An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams which play competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller divisions , with the best teams competing at successively higher levels. Conferences often, but not always, include teams from a common geographic region.
107-701: The American Football Conference ( AFC ) is one of the two conferences of the National Football League (NFL), the highest professional level of American football in the United States. The AFC and its counterpart, the National Football Conference (NFC), each contain 16 teams with 4 divisions. Both conferences were created as part of the 1970 merger between the National Football League, and
214-811: A season , a conference refers to a single tournament. This has since been carried over by other leagues, such as the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), which has its own conferences , the Philippine Super Liga , the Premier Volleyball League , the PBA D-League , and formerly the Philippine Basketball League . The term "conference" referring to a single tournament does not apply if there's only one tournament in
321-489: A 41–35 win. A 2006 study conducted by Bizjournal determined that Browns fans are the most loyal fans in the NFL. The study, while not scientific , was largely based on fan loyalty during winning and losing seasons, attendance at games, and challenges confronting fans (such as inclement weather or long-term poor performance of their team). The study noted that Browns fans filled 99.8% of the seats at Huntington Bank Field during
428-471: A 5–11 season in 1995, the Browns fired Belichick. After three years of inactivity while Cleveland Stadium was demolished and Huntington Bank Field , then known as Cleveland Browns Stadium was built on its site, the Browns were reactivated and started play again in 1999 under new owner Al Lerner . Under head coach Chris Palmer, the Browns went 2–14 in 1999 and 3–13 in 2000. The Browns struggled throughout
535-583: A 79–61–1 lead. The Browns and Steelers met in the playoffs in 1994 , 2002 , and 2020 , with the Steelers holding a 2–1 lead in the postseason series. Though the rivalry has cooled in Pittsburgh due to the Modell move as well as the Browns' poor play since 1999, the Steelers still remain the top rival for Cleveland. Originally conceived due to the personal animosity between Paul Brown and Art Modell ,
642-467: A Super Bowl. The Cleveland Browns were founded 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
749-583: 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
856-516: A conference system. From 2011 through to 2015, the competition had one conference based in each of its three founding countries . The winner of each conference received a playoff spot, as did the three next best teams overall. With the addition of Argentina's Jaguares and Japan's Sunwolves for 2016, plus a sixth franchise for South Africa, the competition reorganised into a new four-conference system. In 2016 and 2017, Australia and New Zealand formed separate conferences within an Australasian group;
963-468: A dropshaw (brown on the white road and orange alternate and white on the home brown jerseys). Above the jersey numerals, the word "CLEVELAND" appeared emblazoned in brown (orange on the home brown and white on the orange alternate jerseys) in a custom sans-serif font type. The Browns brought back the all-brown look for the NFL Color Rush program in 2016, minus the white elements. In 2018, despite
1070-610: A group of teams (generally eight to twelve colleges and/or universities, occasionally as high as sixteen) that regularly play against each other within a national governing body, the most significant of which is the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Most of these groups (including the "Power Five" conferences that are primary partners in the College Football Playoff ) refer to themselves as conferences, although
1177-438: A lesser extent their own conference; NBA and NHL teams play at least two games (one at each home arena ) against every other team in their league in a regular season, MLB teams play at least one 3-game series against every other team (as of the 2023 season ), but the NFL teams do not. In college sports , the terms "league," "conference" and (generally at lower levels) "athletic association" can be used interchangeably to refer to
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#17327650859131284-420: A narrow 24–23 victory. There have been a few memorable games in recent years. In 2014 , the Browns erased a 28–3 deficit to come away with a 29–28 win. In a December 2020 contest with playoff implications for both teams, the Browns jumped to a 38–7 halftime lead, setting a franchise record for points in the first half. However, Tennessee rallied in the second half but came up just short as the Browns hung on for
1391-422: A non-geographic conference system in 2019 and 2020 . The league was divided into two conferences, based on ladder position in the previous season. Not every team could play each other due to the limited number of rounds, so conferences were introduced so that teams were only measured against the teams they played. The system was controversial because it allowed some weak teams to make finals, and strong teams from
1498-511: A predetermined formula: Each AFC team plays the other teams in their respective division twice (home and away) during the regular season, in addition to eleven other games assigned to their schedule by the NFL: three games are assigned on the basis of a particular team's final divisional standing from the previous season, and the remaining eight games are split between the roster of two other NFL divisions. This assignment shifts each year and will follow
1605-687: A reactivated Browns franchise that would take the field no later than 1999. Prior to the 1991 season, the Browns hired Bill Belichick to be the head coach. He led the team one winning season in his five years with the team, which occurred in 1994. The 1994 team defeated the New England Patriots 20–13 in the Wild Card Round before falling to the Pittsburgh Steelers 29–9 in the Divisional Round. Following
1712-770: A season, such as in the case of the college sports leagues, the Philippine Football League , and the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League . Cleveland Browns National Football League ( 1950 –present) The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland . The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team
1819-514: A secondary trophy called a "shield" (Irish, Scottish/Italian, South African, Welsh), with the overall league table used to determine playoff participants. The winner of each shield, however, is assured a place in the following year's European Rugby Champions Cup regardless of its overall league position. The now defunct Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association , where teams are represented by companies instead of geographical entities, and there are multiple tournaments held sequentially in
1926-399: A single white stripe and brown numerals on the sides (1957–1959); orange with a brown-white-brown stripe sequence and brown numerals on the sides (1960); orange with a brown-white-brown stripe sequence (1961–1995 and 1999–present). Over the years, the Browns have had on-and-off periods of wearing white for their home games, particularly in the 1970s and 80s, as well as in the early 2000s after
2033-580: A standard cycle. Using the 2023 regular season schedule as an example, each team in the AFC West plays against every team in the AFC East and NFC North. In this way, non-divisional competition will be mostly among common opponents – the exception being the three games assigned based on the team's prior-season divisional standing. At the end of each season, the four division winners and three wild cards (non-division winners with best regular season record) in
2140-511: A total of sixteen teams (eight from each conference) qualify for the league's postseason playoffs. In the NHL , since the 2013–14 season, the top 3 in each division are guaranteed to qualify and division winners are awarded the highest seeds, meaning they will have home-ice advantage in a given round, with the two best remaining teams in each conference receiving wild card spots. In the NBA, starting with
2247-437: Is divided into an American Football Conference (AFC) and a National Football Conference (NFC). Both conferences have 16 teams, and each conference is divided into 4 divisions of 4 teams each. These conferences, for the most part, derive from the fact that they were once separate organizations: the original National Football League and the 1960s American Football League ; the two entities merged in 1970, with each league forming
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#17327650859132354-515: Is named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown . They play their home games at Huntington Bank Field , which opened in 1999, with administrative offices and training facilities in Berea, Ohio . The franchise's official club colors are brown, orange, and white. They are unique among the 32 member clubs of the NFL in that they do not have a logo on their helmets. The franchise was founded in 1944 by Brown and businessman Arthur B. McBride as
2461-691: Is part of NCAA Division I (specifically the Football Bowl Subdivision ), but is itself also subdivided into an East and West division. In English association football, the top level of non-League football —i.e., the level below the Premier League and the three tiers that make up the English Football League (EFL)—was known as the Football Conference from the 1986–87 season through the end of
2568-577: Is the highest level of provincial competition in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, the highest domestic level in Japan, and the only professional domestic level in Argentina. From the creation of Super Rugby in 1996 through 2015 , only Australia, New Zealand and South Africa participated; the competition added teams in the latter two countries in 2016 . Since the 2011 season , it has operated on
2675-615: 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 , who had purchased
2782-782: The 1970 season ; the National Football Conference, however, could not agree upon their setup, and one was chosen from a fishbowl on January 16, 1970. Since the merger, five expansion teams have joined the AFC and two have left, thus making the current total 16. When the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers joined the league in 1976, they were temporarily placed in the NFC and AFC respectively. This arrangement lasted for one season only before
2889-465: The 2023 season 's AFC Championship Game for their fourth conference championship and went on to win Super Bowl LVIII against the San Francisco 49ers . Like the NFC, the conference has 16 teams organized into four divisions each with four teams: East , North , South and West . Currently, the fourteen opponents each team faces over the 17-game regular season schedule are set using
2996-674: The American Football League (AFL). All ten of the AFL teams, and three NFL teams, became members of the new AFC, with the remaining thirteen NFL teams forming the NFC. A series of league expansions and division realignments have occurred since the merger, thus making the current total of 16 teams in each conference. The current AFC champions are the Kansas City Chiefs , who defeated the Baltimore Ravens in
3103-497: The Cleveland Browns Art Modell had suggested of a format in which three teams from the NFL would move to the AFC to create two thirteen-team conferences. But negotiations between NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle and other owners was rampant in who would move (for his part, Modell had first thought the three most recent expansion NFL teams - Minnesota Vikings , Atlanta Falcons , New Orleans Saints should be
3210-482: The Denver Broncos . In 1995, Modell announced he was relocating the Browns to Baltimore , sowing a mix of outrage and bitterness among Cleveland's dedicated fan base. Negotiations and legal battles led to an agreement where Modell would be allowed to take his personnel to Baltimore as an expansion franchise, called the Baltimore Ravens , but would leave Cleveland the Browns' colors, logos and heritage for
3317-872: The FA Cup (open to teams from all levels), the EFL Cup (open only to teams from the Premier League and the English Football League), and the FA Trophy (open only to teams in the broader definition of the National League, plus the two tiers below it). The Kontinental Hockey League has a Western Conference and an Eastern Conference . This is similar to the NHL 's conferences in North America . In rugby union , Super Rugby
American Football Conference - Misplaced Pages Continue
3424-644: The Horizon League , Ivy League , Patriot League , Pioneer League and Summit League use the word "league" instead, and another conference calls itself the Coastal Athletic Association . The NCAA itself is divided into divisions and subdivisions based on athletic scholarship eligibility, which can lead to redundancy when these conferences also have divisions of their own. For instance, the Southeastern Conference
3531-573: The NFC has sent 13 of the 16 NFC teams during that same time frame with only the Detroit Lions , Minnesota Vikings , and Washington Commanders missing out on an appearance in the Super Bowl . 17 of the 19 AFC champions from 2001 to 2019 have started one of just three quarterbacks - Tom Brady , Peyton Manning and Ben Roethlisberger - in the Super Bowl. The AFC has started 7 quarterbacks in
3638-630: The Pittsburgh Steelers ) and Wellington Mara (owner of the New York Giants ), Modell made the suggestion that his franchise would move to the AFC if the Steelers and Baltimore Colts did so as well. In order to equalize the number of teams in each conference, three NFL teams that predated the AFL's launch (the Cleveland Browns , Pittsburgh Steelers , and the then- Baltimore Colts ) joined the ten former AFL teams to form
3745-538: The "Battle of Ohio" between the Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals has been fueled by the sociocultural differences between Cincinnati and Cleveland, a shared history between the two teams, and similar team colors, as Brown used the exact shade of orange for the Bengals that he used for the Browns. (Though this has changed since then, as the Bengals now use a brighter shade of orange.) Modell, in fact, moved
3852-526: The "Great Lakes Classic". As of the 2023 season, the Lions lead the all-time series 19–6. The Browns had a brief rivalry with the Denver Broncos that arose from three AFC Championship Games from 1986 to 1989. In the 1986 AFC Championship, quarterback John Elway led The Drive to secure a tie in the waning moments at Cleveland Municipal Stadium; the Broncos went on to win in 23–20 in overtime. One year later,
3959-461: The 1950s, when the Browns and Lions played each other in four NFL Championship Games. The Lions won three of those championships, while the Browns won one. This was arguably one of the NFL's best rivalries in the 1950s. Since the NFL-AFL merger of 1970, the teams have met much less frequently with the Browns' move to the AFC. From 2002 to 2014, the two teams played an annual preseason game known as
4066-491: The 1963 season, but the team continued to win behind running back Jim Brown . The Browns won the championship in 1964 and reached the title game the following season, losing to the Green Bay Packers. When the AFL and NFL merged before the 1970 season, Cleveland became part of the new American Football Conference (AFC). While the Browns made it back to the playoffs in 1971 and 1972, they fell into mediocrity through
4173-436: The 1989 regular season. The game was decided by a Matt Bahr 48-yard field goal as time expired - a kick that barely cleared the crossbar. Bahr's field goal came after referee Tom Dooley ordered the teams to switch ends of the field midway through the 4th quarter, thanks to rowdy Dawg Pound fans who pelted the Broncos with dog biscuits, eggs and other debris. The switch gave the Browns a small, timely wind advantage to finish
4280-662: The 1997 season. From 1998 to 2013, CBS was the primary broadcast rightsholder to the AFC; in those years, all interconference games in which the AFC team was the visiting team were broadcast on either NBC or CBS. Since 2014, the cross-flex policy allows select AFC games (that involve them playing an NFC team at home or intraconference games) to be moved from CBS to Fox. Since 1990, select AFC playoff games have been seen on ABC or ESPN. AFC Divisions AFC Division Rivals AFC East AFC North AFC South Rivals AFC West Rivals AFC Interdivisional Rivals AFC Television Network Athletic conference The AFL Women's competition used
4387-523: The 1999 Browns were restocked via an expansion draft, the Browns are not considered to be an expansion franchise . Since resuming operations in 1999, the Browns have struggled to find success, especially during the 2010s when they did not post one winning season throughout that 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
American Football Conference - Misplaced Pages Continue
4494-430: The 1999 logo to celebrate the team's return to the NFL, a 60th-anniversary logo for the 2006 season, and a 75th-anniversary logo in 2021. The current logos and wordmarks were introduced on February 24, 2015, with the helmet design remaining largely as is, the only differences being minor color changes to the shade of orange used on the helmet and the facemask being changed from gray to brown. A new secondary "dawg" logo
4601-547: The 2000s and 2010s, posting a record of 101–234–1 (.302) since their 1999 return. The Browns have only posted four winning seasons and three playoff appearances ( 2002 , 2020 , 2023 ) since returning to the NFL. The team's struggles have been magnified since 2012, when the Lerner family sold the team to businessman Jimmy Haslam . In six seasons under Haslam's ownership, the Browns went through four head coaches and four general managers, none of whom had found success. Butch Davis
4708-403: The 2005 season, the team hired Romeo Crennel to the be their next head coach. He went 6–10 in 2005 and 4–12 in 2006. He posted a winning 10–6 record that did not qualify for the playoffs in the 2007 season. He went 4–12 in the 2008 season and was fired following the season. Eric Mangini posted consecutive 5–11 seasons as head coach in 2009 and 2010 before getting fired. Pat Shurmur coached
4815-534: The 2014–15 season. In turn, from 2004, the Conference was divided into three leagues—Conference Premier, at the fifth tier of the English football pyramid , and Conference North and Conference South, which made up the sixth tier. Starting with the 2015–16 season, the Football Conference and its component leagues were renamed. The Football Conference and Conference Premier were both renamed "National League", and
4922-498: The 2015–16 season, the playoff spots go to the eight top teams in each conference by overall record, with home-court advantage in each playoff series based solely on record. Major League Soccer (MLS) also divides itself into an Eastern and Western Conference , though it does not have divisions within them; it too allocates an equal number of teams from each conference to play for its MLS Cup Playoffs (since 2019, this has been seven teams each). The National Football League (NFL)
5029-477: The 2022 season. In the 2023 season, the Browns returned to the postseason with a 11–6 mark. The Browns ended their season with a 45–14 loss to the Texans in the Wild Card Round. The Browns are the only National Football League team without a helmet logo. The logoless helmet serves as the Browns' official logo. The organization has used several promotional logos throughout the years; players' numbers were painted on
5136-528: The 69 meetings with the Oilers/Titans are the third-most of any Cleveland opponent, trailing only the Steelers and Bengals. The height of this rivalry was during the 1980s. Oilers head coach Jerry Glanville and Marty Schottenheimer shared several bitter exchanges during the decade and the Browns and Oilers had their only playoff meeting in the 1988 Wild Card Round , in which the Oilers came away with
5243-596: The AFC qualify for the playoffs . The AFC playoffs culminate in the AFC Championship Game , with the winner receiving the Lamar Hunt Trophy. The AFC champion then plays the NFC champion in the Super Bowl . With the impending merger with the American Football League (AFL) for the 1970 NFL season , the league had careful discussion over the nature of which teams would play in the newly instituted conferences. Then-NFL President and owner of
5350-423: The AFC. The two AFL divisions AFL East and AFL West were more or less intact, while the NFL's Century Division , in which the Browns and the Steelers had played since 1967, was moved from the NFL to become the new AFC Central. Upon the completion of the merger of the AFL and NFL in 1970, the newly minted American Football Conference had already agreed upon their divisional setup along mostly geographical lines for
5457-644: The Browns and then-Oilers being placed in the AFC Central after the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. As such, the teams played each other twice annually from 1970 until 2002 when divisional realignment placed the Browns in the AFC North and the now-Titans in the AFC South (excluding 1996-98 when the Browns were inactive). The teams have met much less frequently since 2002. The Browns lead the overall series 37–32, and
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#17327650859135564-508: The Browns have won 9 of the last 11 meetings. Created as a result of the Browns' relocation controversy , the rivalry between the Browns and Baltimore Ravens was more directed at Art Modell than the team itself, and is simply considered a divisional game in Baltimore. This matchup is more bitter for Cleveland than the others due to the fact that the draft picks for 1995 to 1998 resulted in
5671-428: The Browns in 1961, announced plans to move the team to Baltimore . After threats of legal action from the city of Cleveland and fans, 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
5778-410: The Browns introduced new "White Out" uniforms, an all-white uniform, featuring a white helmet, that will be worn during select home games. This will mark the first time since 1950 the Browns will have non-orange helmets. The white helmets, which will feature an orange stripe down the middle flanked by two brown stripes (basically inverting the regular helmet's colors), are an homage to the early years of
5885-450: The Browns to the AFC after the AFL–NFL merger in order to have a rivalry with the Bengals. The rivalry has also produced two of the eleven highest-scoring games in NFL history. Cincinnati has the all-time edge 52–48. While the Bengals have a 28–21 edge since the Browns returned to the NFL in 1999, this series has been more competitive than the Browns' series with their other division rivals, and
5992-492: The Color Rush program being discontinued, the uniform was worn at home three times. For the 2019 season , the Browns promoted this uniform to their primary home uniform and donned it for six home games as well as any away game in which the home team wore white. The club unveiled a new uniform design for the 2020 season . The new uniform design pays homage to the Browns' classic uniform design from years past. In 2023,
6099-564: The Conference). The AFC logo basically remained unchanged from 1970 to 2009. The 2010 NFL season introduced an updated AFC logo, with the most notable revision being the removal of two stars (leaving four representing the four divisions of the AFC), and moving the stars inside the letter, similar to the NFC logo, which itself was updated at the same time to add a fourth star. NBC aired the AFC's Sunday afternoon and playoff games from 1970 through
6206-473: The NFL. Though the Browns dominated this rivalry early in the series (winning the first eight meetings and posting a 31–9 record in the 1950s and 1960s), the Steelers went 15–5 in the 1970s and 36–9–1 since the Browns returned to the league in 1999. The Steelers have been particularly dominant in Pittsburgh, posting a 44–7 record when hosting the Browns since 1970, including to winning streaks of 16 games (1970–85) and 17 games (2004–20). The Steelers currently hold
6313-484: The Pittsburgh Steelers in week 17 and finishing the season 11–5. In the Wild Card Round, they defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 48–37 for their first playoff win since 1994. The Browns saw their season end in a 22–17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional Round. The 2021 season saw the Browns go 8–9 and miss the postseason. In the following season, the Browns went 7–10 and missed the postseason for
6420-525: The South African teams were joined by the Jaguares and Sunwolves in a "South African" group, with that group also being divided into two conferences. The winner of each conference continued to receive a playoff spot, with additional berths going to the next three best Australasian teams and the next best team of the South African group. For 2018, Super Rugby will revert to a 15-team format, following
6527-451: The Steelers on Saturday nights from 1964 to 1970 to help fuel the rivalry. The rivalry has also been fueled by the proximity of the two teams, number of championships both teams have won, players and personnel having played and/or coached for both sides, and personal bitterness. The teams have played twice annually since 1950, making it the oldest rivalry in the AFC and the fifth-oldest rivalry in
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#17327650859136634-683: The Tennessee Oilers. The team would change its name again, two years later, to the Tennessee Titans . The NFL would again expand in 2002, adding the Houston Texans to the AFC. With the exception of the aforementioned relocations since that time, the divisional setup has remained static ever since. Between 1995 and 2022, the AFC has sent only 9 of its 16 teams to the Super Bowl : New England Patriots (10 times), Pittsburgh Steelers (4 times), Denver Broncos (4 times), Baltimore Ravens (2 times), Indianapolis Colts (2 times), Kansas City Chiefs (3 times), Cincinnati Bengals (1 time), Las Vegas Raiders (1 time), Tennessee Titans (1 time). By contrast,
6741-421: The basis of the NFC and AFC respectively. The NFL allocates seven teams from each conference for the NFL playoffs ; the four division winners (guaranteed one of the top four seeds, based on winning percentage), and the three best-non division winners, also known as wild cards . Major League Baseball (MLB) does not use the word "conference." Instead, it is divided into two separate leagues which are identical to
6848-418: The brown pants, and after being used for only one season, the team returned to their white shirt-on-white pants in 2010. Coach Eric Mangini told The Plain Dealer the Browns won't use the brown pants anymore. "It wasn't very well-received," Mangini said. "I hope we can get to the point where we can wear fruit on our heads and people wouldn't notice." At the time, the brown pants weren't officially dropped by
6955-400: The competition's rebranding as the United Rugby Championship. For the first season under the URC name in 2021–22, the competition reorganized into four regionally based pools, though no longer using the word "conference". Three of the pools are made up of teams from one country—Ireland, South Africa, and Wales. The fourth features the teams from Italy and Scotland. Each regional pool competes for
7062-570: The conferences listed above in all but name (which, although their operations have been integrated via the Commissioner of Baseball in modern times, were originally separately managed organizations with an intense rivalry). These are the American League (AL) and National League (NL), with 15 teams each. Each league is divided into the Eastern ( AL , NL ), Central ( AL , NL ), and Western ( AL , NL ) divisions, with all six divisions having 5 teams each. Each league produces six teams for postseason play , with each division winner also guaranteed one of
7169-400: The dropping of two teams from South Africa and one from Australia. The new format features three conferences—Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, each with five teams; the Sunwolves will join the Australian conference and the Jaguares will play in the South African conference. The conference winners will continue to receive playoff berths, with additional berths going to the top five teams in
7276-446: The elf in the mid-1960s (believing it to be too childish), its use has been revived since the team's return in 1999. The popularity of the Dawg Pound section at Huntington Bank Field has led to a brown and orange dog being used for various Browns functions. But overall, the orange, logo-less helmet continues as the primary trademark of the Cleveland Browns. The Browns have used special commemorative logos during individual seasons, such as
7383-419: The expansion Browns adopted the traditional design with two exceptions: first, the TV numbers, previously on the sleeves, were moved to the shoulders; and second, the orange-brown-orange pants stripes were significantly widened. Experimentation with the uniform design began in 2002. An alternate orange jersey was introduced that season as the NFL encouraged teams to adopt a third jersey, and a major design change
7490-450: The expansion Browns in the same roles. In addition, 49ers owners John York and Denise DeBartolo York reside in Youngstown , 60 miles (97 km) southeast of Cleveland. Long-time Browns placekicker and fan favorite Phil Dawson and backup quarterback Colt McCoy signed with the 49ers in 2014. As of the 2023 season, the Browns lead the all-time series 20–10. The Browns' rivalry with the Houston Oilers / Tennessee Titans dates back to
7597-414: The finals (one from each conference/league) and the records of teams outside a conference/league are ignored, which can allow teams with inferior records to make the playoffs while teams in the other conference with better records do not get in. An extreme example of this has occurred three times in the NFL, when the 2010 Seattle Seahawks , 2014 Carolina Panthers , and 2020 Washington Football Team reached
7704-423: The first occurring in 1968 (brown jerseys worn in early season) and 1969 (white and brown jerseys) when stripes began to be silkscreened onto the sleeves and separated from each other to prevent color bleeding. However, the basic five-stripe sequence has remained intact (with the exception of the 1984 season). A recent revision was the addition of the initials "AL" to honor team owner Al Lerner who died in 2002; this
7811-512: The first time the team wore an all-brown combination in team history. On April 14, 2015, the Cleveland Browns unveiled their new uniform combinations, consisting of the team's colors of orange, brown and white, but with the slight altering of the orange color to a slightly darker, but more vibrant matte orange (noticeable on the helmet, which featured a seal brown facemask), and seal brown and white, with orange numerals which featured
7918-421: The football at the 2-yard line—a play that has been called The Fumble by Browns' fans. The Broncos recovered it, gave Cleveland an intentional safety, and went on to win 38–33. The two teams met yet again in the 1989 AFC Championship at Mile High Stadium, which the Broncos easily won by a score of 37–21. This short-lived rivalry also featured a controversial 16–13 Browns' win at Cleveland Municipal Stadium in
8025-401: The franchise was regarded by the NFL as suspended, guaranteed to return no later than the 1999 season, either by relocation of an existing franchise or an expansion draft. While several of the existing franchises at the time considered relocating to Cleveland, in 1998 it was confirmed that the NFL would hold an expansion draft and field 31 teams when the Browns resumed play in 1999. And although
8132-417: The franchise. The Browns have rivalries with all three of their AFC North opponents. In addition, the team has had historical rivalries with the Denver Broncos , Detroit Lions , San Francisco 49ers , and Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans . Often called the "Turnpike Rivalry", the Browns' biggest rival has long been the Pittsburgh Steelers . Former Browns owner Art Modell scheduled home games against
8239-411: The game. More recently, the rivalry has cooled off as the Broncos won 11 straight meetings from 1991 to 2015 before Cleveland broke that streak with a narrow 17–16 win in 2018 . As of the 2023 season, Denver leads the overall series, 25–7. The most competitive team in the AAFC era for the Browns was the San Francisco 49ers . San Francisco finished second to the Browns in each of the four seasons that
8346-430: The gray facemask in 2006. They were not worn again until the Browns "family" scrimmage on August 9, 2009, with white-striped socks. The Browns have continued to wear the brown pants throughout the 2009 season. Browns quarterback Brady Quinn supported the team's move to wearing the brown pants full-time, claiming that the striped pattern on the white pants "prohibit[ed] mobility". However, the fans generally did not like
8453-439: The helmets from 1957 to 1960 ; and an unused "CB" logo was created in 1965. But for much of their history, the Browns' helmets have been an unadorned burnt orange color with a top stripe of dark brown (officially called " seal brown ") divided by a white stripe. The team has had various promotional logos throughout the years, such as the " Brownie Elf " mascot or a Brown "B" in a white football. While Art Modell did away with
8560-413: The jerseys, pants, and socks remained mostly the same, but the helmets went through many significant revisions throughout the years. The Browns uniforms saw their first massive change prior to the 2015 season. Jerseys: Pants: Socks: Helmet: Solid white (1946–1949); solid white for day games and solid orange for night games (1950–1951); orange with a single white stripe (1952–1956); orange with
8667-409: The last 20 Super Bowls, while the NFC has started 16. The merged league created a new logo for the AFC that took elements of the old AFL logo, specifically the "A" and the six stars surrounding it. The NFC also adopted a logo in 1970 which like the AFL and AFC logos also contained only the first letter as opposed to a full abbreviation, but with only three stars (to represent the then-three divisions of
8774-526: The league played. Two of the Browns' four losses in that era were to the 49ers (including a loss that ended the Browns' 29-game unbeaten streak ); the rivalry did not last into the NFL years, particularly after the teams were placed in opposite conferences in 1970 . The rivalry has turned into a friendly relationship as many 49ers personnel helped the Browns relaunch in 1999, specifically former 49ers president and CEO Carmen Policy and vice president/director of football operations Dwight Clark , who were hired by
8881-419: The league season, the teams that top each conference table received berths in the semifinals, with the next two teams in each conference playing off for semifinal berths. After the 2020–21 season, South Africa fully aligned its club rugby structure with that of Europe. The then-existing Pro14 franchises from South Africa were replaced by the country's four Super Rugby franchises, which moved into Pro14 and led to
8988-416: The mid-1970s. A revival of sorts took place in 1979 and 1980, when quarterback Brian Sipe engineered a series of last-minute wins and the Browns came to be called the "Kardiac Kids". Under Sipe, however, the Browns did not make it past the first round of the playoffs. Quarterback Bernie Kosar , whom the Browns drafted in 1985, led the team to three AFC Championship games in the late 1980s, but lost each time to
9095-447: 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. McBride and his partners sold the team to a group of Cleveland businessmen in 1953 for a then-unheard-of $ 600,000. Eight years later, the team was sold again, this time to a group led by New York advertising executive Art Modell . Modell fired Brown before
9202-504: The number one overall draft pick in both of those years. Those top overall draft picks were used on Myles Garrett and Baker Mayfield. Prior to the 2019 season, Freddie Kitchens was hired as head coach. Kitchens led the team to a 6–10 record and was fired following the season. Prior to the 2020 season, the Browns hired Kevin Stefanski as their head coach. In 2020, the Browns secured their first playoff berth since 2002 by defeating
9309-475: The ones to move to the AFC), since others wanted to simply have no realignment of NFL teams. The AFL had begun play in 1960 with eight teams before adding two more expansion clubs (the Miami Dolphins in 1966 and the Cincinnati Bengals in 1968) before the merger. Modell was in the hospital for internal bleeding around the time negotiations were still going. When he was visited by Art Rooney (owner of
9416-459: The original stripe pattern on the brown jersey sleeves (The white jersey has had that sleeve stripe pattern on a consistent basis since the 1985 season.) and the older, darker shade of brown. The Browns wore brown pants for the first time in team history on August 18, 2008, preseason game against the New York Giants . The pants contain no stripes or markings. The team had the brown pants created as an option for their away uniform when they integrated
9523-588: The other conference missed out on finals. It was because of this that the conference system was removed for the 2021 season . In the United States and Canada , the National Hockey League (NHL) and National Basketball Association (NBA) are divided into Eastern ( NHL , NBA ) and Western ( NHL , NBA ) Conferences, with multiple divisions within each conference (two in each NHL conference, three in each NBA conference). In both leagues,
9630-506: The overall competition table that were not already qualified. In the same sport, Pro14, now known as the United Rugby Championship , adopted a conference system effective in 2017–18 , following the addition of the two South African teams dropped from Super Rugby. The competition split into two conferences, each featuring two teams from Ireland and Wales, plus single teams from Italy, Scotland and South Africa. Following
9737-558: The playoffs by winning their respective divisions despite losing records (7–9 for the Seahawks and Washington, 7–8–1 for the Panthers). These are the only teams ever to qualify for the playoffs with losing records in seasons that were not shortened by strikes (as in 1982 , which was shortened from 16 to 9 games). In addition, a team's regular season schedule is weighted towards more games against other teams within their own division and to
9844-458: The rosters that won the Super Bowl for the Ravens in 2000. Had Modell not moved the team, these teams, drafted by general manager and former Browns tight end Ozzie Newsome , might have given the Browns a title after a 35-year drought. As of the 2023 season, the Ravens lead the overall series 36–14. The two teams have not met in the playoffs. The Browns' rivalry with the Detroit Lions began in
9951-469: 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 (39 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
10058-741: The team led to Modell establishing the Baltimore Ravens with the players and personnel from the Browns, while the Browns were placed in suspended operations before they were reinstated by the NFL. The Ravens were treated as an expansion team. In California , the Oakland Raiders relocated to Los Angeles in 1982, back to Oakland in 1995, and then to Las Vegas in 2020, while the San Diego Chargers returned to Los Angeles in 2017 after 56 years in San Diego . The Houston Oilers moved to Tennessee in 1997, where they were renamed
10165-468: The team returned to the league. Until recently, when more NFL teams have started to wear white at home at least once a season, the Browns were the only non- subtropical team north of the Mason-Dixon line to wear white at home on a regular basis. Secondary numerals (called "TV numbers") first appeared on the jersey sleeves in 1961. Over the years, there have been minor revisions to the sleeve stripes,
10272-445: The team to a 4–12 record in 2011 and a 5–11 record in 2012 before getting fired. Rob Chudzinski coached the Browns in the 2013 season. He was fired after a 4–12 campaign. Mike Pettine coached the team in 2014 and 2015, going 7–9 and 3–13 before getting fired. In 2016 and 2017 under head coach Hue Jackson , the Browns went 1–31 (.031, including a winless 0–16 season in 2017), the worst two-year stretch in NFL history, and received
10379-473: The team, but simply not used. The Browns chose to wear white at home for the 2011 season, and wound up wearing white for all 16 games as when they were on the road, the home team would wear their darker colored uniform. The Browns brought back the brown pants in their home game against the Buffalo Bills on October 3, 2013, on Thursday Night Football , pairing them with the brown jerseys. It marked
10486-484: The top three seeds, even if their record is lower than the league's top wild card teams . In all five sports, the champion of one conference (or league in MLB's case) plays the champion of the other conference for the final round championship, this is guaranteed to occur because the rules for the playoffs require play to be exclusively within the conference/league in all rounds before the final round, leaving only two teams for
10593-407: The two regional leagues were renamed National League North and National League South . This does not strictly meet the definition indicated in the previous sections of this article, as each individual league mentioned in this section is a separate competition. The only times that teams from different leagues compete against one another in meaningful matches are in knockout cup competitions, such as
10700-493: The two teams met again in the 1987 AFC Championship game at Mile High Stadium. Denver took a 21–3 lead, but Browns' quarterback Bernie Kosar threw four touchdown passes to tie the game at 31–31 halfway through the 4th quarter. After a long drive, John Elway threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to running back Sammy Winder to give Denver a 38–31 lead. Cleveland advanced to Denver's 8-yard line with 1:12 left, but Broncos' safety Jeremiah Castille stripped Browns' running back Earnest Byner of
10807-479: The two teams switched conferences. The Seahawks eventually returned to the NFC as a result of the 2002 realignment . The expansion Jacksonville Jaguars joined the AFC in 1995. There have been five teams that have relocated at least once. In 1984, the Baltimore Colts relocated to Indianapolis. In 1995, the Cleveland Browns had attempted to move to Baltimore; the resulting dispute between Cleveland and
10914-427: The white jerseys were outlined in orange. White numerals on the brown jerseys were double outlined in brown and orange. (Orange numerals double outlined in brown and white appeared briefly on the brown jerseys in one pre-season game. ) However, this particular uniform set was not popular with the fans, and in 1985 the uniform was returned to a look similar to the original design. It remained that way until 1995. In 1999,
11021-451: The white pants were replaced by two variations of a brown-orange-brown sequence, one in which the stripes were joined (worn with white jerseys) and the other in which they were separated by white (worn with brown jerseys). The joined sequence was used exclusively with both jerseys in 2005. In 2006, the traditional orange-brown-orange sequence returned. Additionally in 2006, the team reverted to an older uniform style, featuring gray face masks;
11128-469: Was introduced in 2023. The logo, featuring a bull mastiff dog, was created by graphic designer Houston Mark and was the winning entry of a fan vote. It features numerous small homages to the city of Cleveland, state of Ohio, and the team's history. Since the 2022 season, by virtue of a fan poll, a version of the Brownie elf logo is featured at midfield at Huntington Bank Field. The original designs of
11235-443: Was made when solid brown socks appeared for the first time since 1984 and were used with white, brown and orange jerseys. Other than 1984, striped socks (matching the jersey stripes) had been a signature design element in the team's traditional uniform. The white striped socks appeared occasionally with the white jerseys in 2003–2005 and 2007. Experimentation continued in 2003 and 2004 when the traditional orange-brown-orange stripes on
11342-418: Was named head coach prior to the 2001 season. In his first season, he led the team to a 7–9 record in 2001. He led the team to a playoff berth with a 9–7 record in 2002. The Browns lost 36–33 to the Steelers in the Wild Card Round. The team regressed to a 5–11 record in the 2003 season. Following a 3–8 start to the 2004 season, Davis resigned. Terry Robiskie finished out the season with a 1–4 mark. Prior to
11449-544: Was removed in 2013 upon Jimmy Haslam assuming ownership of the team. Orange pants with a brown-white-brown stripe sequence were worn from 1975 to 1983 and become symbolic of the "Kardiac Kids" era. The orange pants were worn again occasionally in 2003 and 2004. Other than the helmet, the uniform was completely redesigned for the 1984 season. New striping patterns appeared on the white jerseys, brown jerseys and pants. Solid brown socks were worn with brown jerseys and solid orange socks were worn with white jerseys. Brown numerals on
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