They were in a league called the All-America Football Conference prior to joining the NFL. After the AFL/NFL merger, they were placed into the American Football Conference.
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When the NFL-AFL merger went into effect in 1970, three longtime NFL teams -- the Baltimore Colts, the Cleveland Browns and the Pittsburgh Steelers -- joined the former AFL teams in the new American Football Conference. The Colts, the Browns and the Steelers were given an incentive. Each team was paid $3 million by the expanded NFL to move to the AFC.
In 2006, the Cleveland Browns had a 4-12 record.
Brian Sipe played for the Cleveland Browns from 1974-1983.
The St Louis Rams were originally founded in 1936 in Cleveland and played until 1946 when they moved to Los Angeles. Other teams that played in the old AFL and NFL of the 1920s and 1930s in Cleveland were the Indians, Tigers, Bulldogs and Panthers. Note that while the old Browns players and ownership did make a move to Baltimore, the records stayed in Cleveland and the team that moved was considered to be a new team which started play in 1996.
The Browns were never undefeated and they were never the Baltimore Ravens. They have been the Cleveland Browns since 1946.