Cleveland Browns

Founded: June 4, 1944
Team Owner: Jimmy Haslam III & Dee Haslam
Head Coach: Kevin Stefanski
Team Icon: Jim Brown
Overall Record: 494-514-11
Fight Songs: Hi-O-Hi-O for Cleveland
NFL Championships: 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1954, 1955, 1964
Stadium: FirstEnergy Stadium (1999–present)
Stadium Capacity: 67,431
City: Cleveland, OH
Previous Stadiums: Cleveland Municipal Stadium (1946–95)
Website: www.clevelandbrowns.com

What a sordid division the AFC North is. Here we go again, referencing Art Model for the third time while discussing a third NFL football team. Seriously, there could be an afternoon soap opera name 'As the AFC North Turns'...or something. I'm not a great soap opera mind so moving on. Art Model, previous owner of the Baltimore Ravens, and past owner of the Cleveland Browns who relocated this franchise to Balt...what the hell, I'm getting dizzy. 

OK lets sort this out. As discussed previously on the Bengals page, Paul Brown was the first coach and general manager of the Cleveland Browns franchise, but not the owner. The founder of the team, Mickey McBride, conducted a fan contest in 1945, and the winner of the contest penned them the Cleveland Panthers. But no dice, as a local businessman informed the team he already owned the rights to the name Cleveland Panthers. So back to the drawing board, and it was decided by McBride that the team, often referred to as "Brown's team" due to the great support Paul Brown enjoyed, would be called the Cleveland Browns. Still bugs me that their helmets are orange.

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