CLEVELAND -- Nobody, at least still living, knows for sure how Brownie the Elf came to be the first official mascot of the Cleveland Browns some 76 years ago.
Yet one fact is certain: It was Art Modell who put the elf on the shelf after buying the team in 1961.
"My first official act as owner of the Browns," Modell told newspaper reporters at the time, "will be to get rid of that little f---er."
Brownie is back -- and bigger than ever.
Topping a preseason online fan vote, Brownie has returned as the team's midfield logo, an oversized rendition of his original mysterious appearance preceding Cleveland's inaugural season in 1946.