The Browns and Buffalo Bills ventured into the unknown when they met on Aug. 30, 1968 at War Memorial Stadium.

The NFL Browns topped the AFL Bills 22-12 in the first inter-league game ever for both teams.

As part of the completion of the merger between the two leagues in 1970, it was decided that the clubs would play a preseason game against a team from the other league beginning in 1968 so as to allow them to become familiar with one another. These weren’t anything like the preseason games of today, in which the starters play little, if at all,  and nobody cares who wins. The teams played all their starters throughout and did everything they could to get the victory. After all, the prestige and honor of their respective league depended on it. That was especially true for the NFL clubs such as the Browns, who thought they were superior to their counterparts in the AFL. In fact, the Browns rallied in the fourth quarter to put the game away against Buffalo, which gave them all they could handle.

A couple of other cool Browns preseason notes:

*The Browns played the Bills twice — in back-to-back weeks — in 1981. They played the Detroit Lions twice in both 1956 and ‘57, including in consecutive weeks in the former season.

*Saturday is the 78th anniversary of the first time the Browns played a Buffalo team in the preseason. It happened on Aug. 22, 1948 against the Buffalo Bisons, a fellow member of the All-America Football Conference.

*The AFL team the Browns played in 1969 heading into the merger the next year was the San Diego Chargers. Sunday will be the 57th anniversary of a 19-19 tie on the road.

*The Browns didn’t play an AFC team at home in the preseason until 1975, when they lost 34-20 to the Bills.

Steve King