HOW THE BROWNS GOT THEIR COLORS

By STEVE KING

Orange pants – or actually the lack thereof, at least as it stands now.

Orange helmets. Orange striping on the pants, jerseys and socks. Orange shoes.

Brown jerseys. Brown pants. Brown socks. Brown striping on the pants, jerseys and socks.

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And so on and so forth.

True to ourselves.
True to our loyal fans.
True to who we’ll always be.https://t.co/VwRW3sfRSx pic.twitter.com/HbQYZQEu9N

— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) April 15, 2020

OK, so just how did it happen that orange and brown became the Browns’ colors?

Glad you asked. Here’s the story:

It was early in the calendar year of 1946 and Browns General Manager/head coach Paul Brown was scouring Ohio, looking for a training camp site for that summer on which the team could get ready for its inaugural season in the start-up All-America Football Conference.

His travels took him to Bowling Green and Bowling Green State University. Brown was interested in the school because it was far enough away from Cleveland that he could sequester his team there away from all the noise and chatter of the big city, but close enough that the Browns, when they needed to, could get back to Cleveland in a decent amount of time (two hours-plus at a point in history before the existence of the Ohio Turnpike).

Brown was getting a tour when he stopped in an athletic building. What caught his attention was a framed BGSU football jersey on a wall. He really liked the school’s orange-and-brown color combination.

The Browns – actually, Brown, who was making almost all of the decisions with the full approval of owner Arthur “Mickey” McBride) — hadn’t selected team colors yet. Brown was born in 1908 in Norwalk, located about halfway between Cleveland and Bowling Green, but moved with his family to Massillon when he was 9 years old. He starred at quarterback at Massillon (Washington) High School, then returned in 1932 to become head coach at his alma mater. He turned the Tigers into a national power, which propelled him in 1940 to Ohio State, where in his second season he guided the Buckeyes to their first national champion. That, in turn, got him the job with the Browns.

So, then, Massillon was where Brown’s coaching career started, and as such he was a Tiger through and through. He loved the school and its school colors of orange and black, which is common for schools having Tigers for a nickname.

Brown didn’t want to copy Massillon’s colors in total, because it would have looked hokey and caused animosity from people living in other Ohio cities, such as in neighboring Canton, home of the Tigers’ arch rivals, the McKinley Bulldogs. But, as he saw it, he could get away with copying BGSU’s colors and as such getting half of Massillon’s colors with the orange.

It was a win-win.

So, brown and orange it was for the new team.

And, all these years – 74, to be exact – later, the Browns are still proudly sporting those original colors.

By the way, Brown did go ahead and pick BGSU for training camp. The Browns trained there for six seasons, through 1951, before going to Hiram College from 1952-74, Kent State University (1975-81), Lakeland Community College (1982-91) and finally Browns Headquarters in Berea (1992-present).

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• “What contract extensions could be on the horizon for the Browns?” (cleveland.com)
• Myles Garrett re-ignites rivalry (Browns Daily Dose)
• “New uniforms take us ‘back in time to when they really were the Cleveland Browns’” (Jimmy’s Take)
• “Behind the process that led to the Browns’ new uniforms” (Browns.com)
• Jim Donovan and Doug Dieken – Simply the best (Browns Daily Dose)

When you win say nothing. When you lose say less.

Paul Brown