Cleveland Browns
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The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They play in the Northern division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The Cleveland Browns began play in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and joined the NFL in 1950 after the AAFC folded. The team won all four AAFC titles and had one undefeated season (1948 - 15–0), as well as four NFL Championships.
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[edit] History
[edit] 1946–1949: The AAFC years
The Cleveland Browns were founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference, under businessman Arthur B "Mickey" McBride.[1] Not long after gaining the franchise, McBride named Ohio State Buckeyes coach Paul Brown as vice president, general manager and head coach.
A fan contest was conducted to determine the name of the team, with the most popular choice being "Panthers." However, Brown objected to the name after finding out it had been used by a semipro team in the city—one that had a reputation as a chronic loser. This prompted a second contest to choose a name befitting a champion.[2] This contest yielded the nickname "Brown Bombers"—after reigning heavyweight champion Joe Louis—and was shortened to "Browns" for the convenience of headline writers. However, to this day, the myth that the team was named after Paul Brown persists.[3]
Brown parlayed his ties to the Buckeyes and the Navy (where he'd coached a base football team during World War II) into the most extensive recruitment network that had ever been seen at the time in pro football. He used it to assemble a team that, in terms of talent, would have been more than a match for any NFL team—including quarterback Otto Graham, kicker/ offensive tackle Lou Groza, wide receiver Mac Speedie, fullback Marion Motley and nose guard Bill Willis. The Browns dominated the AAFC, winning all four of its championships including the 1948 season in which they became the first unbeaten and untied team in professional football history—24 years before the NFL's perfect team, the 1972 Miami Dolphins. Cleveland's undefeated streak (including 2 ties) reached 29 games, and included 18 straight wins and the 1947 and 1948 AAFC championship games. During the AAFC's four-year run, the Browns lost only four games. The Browns issued occasional challenges to NFL teams, only to be turned down almost out of hand each time.
Thanks in large part to McBride's promotional efforts, the Cleveland area showed terrific support for the Browns from the moment they were created. The team saw a record setting average attendance of 57,000 a game in its first season.[4] The Browns unexpectedly had Cleveland to themselves; the NFL's Cleveland Rams, who had continually lost money while in Cleveland despite winning the 1945 NFL championship, moved to the booming area of Los Angeles after the 1945 season (the team is now located in St. Louis).
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Levy, Bill (1965). Return to Glory: the Story of the Cleveland Browns. Cleveland, OH: The World Publishing Co. LCN 65-23356, p.41.
- ^ Schneider, Russell (1999). The Best of the Cleveland Browns Memories. Hinckley, OH: Moonlight. ISBN 0-9672056-0-3.
- ^ Donovan, Michael Leo (1997). The Name Game: Football, Baseball, Hockey & Basketball How Your Favorite Sports Teams Were Named. Toronto: Warwick Publishing. ISBN 1895629748.
- ^ Neft, David S., Cohen, Richard M., and Korch, Rick. The Complete History of Professional Football from 1892 to the Present. 1994 pg. 194
