History of the Cleveland Browns

The team subsequently reached the playoffs three times in the late 1980s, but fell short of playing in the Super Bowl, the inter-league championship game between the NFL and the rival American Football League (AFL) that started in 1966.

[3] The AAFC was to challenge the dominant National Football League once it began operations at the end of World War II, which had forced many professional teams to curtail activity, merge or go on hiatus as their players served in the U.S.

[5] Ward, who had gained fame and respect for starting all-star games for baseball and college football, lined up deep-pocketed owners for the new league's eight teams in hopes of giving it a better chance against the NFL.

[10] After consulting with Ward, McBride followed Dietrich's advice in early 1945, naming Brown head coach and giving him an ownership stake in the team and full control over player personnel.

While Reeves cited massive losses and lackluster attendance, he also knew that he could not hope to go head-to-head with a team that boasted McBride's wealth, Brown's name recognition, and a roster laden with collegiate stars.

[36] These factors – combined with a war for players between the two leagues that raised salaries and ate into owners' profits – ultimately led to the dissolution of the AAFC and the merger of three of its teams, including the Browns, into the NFL in 1949.

[45] Show me another guy who toes aFootball as neatly as Lou Groza After five straight championship wins in the AAFC and NFL, the Browns appeared poised to bring another trophy home in 1951.

[48] The score was deadlocked 17–17 in the final period, but a 73-yard touchdown pass by Rams quarterback Norm van Brocklin to wide receiver Tom Fears broke the tie and gave Los Angeles the lead for good.

[50] In 1952's championship game, Detroit won 17–7 after a muffed punt by the Browns, several Lions defensive stands and a 67-yard touchdown run by Doak Walker scuttled Cleveland's chances.

Len Ford, who the Browns picked up from the defunct AAFC's Los Angeles Dons team, emerged as a force on the defensive line, making the Pro Bowl each year between 1951 and 1953.

[76] Before the 1958 season, O'Connell, who lacked the stature and durability Paul Brown wanted in a starter, retired to take a coaching job in Illinois, and Milt Plum was named as his replacement.

[81][82] The Giants went on to play the Baltimore Colts in the championship, a game often cited as the seed of professional football's popularity surge in the U.S.[83] Cleveland's campaigns in 1959 and 1960 were unremarkable, aside from Brown's league-leading rushing totals in both seasons.

Brown made a trade without informing Modell, giving up star halfback Bobby Mitchell to acquire the rights to Syracuse running back Ernie Davis, the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy.

This was both unfair and fitting in a sense, because the game was best considered on its own, a faded dream played in the mist and slop, a transitory moment between football past and future.In early 1966 Jim Brown, who had begun an acting career two years before, was shooting for his second film in London.

[134] Cleveland's first big move under the new league structure was to trade star receiver Paul Warfield in January 1970 to the Miami Dolphins for the rights to draft Purdue University quarterback Mike Phipps as a replacement for Bill Nelsen, who had a pair of bad knees.

The Browns took a lead in the fourth quarter on a touchdown catch by wide receiver Fair Hooker, but the Dolphins responded with a long drive of their own, aided by a pair of Paul Warfield receptions.

[151] Kicker Don Cockroft booted four field goals, while defensive end Joe "Turkey" Jones' pile-driving sack of quarterback Terry Bradshaw added fuel to the heated rivalry between the teams.

[163] Cleveland Plain Dealer sports editor Hal Lebovitz wrote after the game that these "Kardiac Kids" were lucky to have pulled off the win after Colts kicker Toni Linhart missed three field goals.

[183] Sipe signed before the end of the season to play for the New Jersey Generals, a team owned by real estate mogul Donald Trump in the upstart United States Football League.

[189] Kosar, who wanted to play for Cleveland because his family lived in a suburb of nearby Youngstown, signed a five-year contract worth nearly $6 million in 1985 and was immediately embraced by the Browns organization and the team's fans.

[195] While not stellar, the Browns' record won first place in a weak AFC Central, and the team looked poised to shock the heavily favored Miami Dolphins in a divisional playoff game on January 4, 1986.

[233] Cleveland narrowly survived a scare from the Buffalo Bills in the first playoff game, staving off a comeback thanks to an interception in the Browns' end zone by Clay Matthews with 14 seconds on the clock.

[273] A litany of potential owners lined up, including Kosar and a group backed partly by HBO founder Charles Dolan, comedian Bill Cosby and former Miami coach Don Shula.

After interviewing numerous candidates such as Chip Kelly and Ken Whisenhunt, the Browns decided to hire former offensive coordinator and tight ends coach, Rob Chudzinski, on January 10, 2013.

[348] On October 5, 2014, the Browns staged the largest rally in team history, when after trailing the Tennessee Titans 28–3 with 1:09 left in the second quarter, Cleveland scored 26 unanswered points to win the game 29–28.

This meant that at the beginning of the 2015 regular season, the team had a player (Josh Gordon), a coach (Moeller), and a front office executive (Ray Farmer) all suspended for various league and legal infractions.

[388][389] After the departure of Kitchens and Dorsey, owner Jimmy Haslam elevated Chief Strategy Officer Paul DePodesta's role within the organization, allowing him to lead the latest search for a new head coach.

[416] Despite the loss, the Browns received league-wide praise for the turnaround accomplished by the organization during the 2020 season and the excellent performances that came from the overhaul, with a growing number of fans and commentators seeing them as perennial playoff contenders for the future.

[419] The game would prove to be a Pyrrhic victory, however, as quarterback Baker Mayfield suffered a tuberosity fracture and torn labrum in his left shoulder while attempting to tackle a Texans player after throwing an interception.

The team finished 2023 with a 11–6 record, good for second place in the AFC North, but would meet a quick exit in the playoffs at the hands of the Houston Texans in the Wild Card round, 45–14.