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Perhaps Clevelanders can comfort themselves by remembering the post-World War II Browns – the greatest dynasty in pro football history, a team that dominated not one but two leagues and an organization that literally changed the complexion of pro sports.x

The story of the postwar Browns might sound familiar to fans in New England. They were led by a legendary coach who always seemed a step ahead of everyone else in football, a quarterback who didn't throw pretty passes but seemed to win every game he played, and a popular kicker whose last-second heroics captured an NFL championship. Heck, they were so good even the radio announcer was a beloved fan favorite.

The legendary coach was Paul Brown. He was so popular that fans voted to name the team after him. The quarterback was Otto Graham, a winner unmatched in the history of football and so dominant that Tom Brady and his .794 winning percentage pales in comparison. The kicker was Lou "The Toe" Groza, who played tackle and handled kicking duties. All are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The team's popular broadcaster was Ken Coleman, whose name is well known in New England. Coleman was the voice of the Boston Red Sox for 20 years. In Cleveland he handled radio and then TV duties during the Browns glory years.

The Browns were founded in 1946 as part of the old All America Football Conference (AAFC), which competed against the NFL for four years. It was a period of rejuvenation for pro football, which suffered during World War II (1941-45) like many other elements of society. Some teams were disbanded. The Eagles and Steelers played together as the Steagles. Twenty-one NFL players were killed in the war.

Suffice it to say, pro football was a welcome and popular relief in the postwar years. And the Browns dominated those years like no team has ever dominated football before or since. We turned to the Buddha of gridiron enlightenment, the Cold, Hard Football Facts, and can now declare in no uncertain terms that the postwar Browns are the greatest dynasty in pro football history. Here's why:

The Browns appeared in 10 straight championship games. The modern football public is amazed by the Bills of the early 1990s who appeared in four straight Super Bowls. The Browns played for a championship every year from 1946 to 1955. They won seven times ('46, '47, '48, '49, '50, '54, '55). The Vince Lombardi Packers appeared in six title games in eight years, winning five.

The Browns dominated two leagues. Cleveland won all four AAFC championships before the league merged with the NFL in 1950. The Browns proved they were no junior-league fluke with a 10-2 record and a victory over the Los Angeles Rams in the 1950 NFL championship game. Groza's last-second field goal gave Cleveland the 30-28 victory. The Browns made it to the NFL title game but lost each year from 1951 to 1953. They returned to championship form in 1954 and 1955.

The 1948 Browns were undefeated. Like the 1972 Dolphins, the 1948 Browns went 14-0 in the regular season and won their league title. But because it happened in the AAFC, the NFL does not recognize the undefeated 1948 Browns -- the only other team to go through both the regular and postseasons without a loss. (The Dolphins played three postseason games and went 17-0; the Browns played just one postseason game and went 15-0).

Paul Brown changed the face of pro sports. Brown's Hall of Fame biography calls him the "master innovator." He was the first to test players for intelligence and institute classroom learning techniques that are an essential part of football today. He was the first to make extensive use of film study. Some say he created what's now known as the West Coast offense. In his spare time, he broke the color barrier in pro sports when he signed future Hall of Famers Marion Motley and Bill Willis in 1946, a year before Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers. He posted a career record in Cleveland of 167-53-8 before he was fired by team owner Art Modell in 1962 – the same jerk who unceremoniously moved the Browns to Baltimore in 1996. Brown founded the Cincinnati Bengals in 1968 (note the same colors as the Browns). The Bengals made the playoffs in 1970. At the time it was the earliest an expansion team ever made the postseason. The Bengals appeared in two Super Bowls with Brown the team's general manager.

Graham was the greatest winner in pro football history. Tom Brady is the greatest winner in football today but he couldn't hold a candle to Graham, who led the Cleveland offense during the entire 1946-1955 period. The Browns posted a 105-17-4 (.861) regular season record over those 10 years – gaudy even by the standards of college dynasties. Graham padded his stats with a 9-3 postseason record, four AAFC championships and three NFL championships. History shows that Graham was the glue that held together the Browns dynasty. The Graham-less 1956 Browns went 5-7 -- their first losing record -- and the Browns have made only three more title-game appearances since his departure. They lost to Detroit, 59-14, in 1957; beat Baltimore, 27-0, in 1964; and lost to Green Bay, 23-12, in 1965. The Browns have not been back to an NFL title game since.

Sorry, Browns fans, that's not about to change anytime soon. Otto Graham and Paul Brown aren't walking out on that field Sunday. Just Luke McCown and Terry Robiskie. These aren't your daddy's Browns.

Learn about the greatest dynasty in pickup trucks. Ford F-150 and Ford Super Duty.® The best-selling trucks for 37 years. 

Sponsored by The Ford Motor Company

Perhaps Clevelanders can comfort themselves by remembering the post-World War II Browns – the greatest dynasty in pro football history, a team that dominated not one but two leagues and an organization that literally changed the complexion of pro sports.x

The story of the postwar Browns might sound familiar to fans in New England. They were led by a legendary coach who always seemed a step ahead of everyone else in football, a quarterback who didn't throw pretty passes but seemed to win every game he played, and a popular kicker whose last-second heroics captured an NFL championship. Heck, they were so good even the radio announcer was a beloved fan favorite.

The legendary coach was Paul Brown. He was so popular that fans voted to name the team after him. The quarterback was Otto Graham, a winner unmatched in the history of football and so dominant that Tom Brady and his .794 winning percentage pales in comparison. The kicker was Lou "The Toe" Groza, who played tackle and handled kicking duties. All are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The team's popular broadcaster was Ken Coleman, whose name is well known in New England. Coleman was the voice of the Boston Red Sox for 20 years. In Cleveland he handled radio and then TV duties during the Browns glory years.

The Browns were founded in 1946 as part of the old All America Football Conference (AAFC), which competed against the NFL for four years. It was a period of rejuvenation for pro football, which suffered during World War II (1941-45) like many other elements of society. Some teams were disbanded. The Eagles and Steelers played together as the Steagles. Twenty-one NFL players were killed in the war.

Suffice it to say, pro football was a welcome and popular relief in the postwar years. And the Browns dominated those years like no team has ever dominated football before or since. We turned to the Buddha of gridiron enlightenment, the Cold, Hard Football Facts, and can now declare in no uncertain terms that the postwar Browns are the greatest dynasty in pro football history. Here's why:

The Browns appeared in 10 straight championship games. The modern football public is amazed by the Bills of the early 1990s who appeared in four straight Super Bowls. The Browns played for a championship every year from 1946 to 1955. They won seven times ('46, '47, '48, '49, '50, '54, '55). The Vince Lombardi Packers appeared in six title games in eight years, winning five.

The Browns dominated two leagues. Cleveland won all four AAFC championships before the league merged with the NFL in 1950. The Browns proved they were no junior-league fluke with a 10-2 record and a victory over the Los Angeles Rams in the 1950 NFL championship game. Groza's last-second field goal gave Cleveland the 30-28 victory. The Browns made it to the NFL title game but lost each year from 1951 to 1953. They returned to championship form in 1954 and 1955.

The 1948 Browns were undefeated. Like the 1972 Dolphins, the 1948 Browns went 14-0 in the regular season and won their league title. But because it happened in the AAFC, the NFL does not recognize the undefeated 1948 Browns -- the only other team to go through both the regular and postseasons without a loss. (The Dolphins played three postseason games and went 17-0; the Browns played just one postseason game and went 15-0).

Paul Brown changed the face of pro sports. Brown's Hall of Fame biography calls him the "master innovator." He was the first to test players for intelligence and institute classroom learning techniques that are an essential part of football today. He was the first to make extensive use of film study. Some say he created what's now known as the West Coast offense. In his spare time, he broke the color barrier in pro sports when he signed future Hall of Famers Marion Motley and Bill Willis in 1946, a year before Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers. He posted a career record in Cleveland of 167-53-8 before he was fired by team owner Art Modell in 1962 – the same jerk who unceremoniously moved the Browns to Baltimore in 1996. Brown founded the Cincinnati Bengals in 1968 (note the same colors as the Browns). The Bengals made the playoffs in 1970. At the time it was the earliest an expansion team ever made the postseason. The Bengals appeared in two Super Bowls with Brown the team's general manager.

Graham was the greatest winner in pro football history. Tom Brady is the greatest winner in football today but he couldn't hold a candle to Graham, who led the Cleveland offense during the entire 1946-1955 period. The Browns posted a 105-17-4 (.861) regular season record over those 10 years – gaudy even by the standards of college dynasties. Graham padded his stats with a 9-3 postseason record, four AAFC championships and three NFL championships. History shows that Graham was the glue that held together the Browns dynasty. The Graham-less 1956 Browns went 5-7 -- their first losing record -- and the Browns have made only three more title-game appearances since his departure. They lost to Detroit, 59-14, in 1957; beat Baltimore, 27-0, in 1964; and lost to Green Bay, 23-12, in 1965. The Browns have not been back to an NFL title game since.

Sorry, Browns fans, that's not about to change anytime soon. Otto Graham and Paul Brown aren't walking out on that field Sunday. Just Luke McCown and Terry Robiskie. These aren't your daddy's Browns.

Learn about the greatest dynasty in pickup trucks. Ford F-150 and Ford Super Duty.® The best-selling trucks for 37 years. 

The waiting game is finally over. Head coach Mike Pettine had originally planned on naming his starter on Tuesday, following Monday night’s game against the Washington Redskins, but Brian Hoyer will be the opening day starter for the Cleveland Browns when they take on division foe Pittsburgh. Vic Carucci first reported the news on Cleveland Browns team website.

According to NFL.com, Pettine said in a press release, “He was the clear leader from the beginning.” Hoyer was named starter prior to training camp, given the fact that he has five years of NFL experience. He had three starts for Cleveland in 2013, prior to tearing his ACL against the Buffalo Bills. 

He went on to say, ”We’ve maintained all along that if it was close, I would prefer to go with the more experienced player. Brian has done a great job in the meeting rooms and with his teammates on the practice field and in the locker room.” The decision to make Brian Hoyer the starter clears the quarterback landscape up around the league.

Johnny Manziel currently sits second on the team’s depth chart. With a difficult schedule at the beginning of the season, it may not be long before Cleveland opts in the direction of the rookie over Hoyer. After Pittsburgh, the Browns will face New Orleans and Baltimore before the bye week.

The timing of the Browns' bye week couldn't be more perfect. If Hoyer looks shaky from the start, Pettine could be inclined to make the switch the electrifying Johnny Football.

Is it possible when Johnny Manziel takes a look back at all that has happened leading up to the Cleveland Browns naming Brian Hoyer the starter for the season opener, the rookie will say he should have done things differently?

Probably not.

Now that the first round pick knows his fate, it is time to move forward and learn, not complain about the situation he is in. Manziel’s antics, which includes a brashness many of us have not seen since the days of Joe Namath or maybe even Deion Sanders, are really his own fault. When you promote yourself as a partying athlete who hangs out in Las Vegas with Rob Gronkowski, enjoys the company of perennial bad boys Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Justin Bieber and then looks like a fool rolling $20 in a bathroom on social media, you cannot help but not feel sorry for this kid.

According to ABC News, the Browns rookie quarterback said Wednesday that he's disappointed he won't be on the field against Pittsburgh in the season opener on Sept. 7. Manziel knows he didn't do enough during training camp and the preseason to convince Coach Mike Pettine to choose him over Hoyer, who overcame a serious knee injury and then held off the first-round draft pick to keep the job.

Manziel believes the focus should be on Hoyer.

"I'm the backup quarterback," Johnny Football said. "I shouldn't be in the spotlight."

But isn’t that something Manziel should have been saying all along – taking advice from the likes of Joe Montana and Emmitt Smith, listen to what his teammates like newly acquired Ben Tate had to say, as the rookie had not accomplished anything yet in the NFL and was being treated as the best thing since the shotgun offense was invented?

Manziel said he has no regrets about the way he approached his competition with Hoyer, which ended after the Browns coaching staff met Tuesday night to evaluate Cleveland's two quarterbacks, both of whom have performed poorly.

The ABC News story said that Manziel was criticized for some weekend partying, but the former Heisman Trophy winner insisted he wouldn't change a thing. He's growing and maturing and hopes to one day lead an NFL team. This is all new to him.

"Obviously I need to do it in the proper way, but I'm still going to continue to have fun in my life and continue to live my life, and I don't think any of that really slowed me in this competition. I think more than anything, if you come out and play well, it makes the decision a lot easier."

Pettine announced in a release before practice Wednesday that he'll go with Hoyer, who made three starts in 2013 before tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee last season. Pettine's decision ends weeks of competition and analysis, and the Browns are hoping it will allow Hoyer to relax and build some chemistry with Cleveland's struggling offense before they meet the dreaded Steelers, their long-time rivals.