47 Fun Facts About Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns are named after whom?

Their first coach and co-founder, Paul Brown, was already an Ohio hero for a national title at Ohio State; he at first turned the honour down, but the name won out after a fan contest.

In which league did the Browns begin play in 1946?

The All-America Football Conference lasted four seasons and Cleveland won all four titles; few expected that to carry over, until the Browns' first NFL game ended 35-10 over the champion Eagles.

Which AAFC team entered the NFL with the Browns in 1950, only to fold after a single season?

The Baltimore Colts of 1950 lasted one NFL season before money troubles shut them down; the Colts name returned in 1953 with a new franchise, the one that plays in Indianapolis today.

Which team in 2016 won Cleveland's first major title since the 1964 Browns?

The Cleveland Cavaliers ended the 52-year wait by coming back from 3-1 down in the NBA Finals, something no team had done before.

Which Browns quarterback reached a championship game in every season of his pro career?

Otto Graham played ten pro seasons and reached the title game in all ten; he had gone to Northwestern on a basketball scholarship and won a pro basketball title with the Rochester Royals first.

Jim Brown retired in 1966 while filming which war movie?

The Dirty Dozen was still shooting in England when the Browns threatened to fine him for missing training camp; Brown, 30 and at his peak, retired rather than hurry back.

Besides football, Jim Brown is considered one of the greatest ever players of which sport?

Lacrosse: Brown was a first-team All-American at Syracuse in it as well as in football, and the Premier Lacrosse League later named its MVP award after him.

Which Browns receiver caught three touchdowns in the shutout that won Cleveland's final pre-Super Bowl title?

Gary Collins caught all three of Frank Ryan's touchdown passes in the second half of the 27-0 shutout of Johnny Unitas's favored team.

Which two Browns broke pro football's modern color barrier together in September 1946?

Marion Motley and Bill Willis took the field for Cleveland in September 1946, months before Jackie Robinson's first game for the Brooklyn Dodgers; both went on to the Hall of Fame.

Which Browns tackle and kicker, nicknamed 'The Toe', has college football's kicker award named after him?

Lou Groza's field goal with 28 seconds left won the 1950 NFL title game 30-28 in the Browns' first season in the league; he played 21 seasons and always called himself a tackle first.

What are the Browns unique for among the NFL's 32 helmets?

They have no logo: the plain orange helmet is itself the team's emblem, and a 'CB' decal designed for the 1965 season never appeared in a game.

Which early Browns mascot did owner Art Modell phase out in the 1960s?

Brownie the Elf dates from the team's 1940s beginnings; Modell is said to have found it too childish, yet a fan poll put the elf back at midfield from 2022 to 2024.

What is the famous bleacher section behind the east end zone at Browns home games called?

The Dawg Pound dates from 1985, when cornerback Hanford Dixon called his defense 'the Dawgs': players barked after sacks, fans barked back, and he hung the first banner on the cheapest bleachers.

The 1980 Browns of quarterback Brian Sipe earned what nickname for their last-minute finishes?

The Kardiac Kids won their division with a string of games settled in the final moments, and Sipe was league MVP; the run ended the same way, on an end-zone interception in the last minute of a playoff game.

'Red Right 88' was a Browns pass intercepted in a January 1981 playoff loss to which team?

The Oakland Raiders won 14-12: the Browns were in field-goal range, but their kicker had missed twice in the cold, so the coach called one more pass, to be thrown 'into Lake Erie' if nobody was open.

Bernie Kosar's Browns lost three late-1980s AFC Championship Games, each time to which team?

The Denver Broncos beat Cleveland in the AFC title games of the 1986, 1987 and 1989 seasons, the first two remembered for The Drive and The Fumble.

After 'The Drive' tied the 1986 AFC title game, how did the Browns lose?

An overtime field goal of 33 yards settled it 23-20, after the visitors had marched 98 yards to tie the game in the final minute.

Which Browns running back committed "The Fumble" in the 1987 AFC Championship Game?

Earnest Byner was stripped by defensive back Jeremiah Castille just short of the goal line with about a minute left and the Browns trailing 38-31.

The Browns acquired Bernie Kosar in 1985 through what unusual route?

Kosar came through the 1985 supplemental draft after Cleveland traded picks to Buffalo for the Bills' supplemental choice, letting the Youngstown native come home.

Who was the Browns' head coach from 1991 to 1995?

Bill Belichick's only playoff win in Cleveland came against New England, the team he later coached to six Super Bowl titles; the Browns let him go after a 5-11 season in 1995.

In 1995, owner Art Modell announced he was moving the Browns to which city?

Modell's November 1995 announcement moved the team to Baltimore; a 1996 compromise let him take the players as a new franchise while the Browns' name, colors and history stayed in Cleveland.

Which quarterback did the returning Browns draft first overall in 1999?

Tim Couch was the first draft choice of a team that had sat out three seasons; the fresh start began with a 43-0 home defeat in its first game back.

What name did the Browns' stadium adopt in 2024?

Huntington Bank Field took its name in 2024; a decade as FirstEnergy Stadium had ended early the year before, after Cleveland's council urged the utility to give up the rights over a state bribery scandal.

Which Heisman-winning quarterback did the Browns draft 22nd overall in 2014?

Johnny Manziel was the third quarterback in eight drafts that the Browns took with the 22nd pick, after Brady Quinn and Brandon Weeden; none lasted, and he was released within two seasons.

Entering 2025, which of these teams, like the Browns, had never reached a Super Bowl?

The Jacksonville Jaguars, who only began play in 1995, were one of three teams sharing the distinction with Cleveland, a franchise that won eight league titles before the Super Bowl existed.

The Browns' 2017 season ended with what record?

The 2017 Browns went 0-16, only the second winless 16-game season in NFL history; a week later fans marked it with a mock 'Perfect Season' parade around the stadium.

Which two players did the Browns take first overall in the 2017 and 2018 drafts?

Myles Garrett went first overall in 2017 and Baker Mayfield first in 2018; Mayfield's debut ended a 19-game winless streak, and his 27 touchdown passes were then a rookie record.

Baker Mayfield won the 2017 Heisman Trophy after starting his college career in what unusual way?

As a walk-on: Mayfield joined Texas Tech without a scholarship and started as a freshman, then walked on again at Oklahoma, becoming the first such Heisman winner of the scholarship era.

Myles Garrett played his college football at which school?

Texas A&M was Garrett's home for three seasons; the pass rusher, who writes poetry on the side, went on to set the NFL single-season sack record with 23 in 2025.

What does the 10,363 on Joe Thomas's Browns Ring of Honor entry represent?

The streak of consecutive snaps played ran from his 2007 debut until a torn triceps in October 2017; Thomas made the Pro Bowl every season from 2007 through 2016.

Where was Joe Thomas when the Browns drafted him in 2007?

Out fishing on Lake Michigan with his father: Thomas skipped the ceremony in New York and learned by cell phone that Cleveland had taken him third overall.

Which team did the Browns beat 48-37 in January 2021 for their first playoff win since 1994?

The Pittsburgh Steelers gave up a touchdown on the first snap, which sailed past their quarterback into the end zone, and trailed 28-0 after one quarter.

The Browns' rivalry with the Cincinnati Bengals is often called what?

The Battle of Ohio pits the state's two NFL teams; Paul Brown, fired by Modell in 1963, returned as founder of the Bengals, who took the field in 1968 in a very similar orange.

Which nickname is often applied to the Browns-Steelers series?

The Turnpike Rivalry began in 1950, when the Browns joined the NFL; Cleveland once led the series by 22 games, but Pittsburgh overtook them in 2007.

Which running back, the Browns' 2018 second-round pick from Georgia, made four Pro Bowls in Cleveland?

Nick Chubb, taken 35th overall, topped 1,000 yards and made the Pro Bowl four years running from 2019; as a rookie he broke a 92-yard touchdown run, the longest in Browns history.

Which undrafted Kent State quarterback became a Browns Pro Bowl return specialist?

Josh Cribbs made three Pro Bowls as a Brown, and in one 2009 game at Kansas City he ran two kickoffs back 100 yards or more for touchdowns, an NFL record.

Which businessman bought the Browns from the Lerner family in 2012?

Jimmy Haslam, the Pilot Flying J truck-stop magnate, paid about $1 billion; he first had to sell the minority stake he held in the Browns' fiercest rival.

Which former Browns tight end built the 2000 Super Bowl champion roster of Modell's new team?

Ozzie Newsome, a Browns tight end from 1978 to 1990, ran the new franchise's personnel from 1996 and drafted Ray Lewis and Jonathan Ogden, pillars of its 2000 champions.

Who plays the Browns' general manager in the 2014 film Draft Day?

Kevin Costner's Sonny Weaver Jr. was first written as general manager of the Buffalo Bills; the story moved to Cleveland because filming in Ohio was cheaper.

Who coached the Browns to their 2002 playoff berth, their first after returning to the NFL?

Butch Davis, hired from the University of Miami in 2001, went 9-7 in 2002; the Browns led 33-21 in the fourth quarter before losing 36-33 in the wild-card round.

Which team knocked the Browns out of the playoffs after the 2023 season with a 45-14 wild-card win?

The Houston Texans, led by rookie C.J. Stroud, routed Cleveland 45-14 at NRG Stadium in January 2024, returning two Joe Flacco interceptions for touchdowns.

Which taxicab magnate founded the Browns as a charter member of the AAFC?

Mickey McBride kept Paul Brown's surplus players on the payroll of his cab company, which is where football's term 'taxi squad' comes from; he sold the team in 1953.

The Browns and which team met in four 1950s NFL Championship Games, with Cleveland winning just one?

The Detroit Lions beat Cleveland for the title in 1952, 1953 and 1957; the Browns' lone win over them came in the 1954 game, a rout.

What breed of dog features on the secondary logo the Browns adopted in 2023?

A bull mastiff drawn by a graphic designer won a 2023 fan vote to become the team's secondary logo; it is the same breed as Swagger, the live mascot the team introduced in 2014.

Which AAFC rival finished second to the Browns in all four seasons of that league?

The San Francisco 49ers chased Cleveland home in every AAFC season and in 1949 ended the Browns' long unbeaten run with a 56-28 upset; Cleveland won the rematch 30-28 and the title.

Which English football club began selling Browns merchandise after Randy Lerner bought it?

Aston Villa's shops stocked Browns jerseys after Randy Lerner bought the Birmingham club in 2006; a decade later Villa were relegated and he sold at a loss.

Which Cleveland-born TV host had his studio audience bark 'Woof, woof, woof!' like Browns fans?

Arsenio Hall, born in Cleveland in 1956, had his late-night studio audience bark and pump their fists, a chant borrowed from Browns fans.