A good friend who knows the Browns very well texted me after their 19-17 victory over the San Francisco 49ers last Sunday.

“Wow!”

Simple but yet very profound, for the win was not wow-worthy just for the moment and even this season. It was so for the entire history of the Browns — both franchises, the original one from 1946-95, and the reborn one from 1999 on.

Indeed, it is a historic, because no one thought the Browns, all beat up on offense, including with having to start a little-used quarterback, could defeat the 5-0 49ers, who were considered the top team in the NFL.

And I mean that with every fiber of my being.

On that “wow” list are:

*The Browns won three straight games, all on the road, on opposite coasts and against their three biggest rivals then in the 49ers, Brooklyn Dodgers and Los Angeles Dons, in an eight-day span during Thanksgiving week in 1948 on their way to a perfect 15-0 record and a third straight All-America Football Conference championship.

*Three games won in 1950, the Browns’ first season in the NFL after arriving from the AAFC. The Browns opened the season with a 35-10 victory — the game wasn’t even that close — against the two-time defending NFL champion Philadelphia Eagles on the road. They won 8-3 over the New York Giants, the team that handed them their only two losses in a special playoff playoff game after the clubs had finished the regular season tied for first place in the American conference. The win was secured when when middle guard Bill Willis somehow chased down running back Charlie “Choo-Choo” Roberts, probably the fastest player in the league, and made a touchdown-saving tackle at Cleveland 7 late in the game. That qualified the Browns for the NFL Championship Game, where they edged the Los Angeles Rams 30-28 on a Lou Groza field goal with 16 seconds left after they trained by two scores midway through the fourth quarter.

*Browns running back Dub Jones tied an NFL record by scoring six touchdowns in a 42-21 win over the Chicago Bears on Nov. 25, 1951 at Cleveland. Four came on runs of two, 12, 27 and 43 yards, while two occurred on passes from Otto Graham covering 34 and 43 yarrds. He shares the mark with Pro Football Hall of Famers Ernie Nevers and Gale Sayers, and Alvin Kamara. Also in the game, the Browns and Bears set records for number of penalties and penalty yardage.

*Quarterback Otto Graham and the Browns completed an amazing decade-long run by winning two more league championships, routing the Detroit Lions 56-10 in 1954 and the Los Angeles Rams 38-14 in 1955. In their first 10 years of existence, all with Graham leading the way, the Browns played in 10 straight league title games in the AAFC and the NFL, winning seven crowns. In those last two championship games combined, Graham, saving his best for last, accounted for 10 touchdowns, running for five and passing for five. Against visiting Detroit, he ran for three scores of one yard (twice) and 15 yards, and passed for three (31 and 37 yards to Ray Renfro and eight yards to Pete Brewster. Then in Los Angeles, he ran for two TDs of one and 15 yards, and passed for two of 50 yards to Dante Lavelli and 35 to Renfro.

*The Browns, despite being 11-point underdogs, defeated the Baltimore Colts 27-0 in the 1964 NFL title game on Frank Ryan’s three TD passes to Gary Collins and the greatest defensive performance in club history. The Colts, stocked with future Pro Football Hall of Famers, including quarterback John Unitas and wide receiver Raymond Berry, had led the league in points scored and fewest points allowed. The biggest “wow” moment of this “wow” day occurred on the second quarter when Unitas perfectly set up a screen pass to Lenny Moore on a play from the Baltimore 32. It completely fooled 10 members of the Browns defense. The only one who sniffed it out was linebacker Galen Fiss, who came out of seemingly nowhere and upended Moore just as he caught the ball. Had Fiss not been there, Moore would have raced 68 yards for a TD like a thief in the night. In fact, he could have run all the way to Erie. The never came even remotely close to scoring otherwise.

*The Browns’ 31-21 victory over the New York Jets in the first Monday Night Football game on Sept. 21, 1970. Played before a raucous gathering of 85,703, the largest home crowd in Browns history, the game drew off-the-chart TV ratings in the markets where it was shown, thus proving that fans would tune in to games pkayed on other than just Sunday afternoons. It led to telecasts today in all different time slots on a variety of days.

*The Browns’ 21-16 comeback win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Nov. 25, 1973, achieved after quarterback Mike Phipps, eluding a horde of rushers, threw a 42-yard pass to running back Greg Pruitt, who eluded a horde of linebackers and defensive backs en route to a 42-yard gain. Two plays later, Pruitt ran 19yards for the game-winning TD with a minute left, then mistakenly ran into the Steelers locker room after the game while trying to get away from jubilant fans.

*The Browns’ 26-21 victory over the Green Bay Packers almost exactly 43 years ago to the day, on Oct. 19, 1980. In a season full of the most improbable comebacks and most incredible finishes, this one stood out as the Browns rallied from a two-score, fourth-quarter definitely to win on Brian Sipe’s 46-yard TD pass to wideout Dave Logan with 16 seconds remaining. Avoiding what would have been a huge upset loss saved the season for the Browns as they captured their first AFC Central title in nine years.

*The Browns rallied from 10 points down with 4:14 left in the fourth quarter to defeat the New York Jets 23-20 in double-overtime in the 1986 AFC divisional playoffs on Jan. 3, 1987 at Cleveland. With their team behind 20-10 and little time left, Browns fans, figuring the game was over, dejectedly exited frigid Cleveland Stadium to head home and get warm. But, while listening to Nev Chandler’s and Doug Dieken’s call on their radio.