Quote:
Originally Posted by iheartthed
Technically the Browns are an expansion team created in the late 90s. The original Browns franchise is the current Baltimore Ravens. So, as a franchise, it's really just the Lions holding that crown. But as a market, Detroiters share the misery with their neighbors in Cleveland.
|
but when the new browns entered the league, the NFL stripped the legacy, history, and stats from the ravens franchise and gave them to the new browns because it made sense to do so.
so as far as the NFL is concerned, the new browns
ARE the old browns, and the ravens are effectively the expansion franchise.
of course, all of this stupidity could have easily been avoided if art modell wasn't so fucking stupid......
Quote:
In 1995, owner Art Modell, who had purchased the Browns in 1961, announced plans to move the team to Baltimore. After threats of legal action from the city of Cleveland and fans, a compromise was reached in early 1996 that allowed Modell to establish the Baltimore Ravens as a new franchise while retaining the contracts of all Browns personnel. The Browns' intellectual property, including team name, logos, training facility, and history, were kept in trust and the franchise was regarded by the NFL as suspended, with a new team to be established by 1999 either by expansion or relocation. The Browns were announced as an expansion team in 1998 and resumed play in 1999
|
source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_Browns