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Cleveland Browns: Top 30 moments of all-time

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 8:01 p.m. ET

Fansided, Thomas Moore/FanSided via Dawg Pound Daily

Sep 21, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns fans with a

The Cleveland Browns have given their fans plenty of great memories to go along with the heartbreak over the years. Here are the 30 top moments in franchise history.

Once upon a time, the Cleveland Browns were a model NFL franchise.

While that may sound like a fairy tale to fans who have only know the despair and dysfunction that has enveloped the team since 1999, it is true.

The Browns are the holders of eight professional championships, have 16 members in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and count some of the NFL’s greatest players among their alumni, from the greatest of all-time in Jim Brown, to the winningest quarterback of all-time in Otto Graham.

They were also founded and coached for 17 years by the legendary Paul Brown, whose innovations on game days and the practice field helped to shape the NFL as we know it today.

During the past 69 years the Browns have provided plenty of extreme highs to go along with the extreme lows, unbelievable playoff wins and equally shocking losses, and numerous unforgettable moments.

The Dawg Pound Daily staff has worked over the past few weeks to cut down all those moments to the 30 biggest in franchise history. Are some of these moments debatable? Probably, but what’s the fun of sports without some healthy debate?

So Hi-O-Hi-O for Cleveland, for the greatest team in the land, as we present our selections for the Top 30 moments in franchise history.

Next: No. 30: Browns draft Ozzie Newsome and Clay Matthews Embed from Getty Images

Clay Matthews was one of two first-round selections made by the Browns in the 1978 NFL Draft, along with Hall-of-Famer Ozzie Newsome, making that arguably the best first round in franchise history.

Matthews played 16 seasons in Cleveland and still holds the franchise record for career sacks with 62. He also appeared in four Pro Bowls and made 278 starts in a career that started with Brian Sipe and the Kardiac Kids, continued through the glory years of the Bernie Kosar playoff years, and closed out during the Bill Belichick era.

Drafted out of Alabama in the first round of the 1978 NFL Draft, Ozzie Newsome transitioned from a wide receiver in college to a player that helped transform the tight end position in the NFL.

Newsome holds the franchise record for most catches in a single season with 89, which he did in both 1983 and 1984; is one of just 10 Browns’ receivers to have a 1,000 yard season, and the only player to accomplish it twice; is first in all-time receptions with 662, almost double the total of Dante Lavelli in second place; is tops on career receiving yards; and is fifth in career touchdown receptions.

When Newsome retired after the 1990 season, he was fourth on the NFL’s all-time list for receptions and had caught more passes than any tight end.

He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999. – Thomas Moore

Dec. 16, 2001

It was just another cool December day down by the lakefront, as the 6-6 Butch Davis led Cleveland Browns came into week 14 needing a win to keep their playoff hopes alive. In came in the 4-8 Jacksonville Jaguars led by Coach Tom Coughlin and trying to hang on to their own, slim, playoff hopes.

The Jaguars led the Browns at the half 9-0 and the Browns looked tattered and worn. The third quarter was highlighted by a 97-yard touchdown return by Cornerback Anthony Henry cutting the deficit to 9-7 heading into the fourth quarter.

Late in the fourth quarter, with the Jaguars leading 15-10, what took place will forever live in Browns lore.

Fourth-and-two from the Jacksonville 12 with 1:08 to play and the Browns trailing 15-10 still.

The snap.

Tim Couch dropped back to pass and spotted Quincy Morgan. Couch delivers the ball and Morgan catches the ball on his waist, appeared to have taken two steps and was blasted by Jaguars safety James Boyd. As he fell to the grass the ball slipped from Morgan’s grasp and lay on the grass.

It was ruled a catch, the Browns were awarded a first down on the play and Couch rushed to the line of scrimmage, lined up his men and spiked the ball stopping the clock.

And then the unthinkable happens. Referee Terry McAulay comes running in waving his arms blowing his whistle. He announces that they will review the previous play.

Why would they review the spiking of the football? What’s there to review?

Well, the play under review wasn’t the spiking of the football; it was the Morgan catch on the play before for the first down on 4th and 2. The problem with this is NFL rules state that once another play has been run you can no longer review the play prior.

The play was reviewed and the call was over-turned. The Jaguars were awarded the football with about a minute left.

Butch Davis lost it screaming on the sidelines at McAulay as he tried to explain the ruling. The boo-birds came out in full force as fans became irritated and unruly as their team had just been bamboozled by the call on the field.

And then mayhem let loose.

Fans went from booing to launching bottles onto the field of play in protest of the horrific chain of events that just unfolded before them.

As the bottles began to fly, CBS broadcaster Gus Johnson uttered, “It’s getting ugly here in Cleveland.” Players and staff from both sides were ducking and dodging the bottles as they were coming from every angle onto the field hitting people in their legs, head, arms and so on.

Finally with :48 seconds left on the clock, McAulay called the game and everyone began running off the field as the referees were pelted heavily with bottles as they ran through the tunnel were fans were awaiting them.

The game was over. Or was it?

After about 20 minutes a call came from NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue stating that they had to go out there and finish the game. He went on to explain that the referees did not have authority to call the game and that the teams would have to return to the field to finish the final :48.

As few fans remained the teams trotted out to the bottle-ridden field and the Jaguars took a knee twice running off the final :48 and solidifying a 15-10 road win and another memorable moment in Browns history. – Giovanni Castelli

The 2002 NFL season was the last time the Cleveland Browns made the playoffs, and the first of two winning seasons since 1999.

The Browns finished the 2002 season with a record of 9-7. They should have finished 10-6.

Cleveland Browns Stadium was filled with over 70,000 fans awaiting a sure victory in the season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Browns led 39-37 with just seconds remaining when Trent Green dropped back to pass.

Green appeared to go down, but miraculously pitched the ball to a lineman, keeping the game alive. Lateral plays rarely succeed so a few more seconds and the game would have been over. But then you notice something on the left side of the screen.

There is Dwayne Rudd, doing the unthinkable and slamming his helmet before the game is over. Now there is nothing wrong with celebrating, but doing so before the game is over is just plain stupid.

Rudd’s move was penalized and gave the Chiefs a free play after time expired, resulting in a game-winning field goal.

This is one of the most notable blunders for the post-1999 Cleveland Browns. The team still made the playoffs, so luckily Rudd’s mistake did not do too much to hurt the team’s season. If the Browns missed the playoffs by a game, Rudd’s blunder may be up there with those in games against that John Elway guy. – Steven Kubitza

September 12, 1999 was a great day in Cleveland. At least the anticipation for it was.

The Browns had finally returned after being gone since the 1995 season. The opponent was the Pittsburgh Steelers, who proceeded to beat the Browns 43-0 in front of a sold out Cleveland Browns Stadium.

But the loss was okay, because the Browns were back. It was tough to have high expectations in the opener based on the roster made up of rookies and players from the expansion draft. Fans just underestimated the hardships that would last until 2015 and beyond.

1999 was a simpler time. A blowout loss was accepted because of the wonder of having the Browns back in Cleveland. A 2-14 season, and zero home wins, was not ideal, but this was before a punchline amount of starting quarterbacks and coaching changes seemingly every season.

Tim Couch and Chris Palmer were the new faces in town, and fans were happy. For a short period of time at least.

The still-existing hate for Art Modell and Ozzie Newsome kept energy high, although the Browns went 0-2 against the Baltimore Ravens in that 1999 season.

It is tough to say whether one should be nostalgic for the return of the Browns. The return was a fresh start in Cleveland after several years of sadness and frustration, but the 2-14 record did little to improve those feelings.

The other view is that the team was not expected to be good. There was the expectation that a few drafts would be needed to build any foundation and see positive results. The team did go to the playoffs in 2002, but that seems like an anomaly now. So one may long for the days when the team was bad, but hope was still there. Now, hope is tough to come by. – SK

The Cleveland Browns haven’t had a 1000-yard rusher since Peyton Hillis in 2010, but back in 1985 they had two. Running backs Kevin Mack and Earnest Byner both eclipsed the 1000 yard mark as they became only the third backfield duo to have done so at the time.

Earnest Byner was a 10th round pick of the Browns in 1984 after a starring career at East Carolina University. In his rookie season he served as the kick returner and third string running back behind Boyce Green and Mike Pruitt, gaining 426 yards on 72 carries. He gave the Browns a glimpse of what was to come in the last two games of 1984 as he rushed for 291 yards on 36 carries. In the same year, his future teammate Mack was playing in the now notorious USFL for the Los Angeles Express. He had led the ACC in rushing touchdowns in 1983 at Clemson in another strong backfield tandem with Stacey Driver and was selected by the Browns with the 11th overall pick in the 1984 Supplemental Draft.

The pair of backs were a perfect combination of speed and strength. Byner’s quickness and ability as a receiver meshed perfectly with “Mack Truck’s” power, and they ran over, around and through the opposition. Their exploits carried a young up-and-coming Browns team led by first year Head Coach Marty Schottenheimer and quarterback Bernie Kosar to an 8-8 record and the playoffs.

Both lining up in the backfield at the same time, they went with the hot hand, often switching the ballhandler themselves coming out of the huddle. “People don’t realize that if Earnest was feeling it and the play was called for me, I would tell him, ‘Hey, keep doing it, man, don’t stop,’” Mack said. “And vice-versa.” Mack would pass 1000 yards against the Seattle Seahawks in week 14 and finished the year with 1104 yards, but Byner had to wait a little longer. In fact, he couldn’t have waited any longer. On the very last play of the regular season against the New York Jets, Byner carried the ball for 7 yards, giving him 1002 yards for the season.

Their remarkable season launched an era of Browns success, leading them to the first of five straight playoff appearances. The achievement wouldn’t be again matched until 2006, when Warrick Dunn and Michael Vick both rushed over 1000 yards for the Atlanta Falcons. – Murray Alexander

The Cleveland Browns have had rivalries with several teams, but none may have been hotter than the one with the Dallas Cowboys in the 1960s.

The Browns dominated the series at first, winning 11 of the team’s first 12 meetings after Dallas joined the NFL in 1960. The Cowboys started to turn the tide in 1966, though, and won four consecutive games.

But the Browns found their revenge twice in the playoffs as the decade came to close.

The two teams met in the Eastern Conference playoffs following the 1968 season when the 12-2 Cowboys, winners of the Capitol Division, traveled to Cleveland to face the 10-4 Browns, who had captured the Century Division.

The Browns defense got the 81,497 fans in attendance fired up early when a Mike Howell interception set up an opening field goal by Don Cockroft. The Cowboys took a 10-3 lead thanks to a 44-yard touchdown from Chuck Howell on a fumble return.

It looked like the Browns would head into the half trailing, but Bill Nelsen hit Leroy Kelly with a 45-yard touchdown pass to tie the game just before halftime.

The Browns took control on the opening drive of the second half when Dale Lindsey returned an interception 27 yards for a touchdown. Three plays later Ben Davis picked off another Don Meredith pass and, one play later, Kelly scored on a 35-yard run to give the Browns a 24-10 lead.

Cleveland would add a final touchdown on an Ernie Green run following another interception to help close out a 31-20 win. The defense held the Cowboys to just 86 rushing yards and 12 pass receptions.

The next week the Browns hosted the Baltimore Colts with a trip to Super Bowl III on the line only to fall 34-0 to the Colts.

The Browns and Cowboys were back at it in the 1969 Eastern Conference playoffs, only this time the game would be held at the Cotton Bowl.

It didn’t matter, though, as the Browns thoroughly dominated the Cowboys by scoring the first 24 points of the game on their way to a 38-14 victory – still the last road playoff win in franchise history.

Quarterback Bill Nelsen threw for 184 yards in the first half against what was considered one of the best defenses in NFL history. Wide receiver Paul Warfield had 99 receiving yards and running backs Bo Scott and Leroy Kelly combined for three rushing touchdowns, equaling the number the Cowboys had allowed all season.

The defense got in on the act as well, forcing three turnovers and putting the icing on the cake with an 88-yard interception return for a touchdown by Walt Sumner in the fourth quarter.

The win set up a meeting the following week with the Minnesota Vikings for a spot in Super Bowl IV, but just like the year before, the Browns had nothing left and fell to the Vikings, 27-7. – TM

Run William, run!

2002 was a wild season for the Browns. Seven of the nine wins were decided by less than 10 points, including the final game of the season.

The Browns needed a win against the Atlanta Falcons to make the playoffs, along with some help from several other teams.

The score was 17-16 with just over four minutes remaining and the Browns had the ball at their own 36 yard-line. Rookie running back William Green was in the backfield behind Kelly Holcomb, who was in for an injured Tim Couch after Couch broke his leg.

A score was not needed, but four minutes is a lot of time to run off the clock. This did not end up being a problem after Green ran 64 yards for a touchdown. The crowd was going insane as Green blew by the Falcons’ defenders and raced into the end zone.

The score and ensuing extra point put the Browns up 24-16, but the Falcons weren’t done yet.

The Falcons marched all the way down to the goal-line, but were stuffed at the line on fourth down to give the Browns the win. After a few hours and wins by both the New England Patriots and New York Jets, the Browns were in the playoffs in only the fourth season since returning to the NFL.

The Browns would lose/collapse against the Pittsburgh Steelers in that playoff game, but fans should have cherished that game, as it was the last time the Browns have been in the postseason.

But even with the playoff loss, the magic of William Green’s run lives on. – SK

The Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers have been playing each other since 1950 and for the first 20 years the Browns dominated the series, winning 32 of the first 41 games between the two teams.

But that started to change in 1970, a fact that was most evident whenever the Browns traveled to Three Rivers Stadium.

Starting with their first game at Three Rivers in 1970 (a 28-9 loss) and continuing through 1985 (a 10-9 defeat), the Browns found every way imaginable to fall to the Steelers.

But that all changed on Oct. 5, 1986.

Fueled by Gerald McNeil’s 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, the Browns took a 17-14 lead into the half. The game went back and forth in the second half before the Browns regained the lead on an Earnest Byner touchdown run with just under nine minutes remaining.

But this was Three Rivers, so it would not be that easy.

The Steelers were driving in Browns territory with just under two minutes remaining and trailing by just three, only to fumble the ball and Cleveland to recover – one of four turnovers the Browns forced on the day.

A 38-yard pass from Bernie Kosar to Reggie Langhorne helped the Browns earn a key first down and run out the clock.

Finally, after 16 years of heartbreak, the Browns finally walked off the Three Rivers turf with a victory. – TM

Paul Brown was known as a tough person to work with, but one thing he cared about was winning football games. That meant getting the best players, no matter the color of their skin.

Brown signed Marion Motley and Bill Willis, both African-American, to the team in 1946 upon its inception. The Browns were a part of the All-America Football Conference, at at time when the NFL had an unofficial “all-whites” policy since 1933.

But Brown did not tolerate racism, as explained by Marion Motley in the book “The Best Show in Football – The 1946-1955 Cleveland Browns,” by Andy Piascik.

“There were a few who were not happy,” Motley said of his white teammates at that first training camp. “Paul addressed that at the first meeting. He said, ‘If you can’t get along with your teammates, you won’t be here.’ He didn’t have to spell it out, everyone knew what he meant.”

This type of attitude helped changed the face of professional sports. Professional baseball, football, and basketball were all integrated by 1950, but Brown paved the way for rosters to be inclusive of all people, with racism not being tolerated.

In Piascik’s book, there is a quote from Jim Brown that illustrates Brown’s way of doing things.

“Paul Brown integrated pro football without uttering a single word about integration,” Jim Brown said. “He just went out, signed a bunch of great black athletes, and started kicking butt. That’s how you do it. You don’t talk about it. Paul never said one word about race.”

Even though Brown was fired for personal differences between himself and Art Modell, he will always be respected for the way he changed the game of football. – SK

Jim Brown did more in nine seasons than most players could dream of doing in an entire NFL career. Cleveland fans were just lucky enough that he got to play his historic career in front of them.

He never intended to have a long NFL career, but his retirement was still a surprising move.

One day Brown was a member of the Browns, preparing to play in his final season. The next he changed his mind and decided to retire. The year was 1966.

Brown changed his mind after owner, and notorious villain, Art Modell threatened to fine Brown if he missed training camp due to filming a movie. Brown offered the ultimate response by retiring, ending of the greatest careers in the history of the NFL, which still holds true today.

He finished his career with 12,312 rushing yards on only 2,359 carries, giving him a 5.2 yards per carry average. His total rushing yards see him at ninth on the NFL all-time rushing yards leader list, but his average is higher than anyone in front of him. He is also one of three players in the top nine with less than 3,000 carries.

His relatively early retirement may have frustrated Browns fans at the time, but the move was a smart one. Brown followed his passion and began an acting career, getting out of football before sustaining any life-threatening injuries, which is something that happens all too often.

He left at his peak, which is something most athletes wish they could do. It is hard to blame a living legend when he decides it is time to hang up the cleats. The move came a year after the Browns won an NFL Championship, so fans may have still been feeling the elation from the championship season. If only they knew what was to come. – SK

Monday, November 8, 1993. A day that will forever live in infamy with every Cleveland Browns fan worldwide.

This was the day beloved quarterback Bernie Kosar was given his walking papers and released by the franchise he grew up cheering for and hoped to lead to the promised land of Super Bowl glory.

Unfortunately, Kosar would never be able to see this through as on this fateful day then Browns coach uttered the infamous words “diminishing skills” when discussing why they released the fan favorite Kosar.

“Basically, it came down to his production and a diminishing of his physical skills,” Belichick said at a news conference.

Kosar had posted a 3-3 record in his six starts in 1993 but fell out of favor with Belichick as he wanted to call his own plays, while Belichick thought otherwise. Kosar was changing plays at the line of scrimmage, something Belichick asked him repeatedly to stop doing.

Kosar didn’t care. He felt he knew the game so well and when to adjust to what the defense showed before the snap. Belichick had enough and benched the beleaguered QB 3 games prior to his release.

As word trickled through the media of the star QB’s release, fans were angry at the coaches and management for allowing such a prominent figure of the franchise be sent away in less than amicable fashion.

Fans expressed their outrage via sports talk radio lashing out against anyone and everyone who may have played a role in the falling star’s exit out of town.

I remember as a young kid in grade school sitting in class that cool November day. Everything was business as usual, the Browns were 5-3 and coming off a loss at home to the Denver Broncos where Kosar regained starter status due to Vinny Testaverde separating his shoulder a week earlier.

In the Denver game, Kosar went back to his old habits of changing the plays at the line of scrimmage something that made Belichick cringe. The Browns, down 16-0 at one point, couldn’t come back from the deficit dropping the game 29-14 and dropping Kosar to depths so deep in the coach’s dog house he would never be able to crawl back out.

After meeting with then owner Art Modell, Belichick secured the support of the man who treated Kosar like the son he never had.

He agreed with Belichick’s assessment of Kosar and that the quarterback’s best days were behind him.

And then, across the school PA system I heard the words uttered:

“May I have your attention, the Browns have released Bernie Kosar.”

What? Really? This can’t be true! That’s how big Kosar was in this town.

So big that they announced it across the PA system at an elementary school in the middle of the school day.

So big that fans marched down to old Cleveland Municipal Stadium to demand refunds for their season ticket purchases.

So big that sports talk radio stations were receiving faxes (that’s right I said faxes?) back-to-back of fans outraged over the announcement made that day.

Kosar was a beloved figure and one of the top QB’s in franchise history. His release sent shockwaves through the community that cool November day and the franchise is still struggling to find the next franchise QB 22 years later. – GC

The 1955 season saw the end of the greatest dynasty the NFL has even seen.

The Browns were the defending NFL champions and made a return trip to the title game after posting a 9-2-1 record. Their opponent that day, for the third time in six seasons, were the team that had once called Cleveland home – the Los Angeles Rams.

The two teams played in front of 87,695 fans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, who witnessed one of the most dominant championship game performances in NFL history.

The Browns intercepted Los Angeles quarterback Norm Van Brocklin six times, with Don Paul returning one 65 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter, as they held the league’s fourth-ranked offense to just 14 points.

On offense, Cleveland quarterback Otto Graham ran for two touchdowns and passed for two more as the Browns rolled to a final score of 38-14.

The title was Cleveland’s seventh in 10 years under head coach Paul Brown and Graham, who was playing his final NFL game. The title also marked the last championship that Brown won as a head coach.

While all dynasties must come to an end, few have come to a close in such dominating fashion. – TM

Paul Warfield is considered one of the greatest receivers to ever play in the NFL. That is why it is mind-boggling to realize that he was traded away to the Miami Dolphins when still at the peak of his abilities.

The Browns traded Warfield to the Dolphins in 1970 in order to get the third overall pick held by Miami, which was used on quarterback Mike Phipps. Is Phipps not a name you associate with greatness? Well, that’s because this trade is considered one of the most one-sided in NFL history.

So rest easy Browns fans, terrible personnel moves are not a new thing in Cleveland.

Phipps finished his career with 55 touchdowns. Warfield finished with 85.

The trade sent Warfield to a Miami team that would go on to win Super Bowls VII and VIII. He was also on the undefeated 1972 team. The Browns went 10-4 that year and actually faced the Dolphins in the first round of the playoffs. Obviously, the Dolphins won that game.

Warfield was a key part of the team in Miami, and could have been the same in Cleveland if not for the irrational trade.

Even if Phipps had success, the lack of a Super Bowl victory makes this trade one of the most puzzling, and frustrating moves in franchise history. – SK

The 1994 season was the high point of Bill Belichick’s tenure as head coach of the Cleveland Browns.

After posting losing records in the first three seasons under Belichick, the Browns rode a strong defense and the arm of quarterback Vinnie Testaverde to an 11-win season and the team’s first playoff appearance in five years.

The Browns hosted the New England Patriots, who were led by Belichick’s mentor in Bill Parcells, in the AFC Wild Card game.

Cleveland opened the scoring when Matt Stover converted a 30-yard field goal on the opening drive. The Browns found the end zone in the second quarter when Testaverde hit Mark Carrier with a five-yard touchdown pass.

After staring the second half tied at 10, Cleveland’s defense took over in holding the Patriots to just three points the rest of the game while intercepting New England quarterback Drew Bledsoe three times on the day. The Browns took the lead near the end of the third quarter on a 10-yard touchdown run by Leroy Hoard.

Cleveland added another Stover field goal and withstood a late New England rally to earn a 20-13 victory. The offense had a season-high 379 total yards, while Testaverde completed 20-of-30 passes for 268 yards and a touchdown.

As the Browns ran off the field at Municipal Stadium it seemed like the dawning of a new, but that win remains the last playoff victory for the Browns, who have only posted two winning seasons since 1994. – TM

Ernie Davis’ story is one of the most tragic in the history of sports. After being a star at Syracuse and being the first overall pick in the 1962 NFL Draft, Davis was diagnosed with leukemia and died before ever playing a down in the NFL.

The tragedy served to separate the competitiveness of sports from the humanity of those playing the game. Davis would have joined Jim Brown in the backfield, possibly creating one of the greatest backfields in NFL history.

Davis was a star in his short career, winning the Heisman Trophy in 1961 and becoming the first African-American player to win the award. He is also a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.

His passing did not set the Browns back on the field, but the lost potential will always remain a question of what could have been. Losing any athlete is an incredibly sad event, made even sadder when realizing the player could have changed the face of the sport.

Davis would have played alongside his idol, Jim Brown, a dream for any athlete in any sport.

While he never got to play in the NFL, his story has been dramatized in both book and film form, thus making his story an inspiration to this day. – SK

When the NFL decided to go primetime in 1970 with Monday Night Football it made sense that they would want to have a New York team in the inaugural game.

What may have been a bit more of a surprise to many football fans is that they picked the Cleveland Browns to oppose the Jets on Sept. 21, 1970. Even if America wasn’t sure it was ready, Cleveland was as Jonathan Knight wrote in his 2008 book, Classic Browns:

Whether or not the rest of America would tune in to watch Keith Jackson, Don Meredith and Howard Cosell broadcast the first-ever edition of Monday Night Football, Cleveland was on board. The largest crowd to ever attend a football game in Cleveland filed through the turnstiles that muggy night: a whopping 85,703. Ironically, despite the record-setting attendance, the historic telecast would be blacked out in Cleveland since the game didn’t officially sell out until Monday afternoon.

The fans in attendance and the viewing audience saw the Browns intercepted Jets’ quarterback Joe Namath three times on their way to a 31-21 victory.

The Browns jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on an eight-yard touchdown pass from Bill Nelsen to Gary Collins and a two-yard touchdown run by Bo Scott. Cleveland seemed to break the game open when Homer Jones took the opening kickoff of the second half back for a 94-yard touchdown, giving the Browns a 21-7 lead.

But Namath rallied the Jets back, hitting wide receiver George Sauer with a 33-yard touchdown pass, one of 10 receptions for 172 on the night by Sauer, pulling New York to within three points.

The Jets would get the ball back with just more than a minute remaining, but Cleveland linebacker Billy Andrews intercepted a Namath pass, returning it 25 yards for the game-clinching touchdown.

The interception was the fourth turnover on the night by the Jets, who rolled up 454 yards of offense (to just 221 for the Browns), but were hurt by turnovers and 161 yards in penalties. – TM

On Halloween 1999, the Cleveland Browns travelled to New Orleans to take on the Saints. They had last won a game on Dec. 17, 1995, a total of 1415 days previously. Of course, much of this was due to the team’s four-year absence until it returned that season, as the city was awarded an expansion franchise. The wait for a win had been an extended one, as the hapless expansion Browns had gone 0-7 to start their return.

They had come close three weeks previously, losing to the Cincinnati Bengals in heartbreaking fashion. Akili Smith drove the Bengals 80 yards and threw the winning pass with five seconds left. This time, it would be the Browns that snatch a victory in the dying moments.

It had been a back-and-forth game. The Saints and Browns had traded touchdowns in the first half and gone into the break at 10-7 to New Orleans. The Saints pounded at the Browns all game, as a rookie Ricky Williams had an unfathomable 40 carries, and thought they had the game won when Doug Brien kicked a field goal to put them 16-14 up. However, a clock management error by quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver left just enough time for the Browns to run a few plays.

After the kick off return and a completion, the ball sat at the Browns’ 44-yard line, awaiting its cue. With two seconds left on the clock, Dave Wohlabaugh snapped the ball to Tim Couch. Immediately pressured, he wheeled right, set his feet and threw 56 yards of history. The ball arced high, popped up as two Saints collided, and landed serendipitously in Kevin Johnson’s hands for a touchdown. The Browns were so excited by their win that Mike Carey had to recall them to the field to kick the PAT.

The Browns won again two weeks later against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but after that they wouldn’t win again in 1999. They ended the season on a six game losing streak to finish with a 2-14 record, to date the worst record of any Browns team. – MA

The Cleveland Browns entered the NFL in 1950 as a dominant force after going 47-4-3 and claiming all four championships in the All-American Football Conference.

The NFL wanted to put the upstarts in their place, so Commissioner Bert Bell scheduled the Browns to open their inaugural season on the road against the two-time defending champion Philadelphia Eagles.

Philadelphia head coach Greasy Neale was so confident that he didn’t even bother to scout the Browns prior to the opener.

In hindsight, it was not one of the best ideas by either Bell or Neale.

In front of 71,237 fans at Philadelphia’s Municipal Stadium, the Browns rolled over the Eagles, 35-10, and announced to the NFL that there was a new sheriff in town.

The Browns were led by quarterback Otto Graham, who was 21-of-38 for 346 yards and three passing touchdowns (and one rushing touchdown). According to Jonathan Knight’s book, Classic Browns, at one point during the game head coach Paul Brown checked in with assistant coach Blanton Collier to see what the Eagles were doing on defense.

“Truthfully, I don’t know,” Collier replied. “I can’t tell because I’m sure they don’t know what they are trying to do themselves.”

In addition to Graham’s performance in the passing game, the Browns totaled 141 rushing yards and averaged almost six yards per carry.

Philadelphia wide receiver Pete Pihos summed up the day when he met his wife after the game.

“We just met up with a team from the big league,” Pihos said.

It was a lesson the rest of the NFL was about to learn the hard way. – TM

It was supposed to be different for the Cleveland Browns in 1980.

With Brian Sipe at the helm of a talented offense, and a defense that did just enough to get by, the Browns won the AFC Central Division and had Cleveland dreaming of the franchise’s first trip to the Super Bowl.

It was also the first taste of success for a generation of fans who were too young to remember the dynasty years of the 1950s and 1960s.

Instead, it turned into a defining moment for that generation, one that truly made them realize what it meant to be a Browns fan.

When the Browns and Raiders kicked off their divisional playoff game on Jan. 4, 1981, the thermometer read zero and the winds coming off Lake Erie left the windchill at -36.

The Browns opened the scoring when cornerback Ron Bolton returned a Jim Plunkett interception 42 yards for a touchdown just six minutes before halftime. But in an omen of things to come, Don Cockroft missed the extra point – one of four kicks he would miss on the day.

After the Raiders took a 7-6 lead at halftime, Cockroft converted a pair of third-quarter field goals to give the Browns a 12-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Raiders regained the lead on Mark van Eeghen’s second touchdown run of the game, and after a Sipe fumble gave the ball back to Oakland with a little more than four minutes remaining, it looked like the season was over.

But fate was not finished with the Browns and their fans.

The defense held thanks to a stop on fourth-and-inches, giving the ball back to Sipe with 85 yards to cover in just a little more over two minutes.

A 29-yard pass to Ozzie Newsome, a 23-yard pass to Greg Pruitt and a 14-yard run by Mike Pruitt helped the Browns move into field goal range.

What came next has haunted Browns fans ever since.

Remembering the struggles of the kicking game, and with the Browns facing the open end of Municipal Stadium, head coach Sam Rutigliano decided to go for one more play – Red Right 88 – in an attempt to avoid having to kick a field goal.

The play called for Sipe to look for wide receiver Dave Logan over the middle, but Logan was covered on the play, forcing Sipe to look at Newsome in the end zone. But as soon as Sipe looked away, Oakland’s Dwayne O’Steen left Logan to give Mike Davis help on Newsome.

“When the blitzed, I did what we did all year, go to the tight end” Sipe said in the 2003 book, Kardiac Kids. “We’ve run that play for two years and have scored a lot of TDs on it. I’m a victim of my own programming. I’m going for it.”

Rather than the ball following into the arms of a wide-open Logan for a game-winning touchdown, it found its way to Davis for a season-ending interception.

“He thought he saw Ozzie open,” Rutigliano said in the 2008 book, Classic Browns. “The next time we looked at the film, Dave Logan is wide open in the end zone. The rest is history.”

The loss extended the Browns’ playoff losing streak to five games, and ushered in a decade that would see the team suffer three more painful post-season defeats. – TM

Who doesn’t love talking about one of the most infamous plays in Cleveland Browns history?

One year after John Elway led the Denver Broncos on a 98-yard drive to send the 1986-87 AFC Championship game into overtime where they would ultimately win, the Browns met the Broncos once again, one win away from the team’s first berth in a Super Bowl.

The venue was Denver this time around, and the Browns were ready to make up for the defensive collapse in what became known as “The Drive.” Nothing like immortalizing a loss by making it into a proper noun.

The Browns found themselves down 21-3 at halftime, seemingly unable to overcome the Broncos and destined to never move past “The Drive.”

But the Browns started the second half with Felix Wright interception an Elway pass, setting up a Bernie Kosar touchdown pass to Reggie Langhorne to put the Browns down 21-10. After a quick Broncos touchdown, the score was at 28-10, which turned into a 31-24 lead after two Browns touchdowns to close out the quarter.

Stop reading now if you want to be spared the painful reminders of the past.

Bernie Kosar led an 87-yard touchdown drive, capped off by a touchdown pass to Webster Slaughter, tying the game at 31 in the fourth quarter. Elway countered with a touchdown pass of his own, putting the Broncos up 38-31 with four minutes left in the game.

Kosar was not about to give up, and led the Browns down to the Broncos’ 8-yard line with just over a minute remaining. He handed the ball off to Earnest Byner. Then this happened.

This unfortunate play marred a great performance by Byner up to that point in the game. He had two touchdowns in the game, but the fumble at the end of the game, ending the comeback attempt, overshadowed any success he had in the game. – SK

The 1980s were a period of unprecedented success for the Cleveland Browns in the Super Bowl era. From Brian Sipe’s MVP in 1980 with the Kardiac Kids to five straight years in the playoffs led by Bernie Kosar, it would never again be so good.

Unfortunately it would also never be so heartbreaking. Two years in a row they would advance to the AFC Championship Game. Two years in a row they would be denied by John Elway and the Denver Broncos. Two years in a row it would come down to the final moments.

During this period, 1986 was the peak for the Cleveland Browns. They went 12-4, still the most regular-season wins since joining the NFL in 1950. Kosar had blossomed and they went 5-1 in the AFC Central. The Browns headed into the playoffs on a five-game winning streak, securing home-field advantage.

In the Divisional Round, Cleveland won a thrilling game against the New York Jets, 23-20, by scoring 10 points in the final four minutes to tie the game before winning in double overtime.

This set up what would become a familiar match up with Elway’s Broncos.

The game would prove to be as close as the one against the Jets. The Browns jumped to an early lead on a score by running back Herman Fontenot, but Denver struck back through a field goal from Rich Karlis and a touchdown by Gerald Willhite.

A field goal by Cleveland’s Mark Moseley had the game tied at 10-10 at the half. The teams traded field goals and then, late in the fourth quarter, the Browns scored on a 48-yard touchdown pass by Kosar to Brian Brennan. A miscue by the Broncos on the resulting kick off left them on their own two-yard line with 5:32 left in the game.

Methodically, the previously contained Elway chipped away at the Browns. A quick completion to get his back off the end zone. Then two runs and a first down. Elway’s arm and his legs soon had Denver at the 50-yard line with 2:29 left.

A big sack by Dave Puzzuoli put the Broncos on third and 18 with 1:47 left. Again Elway responded, completing a 20-yard pass to Mark Jackson. Another scramble and another pass and it was third and one at the Browns’ five-yard line with 0:39 on the clock.

Elway dropped back, then arrowed a pass to Jackson for the score. Karlis tied the game with the extra point.

The Browns failed to rally in overtime and lost the game on a 33-yard Karlis field goal that swerved tantalizingly close to going wide, but it would be The Drive that Cleveland would never forget. – MA

The decade of the 1970s was not a pleasant one for the Cleveland Browns.

The team that had once dominated the NFL made its last playoff appearance following the 1972 season. To make matters worse, the Pittsburgh Steelers won four Super Bowls while the Browns struggled to win more games than they lost.

The tide started to turn when the Browns hired head coach Sam Rutigliano in 1978. Rutigliano led the Browns to respectability and the brink of the playoffs in his first two seasons, but the team couldn’t get over the hump.

Then came the 1980 season.

Led by league MVP Brian Sipe, who would throw for a franchise record 4,132 yards (still the only Browns quarterback to eclipse 4,000 yards in a season) and a franchise record 30 touchdowns (still the team’s single-season record), the Browns captured the Central Division title with an 11-5 record.

But it wasn’t just that the Browns were winning that captured the fancy of fans, it was how they were winning.

The team that would become to be known as the Kardiac Kids (and be immortalized in Jonathan Knight’s 2003 book, The Kardiac Kids), won nine of their games by seven points or less, leaving many of their fans wondering if they could take it for another week.

The excitement began in Week 7, when Sipe hit Dave Logan with a 46-yard touchdown pass with 16 seconds remaining in the game to pull out a 26-21 win over Green Bay. The fun continued the following week when Sipe’s touchdown pass to Ozzie Newsome late in the fourth quarter downed the Steelers.

Cleveland pulled out a one-point win over the Baltimore colts in Week 10, a three-point victory over the Houston Oilers in Week 13, and a three-point win over the New York Jets in Week 14.

But they saved their best for the final Sunday of the season.

Needing a win to claim their first division title in eight years, the Browns once again pulled out a late win as Don Cockroft’s 22-yard field goal with a little more than a minute left clinched the division in a victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.

While the season would end in disappointment in a playoff loss to the Oakland Raiders, the 1980 season helped the Browns recapture the hearts of their fans. – TM

Sep 21, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns helmet on the field before a game against the Baltimore Ravens at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Schwane-USA TODAY Sports

The All-America Football Conference took the field with eight teams in the fall of 1946 with the intent of creating competition for the National Football League.

Instead, it turned into the private playground of the Cleveland Browns.

In the four years of the league’s existence, the Browns won the league championship every year as head coach Paul Brown used the time as an incubator for the Browns teams that would go on to dominate the NFL in the 1950s.

The Browns played the conference’s very first game, against the Miami Seahawks, on Sept. 6, 1946, in front of 60,135 fans at Cleveland Municipal Stadium – the largest crowd to ever watch a professional football game at the time.

Wide receiver Mac Speedie scored the first touchdown in franchise history when he hauled in a 19-yard pass from quarterback Cliff Lewis. By the time the final whistle blew as Ray Terrell crossed the goal line with a 76-yard interception return, the Browns had beaten the Seahawks, 44-0.

That was just an omen of what was to come as the Browns posted a record of 47-4-3, including a perfect 14-0 mark in the 1948 season, while outscoring their opponents by an average of 16 points per game.

Cleveland closed out the conference the same way they opened it, with a 21-7 win over the San Francisco 49ers in the 1949 championship game.

The 49ers had been one of just two teams to defeat the Browns in the previous four years, but Cleveland had no trouble in beating San Francisco for the title as Edgar Jones, Marion Motley and Dub Jones each scored a rushing touchdown on the day.

With that win the Browns closed out a dominant four-year run and, along with the 49ers and Baltimore Colts, prepared to move on to the NFL for the 1950 season. – TM

Jimmy Haslam became owner of the Cleveland Browns in October 2012, ending years of suffering under the ownership of Randy Lerner. Well, that’s what was supposed to happen.

The Browns were floundering when Haslam took over. Mike Holmgren came in and set this team back years with his drafting, and Pat Shurmur was in over his head as the coach of the team.

So Haslam decided to make some changes and bring in Joe Banner as CEO and Rob Chudzinski as head coach. Mike Lombardi was brought on as the GM.

February 2014 came and none of the three remained with the Browns.

Things are still in disarray, and Haslam had done little to change the culture in Cleveland. But his ownership did bring a great deal of hope to fans when the change was announced. Randy Lerner was never the right guy to run the Browns, and was thrust into the role because of his father.

But Browns fans have yet to see if Haslam is the right guy. His company, Pilot Flying J, was investigated in 2013 for fraud against underprivileged individuals, which provided a quick scare that he would have to sell the team just months after the initial. Luckily, an ownership change was avoided, although perhaps another owner would have had made some better personnel decisions.

The instant excitement over Haslam’s purchase of the team quickly faded away, especially after the personnel overhaul following the 2013 season. Call it a do-over, but Haslam must begin making better decisions if he wants that initial excitement to return. – SK

With the AFL-NFL set to take effect for the 1970 season, the two leagues found themselves in a bit of a bind.

The newly formed league needed three teams from the established NFL to join the 10 teams arriving from the AFL to balance out the conferences. Only no one wanted to be the one to make the move.

Finally, after a marathon negotiating session, Art Modell agreed to move the Browns to the new American Football Conference along with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Colts.

The deal was sweetened as each team received a $3 million payment for making the move.

For the Browns this meant cutting rivalries with the New York Giants, Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles, and forming new ones with the Steelers, Cincinnati Bengals and Houston Oilers.

Modell was reluctant to make the move at first, but let NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle know he would be open to a switch as long as the Steelers joined the Browns in a division with the Cincinnati Bengals, who were run by Paul Brown, the man Modell had fired in Cleveland.

According to a Sports Illustrated story on the merger talks:

Modell didn’t easily arrive at his decision to make the Browns available to the AFL. After he told Rozelle that the Browns might move (during a dinner meeting), he didn’t touch his food and left the table five or six times to walk the street outside, breathing deeply and fighting off nausea. Later he went to bed but awakened at 3:30 a.m., went to the bathroom and fainted. When he regained consciousness he returned to bed but was sick again in the morning. Rozelle took him to New York’s Doctors Hospital, where it was discovered that he had suffered an ulcer attack.

When the owners met again from May 7 to May 10, Modell monitored the sessions from his hospital bed. Rozelle labored to find three teams willing to leave the comfortable old NFL, but Modell was the only owner who evinced any willingness to move.

Art Rooney and his son Dan, who own the Pittsburgh Steelers, met with Modell in his hospital room and, overcoming a sentimental attachment to the NFL that had been nurtured by 35 years in the league, finally agreed to go with Modell. Rozelle then needed to find only one more team that was willing to move and that the AFL would accept. He eventually settled upon the Baltimore Colts, whose owner, Carroll Rosenbloom, had told him that if all else failed the Colts would go.

The move would pay early dividends for the Browns as they would win the division twice in the first three years and the rivalries with the Steelers and Bengals continued to run hot up until the Browns moved to Baltimore following the 1995 season. – TM

The 1986 season will forever hold a special place in the hearts of Browns fans.

Led by quarterback Bernie Kosar, who wanted to come to Cleveland when it seemed like no one else did, had led the Browns to a 12-4 record during the season, including the Browns’ first-ever win against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Three Rivers Stadium.

The Browns entered the playoffs with home-field advantage in the AFC and visions of a late-January trip to Pasadena, Calif., for the franchise’s first Super Bowl appearance.

There were just a few things standing in the way of the Browns and Southern California.

For starters, the Browns had not won a playoff game since beating Dallas, 38-14, following the 1969 season.

The second obstacle were the New York Jets, who had staggered into the playoffs fresh off a five-game losing streak, but had regained some of their mojo by defeating Kansas City in the Wild Card game.

What transpired on the painted dirt of Municipal Stadium on Jan. 3, 1987, was third-longest playoff game in NFL history and, if perhaps not the most well-played game, is one of the most memorable in franchise history.

The Jets opened the scoring on a 42-yard flea-flicker touchdown pass from Pat Ryan to Wesley Walker. The Browns countered with their own touchdown drive as Bernie Kosar hit Hermon Fontenot with a 37-yard touchdown pass.

The teams would finish the first quarter tied at 7-7 and head into the half tied at 10-10. The Jets would take a 13-10 lead into the fourth quarter, which is where the game turned memorable.

Mark Mosely missed a field goal and Kosar threw an interception in the end zone, denying the Browns the opportunity to take the lead. But it was Kosar’s second interception of the day that seemingly sealed the Browns’ fate.

Following the turnover, Jets’ running back Freeman McNeil broke through the defense for a 25-yard touchdown running, putting the Jets up by 10 and the Browns just 4:14 away from another soul-crushing defeat.

Three plays into their next offensive possession, the Browns faced a second-and-24 situation from their own 17-yard line. Kosar’s pass fell incomplete, but it was on that play that New York defensive lineman Mark Gastineau earned a place on the Christmas card list of every Browns’ for all of eternity.

Gastineau was flagged for roughing the passer, giving the Browns and Kosar new life.

Kosar went on to complete five passes on what turned into a touchdown drive, with the Browns drawing within three points after Kevin Mack’s one-yard touchdown run.

While the Jets recovered the ensuing onside kick, the Browns defense forced a three-and-out and after a Dave Jennings’ punt, Cleveland took over on its own 32-yard line with no timeouts and just 53 seconds remaining between overtime or the end of the season.

Kosar struck quickly, drawing a pass interference penalty on a pass over the middle intended for Brian Brennan, then hitting Webster Slaughter for a 37-yard gain to the Jets’ five-yard line. With the clock ticking, Kosar tried to win the game with a pass in the end zone that was almost intercepted by cornerback Russell Carter.

Having narrowly avoided a repeat of the Red Right 88 game against Oakland in the 1980 playoffs, Browns coach Marty Schottenheimer called on Mosley, who made a 22-yard field goal to inexplicably send the game into overtime.

The Browns dominated the Jets in overtime, holding New York to just 12 total yards of offense and one first down in three possessions, but continually failed to cash in on offense as the game dragged into the second overtime. Finally, four hours and 11 minutes after the game had kicked off, Mosley ended it with a 27-yard field goal.

“I think we all had an opportunity to experience one of the finest games in the history of the sport,” Schottenheimer said in Classic Browns. “I have never experienced or seen a comeback like that. After it was over, in the locker room, I told the players to listen. You could still hear the people cheering for us.” – TM

December 27, 1964.

Four generations of Cleveland fans have immortalized the date, recalling it easier and with more joyful excitement than birthdays and anniversaries. I was there – and remember more about that Sunday in old Cleveland Municipal Stadium than from my own Bar Mitzvah at Euclid Jewish Center the day prior.

The Game

Despite the date’s mythic status among the Cleveland diaspora, let’s do some myth-busting:

If ESPN had existed back then, SportsCenter would have been hard pressed to come up with its Top 10 game highlights:

The Team

More than the game itself, we recall the players from December 27, 1964 – the dawn of the “Mad Men” era, as well as more troubling times – Vietnam escalating, civil rights battles, end of the post-war economic baby-boom. Yet, one remembrance of that period always elicits a smile – the ’64 Browns team photo. You can’t miss it entering my Cleveland man-cave.

Unlike today’s super-sized NFL rosters full of pass-rushing specialists, long snappers, punt gunners and slot cornerbacks – just 40 players total. And only a handful of assistant coaches, not the legions of “special assistants” that troll today’s sidelines.

For my generation of Browns fans, that picture is our Mona Lisa.

The team also featured solid but unspectacular middle-men Vince Costello and John Morrow, Giants’ cast-off Dick Modzelewski alongside one-game wonder Jim Kanicki at defensive tackle, a woefully weak secondary featuring forgettable Bobby Franklin, Larry Benz and Walter Beach. Yet, each man continues to live in Cleveland immortality on that 1964 team photo.

The one person not in the photo? The man arguably most responsible for that title team, who hand-picked and tutored every man pictured. Some of us may not recognize or want to admit it, but he’s the reason why more than a half century later, we all remember December 27, 1964.

Paul Brown. – RC

There was a time when the month of December was a great time to be a Browns fan. The Browns were founded in 1946 as part of the All-America Football Conference, and won the first and only four championship’s in the league’s history.

The Browns joined the NFL in 1950 and did not slow down the dominant play.

The Browns finished the season with a record of 10-2, and beat the New York Giants by the riveting score of 8-3 to advance to the championship game where they faced the Los Angeles Rams.

Otto Graham led the way at quarterback, with Marion Motley in the backfield and Dante Lavelli out at wide receiver. This legendary lineup would wreak havoc over the NFL from 1950-1955, winning six out of six conference championships and three league championships.

The game took place in Cleveland back when a neutral site was not feasible, thus giving the Browns the advantage of playing in front of the home fans.

The Rams opened the game with an 82-yard touchdown pass, which is a very Browns way to start a game.

The Browns went into halftime down 14-13, and found themselves down 28-20 heading into the fourth quarter. An Otto Graham touchdown and Lou Groza field goal put the Browns up 30-28 with 28 seconds left in the game. A Warren Lahr interception sealed the victory for the Browns, securing an NFL championship in front of the home crowd in the team’s first season in the NFL.

So if you ever get stressed out about the current team, take pride in knowing that the franchise was a dominant force from the start. Things have just slowed down a bit. – SK

Paul Brown is known as a legendary figure in Cleveland. Anyone who has a professional sports team named after them is usually a rather big deal.

In the team’s first four years of existence, as part of the All-America Football Conference, Brown coached his team to four straight championships and a record of 47-4-3.

The team then moved to the NFL in 1950, where Brown took the Browns to six straight NFL championship games, winning three (1950, 1954, 1955).

Things were going well on the field, but Brown was notorious for running an authoritative system. His style led to his own players founding the NFL Player’s Association, which does not reflect well on Brown as an individual.

Enter Art Modell, infamous villain, and things began to change. Modell wanted more control over the football side of things, and Brown was not going to let that happen.

The breaking point came when Brown traded running back Bobby Mitchell to the Washington Redskins for Ernie Davis without telling Modell. Once it was known that Davis had leukemia, Brown refused to play him even when the disease was in remission.

It is hard to blame Brown for keeping Davis out, but Modell had enough with the team’s namesake and fired him after the 1962 season.

There are those who may cite this as one of the reasons why Modell is so hated in Cleveland, but he was left with no choice. Brown wanted too much power, and had not only alienated his boss, but his players as well. Losing the player’s as a coach in today’s game is an instant fireable offense, and Brown was no exception back in the 1960’s, even if he thought of himself as a permanent part of the franchise.

He would go on to be the co-founder of the Cincinnati Bengals, where he served as head coach and GM from 1968-1975.

The Bengals’ stadium is named after Brown, but he will always be remembered for his greatness and contributions to football in Cleveland. – SK

I remember it as if it was yesterday.

Dec. 17, 1995 was the date. The Cleveland Browns faced the Cincinnati Bengals in their final home game at Cleveland Municipal Stadium before moving to Baltimore for the 1996 season.

Fans revolted as the waning seconds ticked off the clock, ripping out anything and everything that wasn’t bolted down that day and carrying rows upon rows of stadium seats out of the storied facility and into their memorabilia collections.

It was a modern-day sports tragedy as fans and players wept together as the final whistle was blown, and an end of era had just been witnessed as the Browns defeated the Bengals 26-10.

The pain could be seen on the faces of the fans as cameras panned the crowd looking for reactions of the Browns faithful as they watched their team win for what may have been the last time in the storied franchise’s history.

But what led us to this fateful day? How could one of the most storied franchises be ripped away from the fans that bled the team colors since its inception in 1946?

Then Browns owner Art Modell became tired and fed up with the city’s handling of the pro teams’ facilities in downtown Cleveland. After the Gateway project was approved and built, Modell felt slighted by the city in which the Browns dominated all the headlines and were the darling of the blue-collared town.

Modell pleaded with the city to approve $175 million in funding to refurbish the existing stadium, which was outdated by NFL standards. The stadium lacked the luxury suites that NFL owners coveted for top-revenue and Modell was missing out.

The city balked at the request and only approved the funding after Modell announced the team’s intention to move on Nov. 6, 1995, at a news conference from Camden Yards in Baltimore.

As he and then Maryland governor Parris Glendening stood together on that stage announcing the agreement to bring the Browns to Baltimore, a city’s heart collectively broke in realization that their worst fear had become a reality.

The Cleveland Browns were moving to Baltimore after the 1995 season.