CLEVELAND, OH - The Browns and Steelers first met in 1950, the Browns' first NFL season after dominating the All-America Football Conference. Early on during this period, the Browns were one of the NFL's elite teams and dominated the rivalry. The Steelers did not win their first game against the Browns until 1954.

 

During that time the Steelers were usually one of the NFL's worst teams. The Browns would go 31–9 against them from 1950–1969.

 

The rivalry carried over to the newly formed AFC in 1970 as the two teams and then Baltimore Colts joined the former American Football League teams in the conference as part of the AFL–NFL merger. The newly merged league needed to move three teams from the "old" NFL to the AFC so that the two conferences had 13 teams. (The rest of the "old" NFL teams joined the newly formed NFC.) The NFL tried to get the Steelers to the new conference, but the Steelers owner Art Rooney initially refused. The Browns owner Art Modell volunteered the Browns to shift to the AFC after he was offered $3 million as an incentive to move. This isn't the only time Art SCUMBAG Modell would sellout for money. (More on that later) That financial boost made it easy to convince Rooney to join him in the AFC in order to continue their own rivalry.

 

However, in the 1970s the Steelers had begun to even the playing field with the Browns, led by head coach Chuck Noll, a Cleveland native and former Browns linebacker. By then, the rivalry between the two clubs was more hostile and personal, as evident in the 1976 matchup at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, when Joe "Turkey" Jones tackled Terry Bradshaw with a pile-driving sack. Bradshaw suffered a neck injury from the play, and the footage of the sack has since become immortalized in NFL Films as part of the rivalry.

 

While the two exchanged victories in the '70s and '80s, by the 1990s the Steelers became the dominant team in the rivalry. Since the Browns' last series sweep in 1988, the Steelers have an overwhelming 39–11 mark against the Browns, enough that in 2007 the Steelers took over the lead in the all-time series (which they currently lead at 70–58) for the first time. This is why Scott was so instrumental in getting BWell invited to the league because Scott has built up a great rivalry between BWell and his Steelers. Scott looks to lead his Browns back to the promised land of overtaking the rivalry record.

The rivalry took a brief hiatus from 1996–98 due to the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy. When the league was voting on the Browns relocation, Steelers owner Dan Rooney was one of only TWO owners to vote AGAINST the move. The other team was the Buffalo Bills which is why so many Browns' fans became Bills' fans during that period of time. In tribute of Cleveland losing the Browns, Steeler fans wore orange arm bands to the final game at Three Rivers Stadium as a sign of mutual respect and sorrow for losing a great rivalry.

 

In 1973, Browns owner Art Modell signed a 25-year lease to operate Cleveland Stadium. Modell's newly formed company, Stadium Corporation, paid an annual rent of $150,000 for the first five years and $200,000 afterwards to the city. In exchange, the company received all revenue generated by the stadium, which amounted to far more than the Stadium Corp. would pay in rent. This represented an enormous loss for the city of Cleveland. Stadium Corp installed new electronic scoreboards and luxury suites. Renting the suites and the scoreboard advertising generated substantial revenue for Stadium Corp and Modell.

 

Modell had originally promised NEVER to move the Browns. He had publicly criticized the Baltimore Colts' move to Indianapolis, and had TESTIFIED in favor of the NFL in court cases where the league unsuccessfully tried to stop Al Davis from moving the Oakland Raiders from Oakland to Los Angeles.

 

However, Modell refused to share the suite revenue with the Cleveland Indians, who also played at Cleveland Stadium, even though much of the revenues were generated during baseball games as well as football games. (isn't that bullpoop, what a greedy man)

 

In 1990, the Indians prevailed upon the local governments and voters and convinced them to build them their own facility where they controlled the suite revenue. Modell, believing that his revenues were not endangered, refused to participate in the Gateway Project that built Jacobs Field for the Indians and Gund Arena for the Cavaliers of the NBA. Modell's assumptions proved wrong, and Stadium Corp's suite revenues declined sharply when the Indians moved from the Stadium to Jacobs Field in 1994. Soaring player salaries and deficits also contributed to Modell's financial losses. Modell lost $21 million between 1993 and 1994.

 

[caption id="attachment_5241" align="aligncenter" width="350"] Joe Shapaka holds his six-year-old son, Matthew, at their seats in the bleachers at Cleveland Stadium after the Browns-Cincinnati Bengals game which may have been the final Cleveland Browns game there Sunday, Dec. 17, 1995.[/caption]

 

After Modell realized how much revenue he lost from the Indians moving out of Cleveland Stadium, he requested an issue be placed on the ballot to provide $175 million in tax dollars to refurbish the declining Cleveland Stadium.

 

[caption id="attachment_5238" align="alignleft" width="629"] CLEVELAND, OH - NOVEMBER 5th: Cleveland Browns fans, some dressed in the team's "Dog Pound" attire, show both their love for the team and their displeasure with Browns owner Art Modell before Cleveland's November 5th game at Municipal Stadium against the Houston Oilers. Reportedly, it will be announced November 6th that Modell plans to move the team to Baltimore, Maryland at the end of the season. The Houston Oilers defeated the Browns 37-10.[/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_5239" align="alignright" width="555"] CLEVELAND, OH - Pictured above is where The Brave Coward Art SCUMBAG Modell sits. SOLD OUT FOR MONEY!! ENJOY THAT SUITE!![/caption]

 

On the field, the Browns, coached by Bill Belichick, were coming off a playoff season in which the team finished 11–5 and advanced to the second round of the playoffs entering the 1995 season. Sports Illustrated even predicted the Browns would represent the AFCin Super Bowl XXX at the end of the season. However, the team disappointed many fans by losing three straight games after starting the season 3–1.

 

On November 6, 1995, with the team sitting at 4–5, Modell announced in a press conference at Camden Yards that he had SIGNED a deal to relocate the Browns to Baltimore, Maryland in 1996 – a move which would return the NFL to that city since the Coltsrelocated to Indianapolis, Indiana after the 1983 season. The reason Modell chose to relocate to Baltimore was because he felt the city had the funding to build a first-class stadium. THE VERY NEXT DAY, on November 7, Cleveland voters overwhelmingly approved the tax issue to remodel Cleveland Stadium, but Modell wanted a new stadium, and the fans of Cleveland voted to pay the sin tax to keep the team here. We were told by Modell that if we would pay to remodel the stadium he would stay, but he still signed the deal with Baltimore to take our team away!!! This today is still the reason why Art Modell will never be elected to the Hall of Fame.

 

 

 

[caption id="attachment_5243" align="aligncenter" width="526"] Look Everyone There is JR Wild helping us rip out the seats at Cleveland Stadium when Modell said he was taking our team.[/caption]

 

 

 

The uniqueness Cleveland Municipal Stadium brought to the league will never be seen again. The atmosphere was like no other. Where you had bleacher seats dubbed the "Dog Pound" because of Hanford Dixon and Paul Minnifield barking at fans after a good play. That eventually turned into fans eating dog biscuits and always barking. ( I have goosebumps just typing this) The stadium was our heart and soul; it was our escape from our blue collar work we do every week, and Modell took that from us. The chain link fence was the only thing that seperated us from what we loved most... OUR TEAM!!!

 

[caption id="attachment_5240" align="alignright" width="588"] Cleveland Browns center Steve Everitt (61) is greeted by fans as he visits the "Dawg Pound" at Cleveland Stadium before the Browns played the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday, Dec. 17, 1995. The game may be the last for the Browns in Cleveland who are attempting to move to Baltimore for next season.[/caption]

 

 

 

There is so much more to the story. Like how the fans of the Cleveland Browns sued the the NFL to be able to retain our team name and titles we won before super bowls began. We sued to keep our colors and everything that was the Cleveland Browns!

 

Because of Art Modell moving our team we also fought for a stipulation to be added to the NFL guidelines that should the league add more teams or restructure their conferences that the Browns, Steelers, and Bengals always be in the same division regardless of any circumstances because of long standing rivalries. Which brings us back to the rivalry we all know about Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

 

 

 

I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE STORY!!! IT MEANS A LOT TO ME TO HAVE YOU ALL A PART OF THE LEAGUE.I HOPE YOU FIND YOUR HOME HERE WITH US. WE REALLY STROVE FOR GREATNESS. THANK YOU FOR BEING A PART OF THIS LEAGUE AND MAKING GREAT.  GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE AND GO BROWNS!!!!