Joe Thomas Quarterback Years

Lore & Background

The Browns were founded in 1944 when taxi-cab magnate Arthur B. 'Mickey' McBride secured a Cleveland franchise in the newly formed AAFC. Paul Brown was the team's namesake and first coach. The Browns won each of the AAFC's four championship games before the league dissolved in 1949. Between 1950 and 1955, Cleveland reached the NFL Championship Game every year, winning three times. The team was sold to a group of Cleveland businessmen in 1953, and again in 1961 to a group led by Art Modell. Modell fired Brown before the 1963 season. The Browns won the championship in 1964 and reached the title game the following season, losing to the Green Bay Packers. The team reached the playoffs three times in the late 1980s but fell short of the Super Bowl. In 1995, Modell announced he was relocating the Browns to Baltimore; after negotiations, Cleveland kept the Browns' name, colors, and history. After three years of suspension, the Browns started play again in 1999 under new owner Al Lerner. Since resuming operations, the Browns have made the playoffs as a wild-card team in 2002, 2020, and 2023.

Reader's Guide

The Browns are one of 12 NFL franchises to predate the 1960 launch of the American Football League, and one of three such teams in the AFC. The team's early success was built on the coaching of Paul Brown and players such as Otto Graham, Lou Groza, Dante Lavelli, Mac Speedie, Marion Motley, and Bill Willis. The Browns' first regular-season game was on September 6, 1946, against the Miami Seahawks, a 44–0 victory. The team's primary mascot in its early years was the Brownie elf.

Did You Know?

• The Browns were originally almost named the Cleveland Panthers, but Paul Brown rejected that name because an earlier failed team had used it.
• Paul Brown later claimed the team was named after Joe Louis's nickname 'The Brown Bomber,' but this is an urban legend; the team was actually named after Paul Brown.
• The Browns became the first unbeaten and untied team in professional football history in 1948.
• The Browns' first training camp was held at Bowling Green University in northwestern Ohio.