The Cleveland Browns’ winning tradition certainly has nothing to do with the last 16-plus years, and in fact has little to do with the last four-plus decades.
A strong case can be made that since 1973 — a turning point in team history — the Browns and Detroit Lions are the NFL’s least successful teams.
The Browns are an obvious study in failure since returning to the NFL as a franchise in 1999. But they’ve generally been a source of frustration for their fans for much longer.
The Browns joined the National Football League in 1950 after winning the All-America Football Conference championship in all of the league’s four years, then enjoyed stunning NFL success from 1950-73.