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For questions such as yours, the official source is usually more helpful than a general search, so we headed to the web site of the Cleveland Browns. We scanned the front page and honed in on the History link. Featured prominently on the History page was a link to an explanation of the team's name. We clicked on the link, and here's what we learned. 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. Brown coached the team from 1946-62 with just one losing season out of the 17 years. He was elected to the Football Hall of Fame in 1967 and went on to become owner and coach of the Cincinnati Bengals, who now play in the stadium that bears his name. In 1996, owner Art Modell moved the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore, much to the dismay and chagrin of Browns
fans, and the team became the Ravens (this time, the name came from a survey of fans). In 1999, Cleveland fans were somewhat pacified when a new expansion team brought football, and the Browns, back to Cleveland.
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