Once upon a time, the Cleveland Browns were a model NFL franchise.
While that may sound like a fairy tale to fans who have only know the despair and dysfunction that has enveloped the team since 1999, it is true.
The Browns are the holders of eight professional championships, have 16 members in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and count some of the NFL’s greatest players among their alumni, from the greatest of all-time in Jim Brown, to the winningest quarterback of all-time in Otto Graham.
They were also founded and coached for 17 years by the legendary Paul Brown, whose innovations on game days and the practice field helped to shape the NFL as we know it today.