Talk:History of the Cleveland Browns

Origin of team name
This article states the Browns were not named after Paul Brown, but rather the boxer Joe Louis, going further to state that the idea of the team being named after Paul Brown has just been a long rumor or myth.

I can't find any source that backs this statement. Joe Louis had no ties to Cleveland (he worked in rival city Detroit when he was young). The Joe Louis Wikipedia article makes absolutely no mention of any connection either.

Here's how the story is typically presented: "In 1945, Arthur McBride brought the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) team to Cleveland. He ran a newspaper contest to name the team and offered the winner a $1,000 war bond. Many entries suggested the name "Browns" after Head Coach Paul Brown, but Coach Brown felt it wasn't "proper" to name the team after himself. Instead, the winning suggestion was the Panthers. However, there was a semi-pro team called the Cleveland Panthers in the '20s, and the owner still had the rights to the name. So, Coach Brown reluctantly agreed to name the team the Browns."

Even the Pro Football Hall of Fame makes no mention of a connection to Joe Louis. This article backs up its statement of a connection merely through one single reference of a book written based on one man's research rather than the horse's mouth which is the NFL. Here's the link to the NFL's team nickname histories: NFL Team Nicknames --Heavy (talk) 17:22, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

AAFC "Merger" with the NFL
The AAFC was disbanded with three franchises then joining the NFL. It was *NOT* a merger. The NFL fails to recognize records from the AAFC because of this fact. The AFL merged with the NFL and the NFL today recognizes AFL records.--68.73.75.198 (talk) 19:14, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

Move and expansion
As a reminder, it is irrelevant what editors think about the move to Baltimore and whether or not the current Baltimore Ravens are the original Cleveland Browns. Legally the current Cleveland Browns are considered by the NFL to be the franchise (this whole point has been discussed back and forth on the Cleveland Browns talk page) founded in 1946. Please refrain from making unsourced commentary, which is mostly what I removed in my most recent edit. Wikipedia is for sourced and verifiable facts, not speculation or opinion from editors. --JonRidinger (talk) 21:58, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

Proposed upgrade
I'm proposing to upgrade this article, following the general example set by the History of the New York Jets page, which is rated FA. Shortly, and unless there is any objection, I'm going to begin integrating historical material from the main Cleveland Browns page with this one, with a view to eventually shortening the history on the team page and making this the main repository for Browns history. This article hasn't been updated in a while, and presently appears to be a listing of seasons and the events therein; efforts will be made to preserve what's here as much as possible, whenever that information is relevant and useful.--Batard0 (talk) 14:36, 17 May 2012 (UTC)


 * Sounds like a fantastic idea! --JonRidinger (talk) 19:05, 17 May 2012 (UTC)


 * Having beefed up the article substantially, I'm nominating it for good article status. Any help much appreciated.--Batard0 (talk) 17:00, 20 June 2012 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 18:04, 29 April 2016 (UTC)