When they celebrated their 60th anniversary in 2006, the Browns made a big deal of it with a season-long celebration.
Now it’s 10 years later and the Browns, born in 1946, will turn 70 years old in 2016. But will they do anything – maybe even just an ice cream cake and some balloons — to recognize that fact?
That it’s about six weeks away from the start of training camp, and less than three months away from the beginning of the regular season, seems to blare out a resounding “No!” as the answer to that question.
It wouldn’t be surprising if that were indeed the case, because for several years prior to head coach Hue Jackson being hired in January, the Browns have very demonstratively – and arrogantly — distanced themselves from their past. Jackson has made some strides to helped rectify that in the last couple of months,, but the Browns can’t expect him to continue to lead the charge. He has a team to coach, for goodness sake. They need to get the promotional people involved – that is, if owner Jimmy Haslam wants them to be involved. For all we know, he is unaware it is the Browns’ 70th and/or he doesn’t care.
Whatever the case, to give the 70th birthday of the Browns – a seminal moment in their history, to be sure – at least some recognition, here’s an every-10-years timeline from 1946 to the present:
*1946 – The Browns are born and begin play in the brand-new All-America Football Conference, which is formed to compete with the established NFL for entertainment dollars as the country, with the ravages of World War II finally behind it, looks to start having some fun again. The Browns win their first game, routing the Miami Seahawks 44-0 at Cleveland Stadium before 60,135, the largest crowd ever to see a pro football game to that time, and go on to capture the first of their four straight AAFC championships.
*1956 – After playing in 10 consecutive league title games, with seven championships, in their first 10 years of existence, the Browns suffer their first losing season by finishing 5-7. The reason for the drop-off is the absence of one of the best quarterbacks ever, Otto Graham, who retired at the end of the 1955 season.
*1966 – Following the sudden retirement of another Pro Football Hall of Famer, running back Jim Brown, just as they were beginning training camp, the Browns finish 9-5 and miss the playoffs after going to the NFL title game the previous two years.
*1976 – Coming off their two worst records in franchise history to that point, and after starting just 1-3, the Browns win eight of their next nine en route to going 9-5, challenging for a playoff spot and earning second-year head coach Forrest Gregg the AFC Coach of the Year award.
*1986 – Led by rising young quarterback Bernie Kosar, the Browns finish 12-4 and clinch home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs, only to be denied their first Super Bowl berth by losing to the Denver Broncos 23-20 in overtime in the conference title game.
*1996 – Cleveland is without a pro football team for the first time in 53 years, when the Rams sat out the 1943 season because of World War II, after owner Art Modell moved the original Browns franchise to Baltimore following the 1995 season. As part of the agreement to let that happen, the city retained the Browns’ name, history and colors but will not have a team on the field for the next three seasons. An expansion Browns franchise will debut in 1999 in a new stadium.
2006 – Under second-year head coach Romeo Crennel, the Browns lose their last four games, and six of their final seven, to finish 4-12, thus posting their fourth straight losing record.
2016 – With a club-record string of eight losing marks in a row, the Browns once again make changes following the 2015 season, bringing in a new front-office staff led by Sashi Brown and a new head coach in Hue Jackson.
