The Cleveland Browns merged into the National Football League (NFL) in 1950 along with the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Colts. All three clubs had previously been part of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), an NFL rival league.
The AAFC lasted four years, and the Browns had won every year’s championship.
Cleveland was now set to compete in the NFL beginning with the 1950 season. Everybody who followed the NFL or worked within their clubs believed that the three AAFC franchises were simply minor league teams that would fade pretty quickly and could even fold sooner than later because they just couldn’t compete at a higher level.