One of the most prosperous teams in the history of professional football is the Cleveland Browns. They won eight league championships, won 18 division titles, and were in the playoffs in 24 consecutive seasons between 1946 and 1983.
Jim Brown, Paul Brown, Len Ford, F. Gatski, Otto Graham, Lou Groza, Gene Hickerson, Leroy Kelly, Joe DeLamielleure, Dante Lavelli, Mike McCormack, Bobby Mitchell, Marion Motley, Ozzie Newsome, Paul Warfield, and Bill Willis were among the 16 Browns who had been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as of the year 2012.
Robert H. Gries assisted Arthur B. “Mickey” McBride in founding the Browns on April 20, 1945. The Gries family continued to own a significant minority stake in the Browns well into the 1990s.
The Paul E. Brown-inspired team competed in the newly established All-American Football Conference from 1946 to 1949, capturing all four conference championships.
In 1950, the Browns were admitted to the National Football League. The term “the father of the modern offensive” was given to Brown, who served as head coach from 1946 to 1962. Brown was a creative and significant football player whose numerous accomplishments earned him the title.
A year before Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Rams broke the 13-year-old color barrier in professional football when they signed Bill Willis and Marion Motley to contracts in 1946, paving the way for racial integration in professional sports.
Otto Graham, Dante Lavelli, Lou Groza, Marion Motley, and Bill Willis, among others, dominated the AAFC during Paul Brown’s administration. In their first NFL season, 1950, they defeated the Los Angeles Rams 30-28 in the NFL title game.
When did the Browns leave Cleveland?
The Browns left Cleveland in February 1996. A new team was promised to the city in 1999, subject to the development of a new stadium. The relocation debate had national ramifications.