What is a Brown, anyway? Good question. In this case, the Brown is Paul Brown, who became the team’s first head coach when it was a member of the All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949 before joining the NFL in 1950. Originally, Cleveland Panthers was selected in a name-the-team contest, but a local businessman blocked its use because he still owned the rights to that name, which had been adopted by a defunct 1926 team that played in the first American Football League. A second name-the-team contest was held to find a replacement, and since many people had already taken to calling it “Brown’s team,” Browns became the popular choice. Although Paul Brown wasn’t crazy about the idea, it worked for Ohioans, who admired Brown’s incredible record as a high school coach in Massillon, Ohio, and for guiding Ohio State to a national championship. At various times, the team has used a cartoon creation called Brownie the Elf as a mascot, but it has never been used as a logo on the team’s helmets, maybe because he’s a little too childish looking.
TONY DEJAK/AP
