Cleveland Browns history

At this point in time, the team played in the American Football Conference, although it would join the National Football League at the end of the AFC's 1949 season.

The Browns joined the National Football League in 1950.

They endured their first losing season in 1956, which was also their first year not to play in their league's championship game, a streak of ten years.

The Browns won another divisional title in 1957, a year that saw the great running back from Syracuse, Jim Brown, join the team.

Paul E. Brown served as the Browns' first head coach and remained in this position until 1962.

In 1963, he fired Paul Brown, the team's only coach in the organization's first seventeen years of existence.

Collier gave the Browns their last NFL championship in 1964, when they defeated the Baltimore Colts, 27-0.

The realignment of the league in 1970, following the merger of the NFL with the American Football League, placed the Browns in the Central Division of the new American Football Conference.

In 1980, quarterback Brian Sipe led the team to a divisional title in 1980 and earned himself the NFL's Most Valuable Player Award.

In 1982, the Brown's managed to reach the playoffs despite going 4-5 in a strike-shortened year, but were once more defeated by the Raiders.

The team's poor performance at the beginning of the 1984 season prompted Modell to fire Rutigliano and promote defensive coordinator Marty Schottenheimer to head coach.

In 1988, the Browns qualified for the playoffs, but were defeated by the Houston Oilers in the Wild Card Playoff matchup.

In 1993, quarterback Bernie Kosar was cut midway through the season.

In 1994, the Browns posted an 11-5 record and defeated the New England Patriots in the AFC Wildcard game.

At the end of the 1995 season, Art Modell decided to move the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore, Maryland.

In February 1996, the NFL agreed to leave the team name and colors in Cleveland.

In 1997, Mayor Michael White unveiled plans for a $247 million stadium and commenced the process of bringing professional football back to Cleveland.

On 8 September 1998, Al Lerner, chairman and CEO of MBNA Corp., was awarded the new Cleveland Browns by offering the highest price ever paid for a sports franchise.

After a 3-13 2000 season, University of Miami (Florida) head coach Butch Davis replaced Chris Palmer as head coach.

When his father, Al Lerner, died in October 2002 – four years to the day after he was awarded the new Browns franchise – the ownership of the team passed on to Randy Lerner.

The team struggled through the next two years and Butch Davis resigned late in the 2004 season.

In 2005, New England Patriots Defensive Coordinator Romeo Crennel was named head coach of the Browns.

In 2008, the Browns won only four games.

In March 2019 the Browns acquired superstar wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr from the New York Giants.

In January 2020 the Browns hired Andrew Berry as general manager and former Minnesota Vikings Offensive Coordinator Kevin Stefanski as head coach.