The Pro Football Hall of Fame opened in Canton 52 years ago today, on Sept. 7, 1963.

A hall of fame devoted to the legends of the game needed a game to be played to commemorate the big day. The festivities would simply not be the same without one.

So the HOF called upon its two closest NFL franchises to lend a hand. And they reciprocated.

As such, the Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers met next door at what was then known as Fawcett Stadium, with Pittsburgh 16-7 winning before a full house of 18,462.
It was actually the second annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, as the New York Giants and St. Louis Cardinals had played to a 21-21 tie the year before, on Aug. 11, 1962, to commemorate … well, the fact there was a construction site with a lot of dirt being moved.

Through the years, the HOF Game has never been an ordinary preseason affair. It has special meaning. The teams are playing in the shadow of football’s shrine, for goodness sake.

No game was played in 1966, or in 2011, when a lockout of the players by the owners was not settled in time for the teams scheduled to play to be adequately prepared. On both occasions, it was a sad time in Canton and throughout the NFL, really. The HOF Game kicks off the preseason and marks the real return of football, so the fizzle and sizzle had been temporarily extinguished.
The Browns have played five times in the HOF Game.

They returned just four years after their first visit, in 1967, losing 28-13 to the Philadelphia Eagles.

They went back again in 1981, defeating the Atlanta Falcons 24-10.

They lost to the Chicago Bears 13-0 on a hot, steamy day in 1990.

Nine years later, in 1999, the Browns marked their return to the field after a three-year absence by edging the Dallas Cowboys 20-17 in overtime on a field goal by a little-known kicker named Phil Dawson. They celebrated in the locker room afterward as if they had won the Super Bowl.

Playing in front of all those HOF busts watching can do that to you.