Cleveland Browns
The history of the Cleveland Browns American football team began in 1944 when taxi-cab magnate Arthur B. "Mickey" McBride secured a Cleveland franchise in the newly formed All-America Football Conference (AAFC). Paul Brown was the team's namesake and first coach. The Browns began play in 1946 in the AAFC. The Browns won each of the league's four championship games before the league dissolved in 1949. The team then moved to the more established National Football League (NFL), where it continued to dominate. Between 1950 and 1955, Cleveland reached the NFL championship game every year, winning three times.
History of the Cleveland Browns
Cleveland fans' hopes were high upon the arrival of the new team. However, as an expansion team the Browns were forced to build a new roster from scratch using rookies, free agents, and the players other teams chose not to protect in the expansion draft. With a new team composed of a mix of fresh faces and castoffs, the Browns floundered. The Steelers shut out the Browns 43–0 in the season opener at Cleveland Browns Stadium on September 12, 1999, the first of seven straight losses. A 2–14 season in 1999 was followed by a 3–13 record in 2000 after Couch suffered a season-ending thumb injury. Early in 2001, Policy and Lerner fired Palmer. The coach and the team, Policy said, were not headed in the right direction.