Cleveland Browns

This article is about the American football team. For the fictional character, see Cleveland Brown.

Cleveland Browns
Current season
Cleveland Browns logo
Cleveland Browns logo
Cleveland Browns wordmark
Cleveland Browns wordmark
LogoWordmark
Established June 4, 1944; 80 years ago (June 4, 1944)[1]
First season: 1946
Play in Huntington Bank Field
Cleveland, Ohio
Headquartered in the CrossCountry Mortgage Campus
Berea, Ohio[2]
League / conference affiliations
All-America Football Conference (1946–1949)
  • Western Division (1946–1948)

National Football League (1950–present)

Uniforms
Team colorsBrown, orange, white[3][4]
     
MascotChomps, SJ, Brownie the Elf
Websiteclevelandbrowns.com
Personnel
Owner(s)Jimmy Haslam
Dee Haslam[5][6]
General managerAndrew Berry[7][8]
PresidentDavid Jenkins[a]
Head coachKevin Stefanski
Team history
  • Cleveland Browns (1946–1995, 1999–present)
  • Suspended operations (1996–1998)
Team nicknames
  • The Brownies
Championships
League championships (8)
Conference championships (11)
Division championships (12)
Playoff appearances (30)
Home fields
Team owner(s)

The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team is named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown. They play their home games at Huntington Bank Field, which opened in 1999,[9][10] with administrative offices and training facilities in Berea, Ohio. The franchise's official club colors are brown, orange, and white.[11] They are unique among the 32 member clubs of the NFL in that they do not have a logo on their helmets.[12][13]

The franchise was founded in 1944 by Brown and businessman Arthur B. McBride as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), and began play in 1946. The Browns dominated the AAFC, compiling a 47–4–3 record in the league's four seasons and winning its championship in each.[14] When the AAFC folded after the 1949 season, the Browns joined the NFL along with the San Francisco 49ers and the original Baltimore Colts. The Browns won a championship in their inaugural NFL season, as well as in the 1954, 1955, and 1964 seasons, and in a feat unequaled in any of the North American major professional sports, played in their league championship game in each of their first 10 years of existence, winning seven of those games. From 1965 to 1995, they qualified to play in the NFL playoffs 14 times, but did not win another championship or play in the Super Bowl during that period.[15]

In 1995, owner Art Modell, who had purchased the Browns in 1961, announced plans to move the team to Baltimore. After threats of legal action from the city of Cleveland and fans, a compromise was reached in early 1996 that allowed Modell to establish the Baltimore Ravens as a new franchise while retaining the contracts of all Browns personnel. The Browns' intellectual property, including team name, logos, training facility, and history, were kept in trust and the franchise was regarded by the NFL as suspended, guaranteed to return no later than the 1999 season, either by relocation of an existing franchise or an expansion draft. While several of the existing franchises at the time considered relocating to Cleveland, in 1998 it was confirmed that the NFL would hold an expansion draft and field 31 teams when the Browns resumed play in 1999. And although the 1999 Browns were restocked via an expansion draft, the Browns are not considered to be an expansion franchise.[16]

Since resuming operations in 1999, the Browns have struggled to find success, especially during the 2010s when they did not post one winning season throughout that decade.[17] They have had only four winning seasons (2002, 2007, 2020, and 2023), three playoff appearances (2002, 2020, and 2023), and one playoff win (2020), winning less than one third of their games in total, and in 2017 were only the second team in NFL history to have a 0–16 season after the 2008 Detroit Lions. The franchise has also been noted for a lack of stability with head coaches (10 full time - including two who were fired after only one season - and two interim since 1999) and quarterbacks (39 different starters since 1999). From 2003 to 2019, the Browns had a 17-season playoff drought, which ended during the 2020 season.[18][19] They are one of four teams to have never appeared in a Super Bowl.

  1. ^ "Cleveland Browns Team Facts". ProFootballHOF.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Archived from the original on September 26, 2020. Retrieved October 2, 2017.
  2. ^ "Browns Contact Us". ClevelandBrowns.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  3. ^ Shook, Nick (March 26, 2019). "Nothing Fancy: Browns set to unveil new uniforms in 2020". ClevelandBrowns.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved March 27, 2019. This new, exciting era of the Browns is receiving a makeover. Browns owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam confirmed Tuesday the team will be donning new uniforms for the 2020 season. The uniforms will embody a "nothing fancy" mindset, embracing the team's rich tradition and its unique distinction as the only NFL franchise with orange and brown as its two primary colors.
  4. ^ "Cleveland Browns Team Capsule" (PDF). 2022 Official National Football League Record and Fact Book (PDF). NFL Enterprises, LLC. July 20, 2022. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  5. ^ Rosenthal, Gregg (August 2, 2012). "Cleveland Browns' sale to Jimmy Haslam complete". NFL.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Archived from the original on March 22, 2020. Retrieved August 4, 2012.
  6. ^ "Jimmy Haslam". ClevelandBrowns.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  7. ^ Maya, Adam (January 27, 2020). "Browns hire Andrew Berry as new GM/executive VP". NFL.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Archived from the original on February 8, 2020. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
  8. ^ Gribble, Andrew (January 28, 2020). "Andrew Berry named Browns Executive Vice President of Football Operations and General Manager". ClevelandBrowns.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Archived from the original on January 28, 2020. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
  9. ^ Florjancic, Matt (January 15, 2013). "Browns Stadium to become 'FirstEnergy Stadium'". ClevelandBrowns.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  10. ^ Naymik, Mark (March 8, 2013). "Browns owner Jimmy Haslam has spell over football fans and politicians alike". The Plain Dealer. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved April 1, 2016.
  11. ^ "New Browns Logo". ClevelandBrowns.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. February 23, 2015. Archived from the original on February 24, 2015. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  12. ^ Gribble, Andrew (February 24, 2015). "Browns' logos sneak preview of what's to come". ClevelandBrowns.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Archived from the original on September 5, 2019. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
  13. ^ Gribble, Andrew (April 2, 2015). "Putting to rest 5 historic myths about the Browns' uniforms". ClevelandBrowns.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Archived from the original on September 5, 2019. Retrieved September 5, 2019.
  14. ^ "Cleveland Browns-Team history". Pigskin Academy. Archived from the original on January 6, 2013. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  15. ^ "Cleveland Browns Playoff History". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved August 13, 2024.
  16. ^ Cabot, Mary Kay (September 6, 2012). "Art Modell's decision to move Cleveland Browns haunted him for rest of life". The Plain Dealer. Archived from the original on October 11, 2014. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  17. ^ D'Andrea, Christian (December 31, 2019). "The defining Browns moment of each year in the 2010s". SBNation.com. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  18. ^ Gribble, Andrew (January 3, 2021). "PLAYOFF BOUND! Browns beat Steelers to punch long-awaited postseason ticket". ClevelandBrowns.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Archived from the original on January 4, 2021. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  19. ^ Smith, Michael David (October 11, 2017). "Kevin Hogan will be Browns' 28th starting quarterback since 1999". NBC Sports. Archived from the original on October 13, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2024.


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