When the Cleveland Browns joined the NFL, many of their opponentsÕ fans thought it was a joke. Little did they know that the Browns would crush the defending NFL champion in their first game, 35-10! When the Browns were scheduled to relocate, fans rallied to block the move. Find out more about the Cleveland Browns and their loyal fan base in this title for active minds.

There was little fanfare when Art "Mickey" McBride flew into Chicago in 1945 to purchase a professional football team for Cleveland. But that act set in motion a tradition that has brought the city of Cleveland together on Sunday afternoons for (most of) the sixty years to follow. Cleveland Browns History is the story of championship seasons, legendary coaches, and Hall of Fame players. Coach Paul Brown led his teams to seven league title games in their first 17 seasons. Running backs Marion Motley, Jim Brown, and Leroy Kelley each rushed over opposing defenses and straight into Canton, Ohio, along with fellow Browns like Otto Graham, Ozzie Newsome, and Len Ford. The "Kardiac Kids" in 1980 had too many nail-biters for some fans, but won the AFC Central in typical fashion--by three points in the final game of the season. All these stories, plus those of the many unsung heroes to don the NFL's only logo-less helmet, fill the pages of this book, sure to delight any Cleveland Browns fan.

In this text, Jonathan Knight paints a portrait of the Cleveland Browns' storybook 1980 NFL season, describing its impact on the city of Cleveland. Taking readers from the year's beginning to its end, the author shows how everybody fell in love with the team.

Cleveland Browns 101 is required reading for every Browns fan! From the sharing the excitement of the "Dawg Pound" with Chomps to the legendary players and great NFL Championships, you'll share all the memories with the next generation. Enjoy all the traditions of your favorite team, learn the basics about playing football and share the excitement of the NFL!

What is this madness all about? Being a Browns fan is just different. Why are we the only fans in the nation who ever demanded their team back -- and got it? Why have we endured years of heartache (The Fumble, The Drive, "Red Right 88"...) yet grown ever more attached to the experience? To answer that question, these 33 essays seek out the essential elements of being a Browns fan. It's about pride. It's about desire, tempered by crushing disappointment. It's about tradition, rivalry, and electrifying victory. It's about longing -- for a return to past championships, for future glory. It's about heart. If you're Brown, you'll enjoy the ride.

If you remember the Kardiac Kids … the Dawgs … the old Stadium … Bernie and Marty and Ozzie … this book is for you! Like a Classic throwback jersey, it recalls favorite players and exciting moments from Cleveland Browns teams of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and more. They played it old-school. Doug Dieken set the NFL record for consecutive starts by a left tackle despite three knee surgeries, broken hands and thumbs, torn tendons, a broken arm and “a concussion or two. Maybe four or six. Hard to know.” Ozzie Newsome never expected to play tight end when he was drafted, then practically reinvented the position on his way to the Hall of Fame. Bernie Kosar carried a massive weight on his young shoulders as a hometown hero leading the Browns during years when the team offered a ray of hope to a downtrodden city. Earnest Byner and Kevin Mack together formed one powerhouse backfield and separately dealt admirably with adversity. Phil Dawson discovered that despite popularity and longevity, “Every kick could be your last.” Also includes Gregg Pruitt, Brian Sipe, Marty Schottenheimer, Reggie Langhorne, Brian Brennan, Bill Belichick, Tim Couch, Phil Dawson, and others. These insightful short profiles will entertain Browns fans of any vintage!

Seven decades of the intense Steelers-Browns rivalry Football historians regard the games between the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers as the basis for one of the greatest rivalries in NFL history. Authors Richard Peterson and Stephen Peterson, in telling the engaging story of these teams who play only a two-hour drive along the turnpike from each other, explore the reasons behind this intense rivalry and the details of its ups and downs for each team and its fans. The early rivalry was a tale of Browns dominance and Steelers ineptitude. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Browns--led by Hall of Famers ranging from Otto Graham and Marion Motley in the 1950s to Jim Brown, Bobby Mitchell, and Leroy Kelly in the 1960s--won 32 of the first 40 games played against the Steelers. In the 1970s, the Steelers--led by Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, and the Steel Curtain--finally turned things around. When the AFL and NFL merged in 1970, Art Rooney agreed to move the Steelers only if the Browns also moved into the AFC and played in the same division so that their rivalry would be preserved. Despite the fierce rivalry, these cities and their fans have much in common, most notably the working-class nature of the Steeler Nation and the Dawg Pound and their passion, over the decades, for their football teams. Many fans are able to regularly making the 130-mile trip to watch the games. From the first game on October 7, 1950, where Cleveland defeated the Steelers 30-17, to last season's infamous helmet incident with Mason Rudolph and Myles Garrett, the rivalry remains as intense as ever.

Terry Pluto, one of Cleveland's top sportswriters, takes a hard look at the first 5 years of the new Cleveland Browns franchise and doesn't like what he sees. This book chronicles the backroom deals, big-money power plays, poor decisions, and plain bad luck that have dogged the venerable franchise since Art Modell skipped town in 1995. Legions of loyal fans stand by, waiting for a return to past glory. How much longer must they wait? Pluto sifts through the clues from the last five seasons and looks for answers.

For the city of Cleveland and the fans of the Browns, it’s not just a football team: it’s a way of life. From rabid fan clubs all around the country to fans around Northeast Ohio wearing the colors of the brown and orange, time stops when the Browns take the field each week. The team joined the NFL in 1950 and won a championship in their first year in the league, and went on to win three more, the last of which was 1964 when they shutout the Baltimore Colts 27-0 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Since then fans have been waiting, through good years and bad, for the glory to return to the Browns franchise. They have had to endure the harshest of defeats, losing three times to the Denver Broncos in the 1980’s on the doorstep of playing in their first Super Bowl. They also had to live out the nightmare of their franchise being ripped away during the 1995 season, as then owner Art Modell moved them to Baltimore in one of the most shocking moves in NFL history. This book will give you an idea of the fanfare and the love that former players and fans have for the Cleveland Browns. Read as Bernie Kosar, Ozzie Newsome, Don Cockcroft, Eric Metcalf, and other beloved players remember the glory days, with exciting trips to the postseason. You’ll understand after reading this just how much Cleveland loves its football team, and how the players feel the same. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team. Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

In 2016 the Rams left St. Louis for Los Angeles—having departed L.A. for St. Louis in 1995—and caused much heartbreak among fans. NFL teams are notorious for decamping to more profitable markets and the Rams’ history of opportunistic moves goes back to 1946, when they left Cleveland, their original hometown, where fans had cheered them to a championship a month earlier. The move to L.A. from Cleveland shocked the NFL and shook up its power structure. It also jolted the all-white league into reintegration, prepared the way for the Browns, and made the Rams the only NFL champs ever to have spent the following season in a different city. This is the story of how the Rams went from a home-grown Ohio team funded by local businessmen to the first major-league franchise on the West Coast, and how their departure jumpstarted a chain of events in Cleveland that continues to this day.