprite-like creatures from British folklore. In 1970, the Browns made their orange helmet into the franchise’s official logo. Though the design has been adjusted over the years, the team’s helmet remained its logo as of 2019. The 1970 season was also noteworthy as the year the NFL merged with the American Football League (AFL). Cleveland was placed in the American Football Conference (AFC) Central division with the Bengals, Houston Oilers, and Pittsburgh Steelers.

Cleveland struggled for much of the 1970s before the team rebounded in the 1980s. The Browns made the playoffs seven times, including five straight seasons from 1985–1989. In 1986 and 1987, the Browns advanced to the AFC Championship game where they faced the Denver Broncos. Both times, Cleveland had a chance to win, only to lose in heartbreaking fashion. In 1986, Denver quarterback John Elway led the Broncos 98 yards in the game’s final minutes to tie the game and force it into overtime. Denver won the game and Elway’s heroics became known as “The Drive.” The next year, Cleveland running back Ernest Byner was about to score the tying touchdown when he fumbled on the 1-yard line with 72 seconds left in the game. That play would be referred to as “The Fumble.”

By the early 1990s, the Browns were again struggling and their home, Cleveland Municipal Stadium, had fallen into disrepair. Modell had originally sought a new stadium in Cleveland, but in 1995, he abruptly announced he would be moving the team to Baltimore after the season. Cleveland fans had always supported the Browns, so the city and the NFL worked out a deal with Modell to keep some semblance of their team. Modell could move the team to Baltimore where they would become the Ravens, but the franchise name, colors, and history would remain in Cleveland to be used in the future when a new owner could be found.

Cleveland built a new stadium and the Browns franchise returned to the NFL in 1999 under the ownership of Al Lerner. Upon his death in 2002, his son Randy Lerner took over. In 2012, Jimmy Haslam purchased the franchise. This new incarnation of the Browns was placed in the AFC North division with the Bengals, Ravens, and Steelers when the NFL realigned in 2002. However, it came nowhere near to matching the success of its predecessor. From 1999 to 2018, the team had two winning seasons and made one playoff appearance. In a three-season span from 2015 to 2017, the Browns won just four games, capped off by a 0–16 season in 2017, tying the mark for worst record in NFL history.

Between 2019 and 2023, the Browns had two winning seasons, including 2020, when they were 11–5, and third place in the AFC North. That season, the team won a Wild Card Playoff game against the Steelers, 48–37—their first playoff victory since 1994—but lost during the AFC North playoffs against Kansas City.

Notable Players

Of the eighteen Browns inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, almost all were associated with the team prior to 1990. Paul Brown was enshrined in the hall in 1964. The quarterback on the dominant teams of the 1940s and 1950s—Otto Graham (1946–1955)—followed him a year later. Offensive end Mac Speedie (1946–52), running back Marion Motley (1946–53), tight end/defensive lineman Dante Lavelli (1946–56), and kicker Lou Groza (1946–67) were also named to the hall of fame. By the end of the 2023 season, Groza remained the franchise’s all-time leading scorer with 1,608 points. In 2023, offensive tackle Joe Thomas (2007–17) became the team's first Hall of Famer to have played after the 1990s.

In 1957, Cleveland drafted running back Jim Brown (1957–1965), who would go on to shatter NFL records for rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. When he retired, Brown held the all-time record for career rushing yards with 12,312, a mark that would stand for almost two decades. Wide receiver Paul Warfield (1964–1969, 1976–1977), who would go on to win two Super Bowls with the Miami Dolphins, had his best season with the Browns in 1968. Brown made the hall of fame in 1971 and Warfield in 1983.

Jim Brown, Graham, and Groza have all had their jersey numbers retired by the team. Defensive back Don Fleming (1960–1962), who died in a construction accident during the off-season in 1963, also had his number retired. Ernie Davis, a Heisman Trophy-winning running back from Syracuse University, was chosen by Washington in 1962 and traded to the Browns. Davis was issued the number 45, but never got a chance to play for the team. He was diagnosed with leukemia in 1962 and died in 1963. In his honor, the number 45 was retired after his death.

The Browns teams of the late 1970s and early 1980s were led by quarterback Brian Sipe (1974–1983), who remains the team’s all-time leader in passing yards with 23,713. Sipe’s 1980 team was known for playing close games and pulling out victories in the last seconds, earning it the nickname the “Kardiac Kids.” One of his favorite targets was hall of fame tight end Ozzie Newsome (1978–1990), the franchise’s all-time leading receiver with 7,980 yds. Quarterback Bernie Kosar (1985–1993), who grew up just outside of Cleveland, was the leader of the Browns’ playoffs teams from the late 1980s. On the defensive side, those teams were led by linebacker Clay Matthews (1978–1993), who made four Pro Bowls in his nineteen-year career. Offensive lineman and Hall of Famer Joe Thomas was the only offensive lineman and one of only five NFL players to ever make the Pro Bowl team for each of his first ten seasons.

In 2017, the Browns drafted defensive lineman Myles Garrett and a year later, they selected quarterback Baker Mayfield as a first-round draft pick. Both players showed promise early in their careers, leading many Cleveland fans to hope that better days for the team were ahead going into the 2019 season. The team traded Mayfield to the Carolina Panthers in 2022. By 2024, Garrett had made the Pro Bowl five times, earned five All Pro honors, and was named the NFL Associated Press Defensive Player of the Year for 2023. That same year, quarterback Joe Flacco won the NFL AP Comeback Player of the Year and Kevin Stefanski, head coach since January 2020, won NFL AP Coach of the Year.

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