Cleveland Browns

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Lore & Background

The franchise was founded in 1944 by Brown and businessman Arthur B. McBride as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), and began play in 1946. 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 Browns 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 their first 10 years of existence, winning seven of those games. 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 announced plans to move the team to Baltimore. After threats of legal action, 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, guaranteed to return no later than the 1999 season. In 1998 it was confirmed that the NFL would hold an expansion draft and field 31 teams when the Browns resumed play in 1999. Although the 1999 Browns were restocked via an expansion draft, the Browns are not considered to be an expansion franchise.

In Their Own Story

An amazing performance from Browns quarterback Kelly Holcomb was overshadowed by journeyman quarterback Tommy Maddox, who led the Steelers to 29 second-half points to overcome a 17-point deficit. A 3-yard touchdown run by Chris Fuamatu-Maʻafala with 54 seconds left capped the game-winning 58-yard drive. On the third play of the game, Holcomb completed an 83-yard pass to Kevin Johnson at the Steelers 1-yard line, setting up William Green's 1-yard touchdown run and giving the Browns a 7–0 lead after just 1:16 had elapsed in the game. One play into the second quarter, Steelers receiver Antwaan Randle El fumbled a Browns punt, and Chris Akins recovered the ball for Cleveland on the Steelers 32-yard line. On the next play, Cleveland took a 14–0 lead with Holcomb's 32-yard touchdown pass to Dennis Northcutt. But suddenly Randle El brought the team right back into the game by returning a punt 66 yards for a touchdown, making the score 14–7. Early in the third quarter, Northcutt returned Tom Rouen's 37-yard punt 59 yards to the Pittsburgh 14-yard line, setting up Holcomb's 15-yard touchdown pass to Northcutt that increased the Browns lead to 24–7. Then after a punt, Cleveland drove to the Steelers 32-yard line. They were now in a position to build a near-insurmountable lead, but Mike Logan made a clutch interception to keep the team's victory hopes alive. Maddox then completed 7/8 passes for 62 yards, one of them a 24-yard completion to Randle El, and rushed for eight as he led the team 71 yards to score on his 6-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress, cutting the deficit to 24–14 with four minutes left in the third quarter. Cleveland responded by driving 64 yards in eight plays, featuring a 43-yard completion from Holcomb to receiver André Davis, to score on Dawson's 24-yard field goal on the second play of the final quarter, increasing their lead to 27–14. On Pittsburgh's ensuing drive, Maddox completed three passes to Randle-El for gains of 20, 30, and six yards before finding tight end Jerame Tuman with a 3-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter. But the Browns stormed back, with Green's 23-yard run sparking a 61-yard drive that ended on Holcomb's 22-yard touchdown pass to Davis, giving them a 33–21 lead after the 2-point conversion failed. With 3:06 left in the game, Maddox finished off a 77-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Hines Ward, cutting the score to 33–28. The Browns tried to run out the clock on their ensuing possession, but Northcutt dropped a potential first down catch on third down and 12, forcing his team to punt. Taking over at their 42-yard line, Maddox threw to Burress for 24 yards, Ward for 10, Burress again for 17, and Ward again for seven before Fuamatu-Ma'afala finished the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run. Then Tuman scored the two-point conversion to give the Steelers a 36–33 lead. The Browns attempted to drive for the tying field goal, but time expired in the game on Holcomb's 16-yard completion to Andre King at the Steeler's 29-yard line. Maddox completed 30 of 48 passes for a franchise postseason record 367 yards and three touchdowns, with two interceptions. Burress caught six passes for 100 yards and a touchdown, while Ward caught 11 passes for 104 yards and a score. Randle El caught five passes for 85 yards and returned a punt 66 yards for a touchdown. In his first career playoff game, Holcomb completed 26 of 43 passes for 429 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception. Johnson caught four passes for 140 yards, while Northcutt caught six passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns, and returned two punts for 70 yards. With the loss, the Browns season ended with them failing to win their playoff game since 1994. This would end up being both, the Browns last playoff game against the Steelers, and Cleveland's last playoff game in general up until 2020. As the Browns would end up missing the playoffs ever year from 2003-2019, with 2007 being their only winning season after 2002 prior to 2020. This was the second postseason meeting between the Browns and Steelers. Pittsburgh won the only prior meeting. This was the first game that Heinz Field played Renegade.

Reader's Guide

Since resuming operations in 1999, the Browns have struggled to find success, especially during the 2010s when they failed to post a winning season throughout the decade. They have had only four winning seasons (2002, 2007, 2020, and 2023), three playoff appearances (2002, 2020, and 2023), and one playoff win (2020), winning less than one third of their games in total, and in 2017 were only the second team in NFL history to have a 0–16 season after the 2008 Detroit Lions. The franchise has also been noted for a lack of stability with head coaches (10 full time—including two who were fired after only one season—and two interim since 1999) and quarterbacks (42 different starters since 1999). From 2003 to 2019, the Browns had a 17-season playoff drought, which ended during the 2020 season. They are one of four teams to have never appeared in a Super Bowl. Their lack of recent success has been such that their decades-long rivalry with the Pittsburgh Steelers—a rivalry in which at one point the Browns had a 22-game lead in the all-time series—saw the Steelers overtake the Browns in the rivalry in 2007 to hold a current 17-game edge over the Browns.

Did You Know?

• The Browns are named after original head coach Paul Brown.
• The Browns won the AAFC championship in each of the league's four seasons.
• The Browns played in their league championship game in each of their first 10 years of existence, winning seven of those games.
• The Browns are one of four teams to have never appeared in a Super Bowl.
• In 2017, the Browns were only the second team in NFL history to have a 0–16 season.