Season Information
During the course of the 1995 season, then-Browns owner Art Modell announced his decision to move the Browns to Baltimore. Modell's new team would begin playing in the 1996 season. It would be the first time since 1935 that Cleveland would be left without an existing football team and the first time since 1943 with a Cleveland Football Team playing when the Cleveland Rams suspended operation for one year so the other teams could have enough players during World War II
However, many Browns fans and Cleveland city officials were determined to keep the team in Cleveland, and orchestrated a grassroots movement to keep the team in Cleveland. The NFL responded by working with city officials, and the two parties came to a unique agreement which would provide the city with a brand-new, state-of-the-art stadium and would promise the return of professional football to Cleveland by the beginning of the 1999 season. Modell also agreed to relinquish the Browns' name, colors and team history to the new owner of the Browns. Modell's new team would begin playing in the 1996 season as the Baltimore Ravens, and was regarded as a new franchise expansion team. The Browns were then considered to have suspended operations from 1996 to 1998.
While the Browns' new stadium was being built on the site of the old Cleveland Stadium, the foundation of the front office was being set in place. Al Lerner won a bidding war for the new team for $750 million. Lerner hired former San Francisco 49ers front office staffers Carmen Policy and Dwight Clark as the Browns' president and vice president.
Football finally returned to Cleveland on September 12 when the Browns opened the season against the Pittsburgh Steelers at home. However, the fans were sorely disappointed as the Browns were defeated by the Steelers 43–0. The team would go on to lose their first seven games, but finally won their first game against the New Orleans Saints when rookie and overall number one pick in the draft quarterback Tim Couch threw up a Hail Mary pass with three seconds left. The pass was caught by rookie wide receiver Kevin Johnson and the Browns won the game 21–16. Two weeks later, the Browns defeated the Steelers in Pittsburgh, 16–15, for their second and final win of the year.
The Browns ended the season badly, finishing 2–14—sixth in the AFC Central. It was the worst record that any Cleveland team ever compiled at the end of a season. They did not win a home game throughout the season.
Read more about this topic: 1999 Cleveland Browns Season
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