Cleveland Browns

[Discrim]

Always loved his iagae of Paul Brown and his attempt to mimic his old Cleveland Browns identity.

http://www.footballhappenings.com/uniformguru_afc.htm

Some of this helmets pictured seemed inspiration for the cool helmet they wear today. How can a team who has such a cool helment have such a cruddy set of uniforms? Seems strange.

Uniform Guru doesn't appear to be the most credible source. His entire criticism of the Browns' uniforms revolves around the fact the team was named for a color. They were named in honor of coach Paul Brown. His last name happens to be a color, which is a coincidence. That's all, the same way Bowling Green State U. in Ohio exists in a town with a color in its name (a reference to British park space for lawn bowling) but does not use that color primarily (or at all, in this case).

....and now for some irony...one of the many stories behind the Browns' colors is that Paul Brown had taken a liking to Bowling Green's colors and similarly attired his Cleveland eleven.

[John in KY]

I remember seeing this set in action against Cincinnati (both home and road games) as well as the roads against Seattle.  The orange number version was scrapped after one game, and the whole design scrapped after the season.

So did the Bengals wear white at home for the entire season? The Bungles are a hard team to track since it appears they usually wore black at home, but then would suddenly break out the white jersey for a home game that was not related to the weather.

Sorry - I wasn't really clear on that. By "set" I meant that entire uniform design. The Browns wore the white jersey for the game in Cincinnati and the brown jersey for the game in Cleveland.

[iowahoo]

Always loved his iagae of Paul Brown and his attempt to mimic his old Cleveland Browns identity.

http://www.footballhappenings.com/uniformguru_afc.htm

Some of this helmets pictured seemed inspiration for the cool helmet they wear today. How can a team who has such a cool helment have such a cruddy set of uniforms? Seems strange.

Uniform Guru doesn't appear to be the most credible source. His entire criticism of the Browns' uniforms revolves around the fact the team was named for a color. They were named in honor of coach Paul Brown. His last name happens to be a color, which is a coincidence. That's all, the same way Bowling Green State U. in Ohio exists in a town with a color in its name (a reference to British park space for lawn bowling) but does not use that color primarily (or at all, in this case).

....and now for some irony...one of the many stories behind the Browns' colors is that Paul Brown had taken a liking to Bowling Green's colors and similarly attired his Cleveland eleven.

This is true. The Browns first ever trainning camp was held at Bowling Green State University. At the time the team hadn't decided upon a nickname or color scheme. Brown reluctantly agreed to call the team the Browns and decided he liked BGSU's colors and adopted them as the team colors as well.

The Browns first ever "preseason game" was against the New York Giants in Bowling Green City Park. For some years in the late 40s and early 50s the Browns would donate old equipment and uniforms to BGSU.

[VitaminD]

Uniform Guru doesn't appear to be the most credible source. His entire criticism of the Browns' uniforms revolves around the fact the team was named for a color. They were named in honor of coach Paul Brown. His last name happens to be a color, which is a coincidence. That's all, the same way Bowling Green State U. in Ohio exists in a town with a color in its name (a reference to British park space for lawn bowling) but does not use that color primarily (or at all, in this case).

....and now for some irony...one of the many stories behind the Browns' colors is that Paul Brown had taken a liking to Bowling Green's colors and similarly attired his Cleveland eleven.

This is true. The Browns first ever trainning camp was held at Bowling Green State University. At the time the team hadn't decided upon a nickname or color scheme. Brown reluctantly agreed to call the team the Browns and decided he liked BGSU's colors and adopted them as the team colors as well.

The Browns first ever "preseason game" was against the New York Giants in Bowling Green City Park. For some years in the late 40s and early 50s the Browns would donate old equipment and uniforms to BGSU.

Even more interesting, BGSU got its school colors when a school president (I believe) was taken by the brown and orange feathers on a woman's hat while he was on a train.

[MisterE]

I've wondered why the Browns have "AD" on one sleeve. At first I thought it could be a sponsor's logo but I think the NFL doesn't allow any sponsor logos on the uniforms except for the Reebok logos. Does anybody know?

[Captain Apollo]

It's not an A.D. It's and A.L. for Al Leaner (forgive me if this is spelled wrong) He was the first owner of the new Browns. I believe he passed away in 2003.

[JQK]

I've wondered why the Browns have "AD" on one sleeve. At first I thought it could be a sponsor's logo but I think the NFL doesn't allow any sponsor logos on the uniforms except for the Reebok logos. Does anybody know?

it's "AL", for former owner Al Lerner... the man who helped move the browns to Baltimore in the first place...

a totally undeserved tribute...

[perfesser]

Close. His name was Al Lerner and he died in 2002. He was the owner of the new Browns. Here's an NFL.com story.

http://www.nfl.com/teams/story/CLE/5827385

And J. Quincy is right about his role in the original Browns move to Baltimore. The two sides signed the deal on his private plane.

[02Rover]

Cruising the net, I found these Browns jerseys. Anybody rememberr them? I had never seen them before.

They look like something that would come from the USFL.

1984, one year only.

[Gothamite]

The "AL" patch is perhaps the most undeserved tribute in the history of sports.

What exactly did that guy do to earn a permanent jersey tribute? Nothing. He helped one team move out of town, made a guaranteed investment in a new one in an established market. Big deal.

It demeans the Browns to keep this guy's initials on the uniforms. Like any owner, a single-season patch is deserved. But permanent? That would be laughable if it wasn't pathetic.

[cableguy]

Can anyone find a game photograph from the season they wore those? I sure cant and I still dont remember them ever weaaring them. I would love to see a game photo of them in those.

[OleSmokey]

I actually went to the preseason game where the orange numerals and white trim unis were worn. It was the Browns vs. Steelers at old Cleveland Stadium in 1984. They switched after this game to the pictured unis because of announcers and fans having trouble identifying players. They wore them one year. I've seen pictures before, and will try to post pics if I can find them.