Cleveland Browns fans are perhaps the most loyal in the NFL. While the Browns have never won a Super Bowl Championship and have experienced more than their fair share of tough seasons, fans are enthusiastic and remain optimistic for the day that their team returns to the playoffs. Droves of Browns fans gather at Cleveland Browns Stadium each year, equipped with official box office tickets to show their unmatched loyalty to their team. With the hope that any season could be the one that returns the team to the glory they experienced in their early years, every game is viewed as a potential start for a historic comeback. In 2015, the Browns, with the City of Cleveland's support, also completed a two-year modernization project of Cleveland Browns Stadium that began in 2013 to provide the team and its fans a top-tier facility for NFL games, as well as major events and concerts.

Cleveland Browns Team Info

Conference: AFC

Division: North

Year Founded: 1944

Team Colors: Brown, Orange, White

Mascot: Chomps

Team Rival: Baltimore Ravens

Cleveland Browns Team History

Based in the Ohio metropolis on the shores of Lake Erie, the Cleveland Browns franchise was founded in 1945 as a member of the All-America Football Conference and owns eight league titles, including four NFL championships. The team was first dubbed the Cleveland Panthers despite requests for the "Browns" after Coach Paul Brown. After initial discomfort with the team taking his namesake, Brown eventually agreed to the "Browns" with reluctance when the organization learned about the existence of a former "Cleveland Panthers" semi-pro football team. With the establishment of the team during World War II and many football players in the AAFC and NFL being in the military, the Browns did not play their first regular-season game until 1946, after the war ended.

In 1950, the Browns were selected as one of only three AAFC teams to merge with the National Football League. Cleveland's success carried into its new league as the team appeared in the NFL Championship game in each of its first seven years (1950-56), winning three titles (1950, 1954-55).

In 1995, it was announced that the team would relocate to Baltimore; however, in Feb. 1996, the NFL announced that the Browns would return to play in 1999, largely due to the passion and support from Cleveland fans. On Sept. 12, 1999, the team played its first regular-season game at Cleveland Browns Stadium, which was recently upgraded through a major modernization project completed in 2015.

In addition, 18 former Browns have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in nearby Canton, including Jim Brown, Paul Brown, Otto Graham and Lou Groza, as well as Marion Motley and Bill Willis, two of the first African-Americans who helped break professional sports' race barrier in 1946.