@kshutchins said:

No, that is correct and that apparently is a mystique that the Browns wish to retain. I have suggested that the Browns come out with an official position that the Browns name hereinafter officially be in honor of Paul Brown, Joe Louis, and Jim Brown....and that they put statues of those guys up in front of the stadium.

Randy Lerner however was more interested in honoring his dad with a statue. Whatever.

@the-gipper said:

So, Okay, what this gives us here in Cleveland is one team named for a possible politically incorrect name for a Native American ( "Indian" Louis Sockalexis), one team named for a politically incorrect term for an African-American ( "Brown" man Joe Louis), and a team named after a bunch of guys who supported someone who had his head chopped off ("The Cavaliers were the supporters of King Charles I of England who was beheaded).

Maybe there is just bad Karma in the names of our teams, you think?

If I remember correctly, my source for information about the naming of the Browns was a very old news clipping from a Cleveland paper that I was able to dig up back in the dark ages before everybody started to believe that Wikipedia was a reliable source. As far as I know, The Cleveland Browns have never published an "official" statement about how the team was named. Has anyone here ever seen one?

@bodogjoe said:

The Cleveland Browns were founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference, under businessman Arthur B "Mickey" McBride.[4] Not long after gaining the franchise, McBride named Ohio State Buckeyes coach Paul Brown as vice president, general manager and head coach. The franchise conducted a team naming contest in 1945. The most popular submission was "Browns" in recognition of Paul Brown, already an established and popular figure in Ohio sports. Brown at first objected to the name and the team selected from the contest entries the name "Panthers". However, after an area businessman informed the team that he owned the rights to the name Cleveland Panthers from an earlier failed football team, Brown rescinded his objection and agreed to the use of his name.

Wikipedia doesn't give you the full story here. See Kay's post for the theory that the Browns are named after Joe Louis. That was Paul Brown's line....that it was Louis, not himself, that the team was named for.

So, Okay, what this gives us here in Cleveland is one team named for a possible politically incorrect name for a Native American ( "Indian" Louis Sockalexis), one team named for a politically incorrect term for an African-American ( "Brown" man Joe Louis), and a team named after a bunch of guys who supported someone who had his head chopped off ("The Cavaliers were the supporters of King Charles I of England who was beheaded).

Maybe there is just bad Karma in the names of our teams, you think?

@josephsuxdick said:

He said "it's your wives face after my weekly cleansing".

@nort said:

- Curious steeler fan

btw, hats of to Hillis for his 1,000 yard season; last white rb i think was back in 85'

I posted this response to a similar question several weeks ago:

There's some myth and mystery surrounding the naming of the Browns. Originally another name was chosen but it turned out to have been the name of a losing team so it was dropped. Paul Brown was the coach so many people assume that the team was named for him but other accounts have the coach stating that naming the team for himself would be "unseemly." I've read that there was a contest and the winning name was "Brown Bombers" after Joe Louis, a popular boxer back in that day. The name was shortened to "Browns," allowing the coach some measure of satisfaction. There has always been debate and disagreement about the truth behind the naming of the Cleveland team. Ultimately it doesn't really matter. For all we know the team could have been named after the color of both the jerseys and brown bomber jackets.

I wonder if Cinci baseball fans are constantly asked what a "Red" is.

@josephsuxdick said:

Oooooo ... I bet you think you're hilarious. ::eyes rolling heavenward::

@nort said:

No but we are

@richiswhere said:

you know wiki isn't the most reliable source...

@bodogjoe said:

The Cleveland Browns were founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference, under businessman Arthur B "Mickey" McBride.[4] Not long after gaining the franchise, McBride named Ohio State Buckeyes coach Paul Brown as vice president, general manager and head coach. The franchise conducted a team naming contest in 1945. The most popular submission was "Browns" in recognition of Paul Brown, already an established and popular figure in Ohio sports. Brown at first objected to the name and the team selected from the contest entries the name "Panthers". However, after an area businessman informed the team that he owned the rights to the name Cleveland Panthers from an earlier failed football team, Brown rescinded his objection and agreed to the use of his name.

Yeah, it's kind of legend, and Paul Brown never publicly admitted it. OTOH, it fits because (at least in baseball) you have the Reds and White Sox. The Jets are unofficially Gang Green.

Considering the racial climate of the time, the other option of the Browns being named after Joe Louis "The Brown Bomber" is highly unlikely.

The Cleveland Browns were founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference, under businessman Arthur B "Mickey" McBride.[4] Not long after gaining the franchise, McBride named Ohio State Buckeyes coach Paul Brown as vice president, general manager and head coach. The franchise conducted a team naming contest in 1945. The most popular submission was "Browns" in recognition of Paul Brown, already an established and popular figure in Ohio sports. Brown at first objected to the name and the team selected from the contest entries the name "Panthers". However, after an area businessman informed the team that he owned the rights to the name Cleveland Panthers from an earlier failed football team, Brown rescinded his objection and agreed to the use of his name.

@nort said:

- Curious steeler fan

btw, hats of to Hillis for his 1,000 yard season; last white rb i think was back in 85'

Thats the best kept secret in the world. You couldn't find it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_Browns

Were the Steelers just pickpocketers and shoplifters?