Cleveland Browns in Pittsburgh tickets

The Cleveland Browns carry one of the deepest legacies in professional football. Founded in 1944 by businessman Arthur B. McBride and coaching pioneer Paul Brown, the franchise began play in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference. The Browns dominated the AAFC from the start, compiling a 47-4-3 record over four seasons and winning every league championship the conference ever held. When the AAFC dissolved after the 1949 season, the Browns joined the NFL and proved they belonged immediately, winning the NFL championship in their inaugural 1950 season. They added three more NFL titles in 1954, 1955, and 1964, and in a feat unmatched in North American professional sports, played in their league's championship game in each of their first ten years of existence.

The franchise has produced some of football's most iconic figures. Jim Brown, widely regarded as one of the greatest players in NFL history, anchored the backfield from 1957 to 1965. Otto Graham quarterbacked the team through its dynasty years, leading Cleveland to ten consecutive championship game appearances. Lou Groza, Marion Motley, Ozzie Newsome, and Joe Thomas are among the 17 Browns players enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, giving Cleveland the fourth-largest representation of any franchise. Bernie Kosar led the team to three AFC Championship games in the late 1980s, and Brian Sipe's clutch performances during the 1979 and 1980 seasons earned the squad the "Kardiac Kids" nickname.

Attending a Cleveland Browns game at Huntington Bank Field is a distinctly Cleveland experience. The stadium sits along the Lake Erie shoreline, and the weather plays a real role in the atmosphere. The Dawg Pound, the bleacher section in the east end zone, is one of the most recognizable fan sections in the NFL. It traces its origins to 1984, when cornerback Hanford Dixon started calling the defense "The Dawgs" and barking at fans in the bleachers to fire them up. The tradition stuck, and the section has been a signature of Browns home games ever since. Beyond the stadium, the Browns Backers Worldwide organization counts roughly 305,000 members with chapters in every major U.S. city and locations as far-flung as Antarctica.