Cleveland Browns facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Cleveland Browns |
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| Established June 4, 1944 First season: 1946 |
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| League/conference affiliations | |||||
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All-America Football Conference (1946–1949)
National Football League (1950–present)
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Current uniform
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| Team colors | Brown, orange, white |
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| Mascot | Chomps, Swagger, Brownie the Elf | ||||
| Personnel | |||||
| Owner(s) | Jimmy Haslam Dee Haslam |
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| President | Paul DePodesta (de facto) | ||||
| General manager | Andrew Berry | ||||
| Head coach | Kevin Stefanski | ||||
| Team history | |||||
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| Championships | |||||
League championships (8)
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Conference championships (11)
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Division championships (12)
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| Playoff appearances (28) | |||||
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The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The Browns play their home games at FirstEnergy Stadium, which opened in 1999, with administrative offices and training facilities in Berea, Ohio. The Browns' official club colors are brown, orange, and white. They are unique among the 32 member franchises of the NFL in that they do not have a logo on their helmets.
The franchise was founded in 1945 by Brown and businessman Arthur B. McBride as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC). The Browns dominated the AAFC, compiling a 47–4–3 record in the league's four seasons and winning its championship in each. 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 team 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 the Browns' first ten years of existence. 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.
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, with a new team to be established by 1999 either by expansion or relocation. The Browns were announced as an expansion team in 1998 and resumed play in 1999.
Since resuming operations in 1999, the Browns have struggled to find success. They have had only two winning seasons (in 2002 and 2007), one playoff appearance (2002), and no playoff wins, winning only approximately a third of their games in total. The franchise has also been noted for a lack of stability with head coaches (10 full time and two interim since 1999), and quarterbacks (30 different starters since 1999), along with the longest active playoff drought in the NFL at 17 seasons.
Logos and uniforms
Logos
The Browns are the only National Football League team without a helmet logo. The logoless helmet serves as the Browns' official logo.
The organization has used several promotional logos throughout the years; players' numbers were painted on the helmets from the 1957 to 1960; and an unused "CB" logo was created in 1965, But for much of their history, the Browns' helmets have been an unadorned burnt orange color with a top stripe of dark brown (officially called "seal brown") divided by a white stripe.
The team has had various promotional logos throughout the years, such as the "Brownie Elf" mascot or a Brown "B" in a white football. While Art Modell did away with the Brownie Elf in the mid-1960s, believing it to be too childish, its use has been revived under the current ownership.
The popularity of the Dawg Pound section at First Energy Stadium has led to a brown and orange dog being used for various Browns functions. But overall, the orange, logo-less helmet continues as the primary trademark of the Cleveland Browns.
On February 24, 2015, the team unveiled its new logos and word marks, the only differences being minor color changes to the helmet with the helmet logo remaining largely as is.
On April 14, 2015, the Cleveland Browns unveiled their new uniform combinations, consisting of the team's colors of orange, brown and white.
Ring of Honor
Beginning in 2010, the Browns established a Ring of Honor, honoring the greats from the past by having their names displayed around the upper deck of FirstEnergy Stadium. The inaugural class in the Browns Ring of Honor was unveiled during the home opener on September 19, 2010, and featured the 16 Hall of Famers listed above who went into the Hall of Fame as Browns.
Statues
The team has honored two of its alumni with statues - late owner Alfred Lerner (in front of the team's headquarters/practice facility), and Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown (in front of First Energy Stadium).
Images for kids
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Paul Brown, the first head coach and namesake of the Browns, who won four AAFC and three NFL championships as coach of the Browns, is a Pro Football Hall of Fame member, and is widely regarded as one of football's greatest coaches of all time.
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The 1948 Cleveland Browns recorded professional football's second-ever unbeaten and untied season (official team portrait). The squad included seven future members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
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Former Browns QB Otto Graham led the Browns to four AAFC and three NFL championships, and is a Pro Football Hall of Fame member.
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Former Browns FB Jim Brown was a prominent member of the 1964 NFL championship team, the team's all-time leader in rushing yards, and a Pro Football Hall of Fame member. He is currently a special advisor with the Browns.
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Former Browns QB Brian Sipe, who was the 1980 NFL MVP
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Former head coach Sam Rutigliano led the Browns to the 1980 AFC Central title.
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Former Browns Pro Bowl QB Bernie Kosar, who led the Browns to four AFC Central titles, and three AFC Championship games during the 1980s
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Browns linebacker Clay Matthews - a 1978 Browns first round draft choice, and a four-time Pro Bowl selection during the 1980s
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Former Browns owner Art Modell, who became infamous in Cleveland for controversial actions such as the firing of Paul Brown in 1962 and moving the team to Baltimore in 1995
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The Browns' headquarters in Berea, Ohio
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Close-up look at then Cleveland Browns (now FirstEnergy) Stadium
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Current Browns owner Jimmy Haslam
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The Browns selected high-profile and controversial quarterback Johnny Manziel in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft with much fanfare.After two seasons of inconsistent play and numerous off the field incidents, Manziel was waived by the team on March 11, 2016
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Current head coach Hue Jackson
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Browns mascot Chomps (shown greeting U.S. National Guard members at FirstEnergy Stadium.)
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Browns Radio Network analyst Doug Dieken
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