When the Browns were shipped off to Baltimore after the 1995 season, I wasn't all that interested in the NFL. If someone asked who my favorite team was, I would answer with the Browns—but I probably couldn't have named more than a handful of players on the roster.
It wasn't until their reemergence in 1999 that I started to pay close attention to the team and its players, and I started digging into the storied history of the franchise. Because of their deep roots in the city, the Browns have remained beloved by Clevelanders, despite some pretty lousy recent history.