Are the Baltimore Ravens new? I don't think I ever heard of them before.
The history that every Steelers and Browns fan knows and repeats every football season, and why we Steelers fans hate the Ravens.
Once upon a time (in 1995) there was the Grinch Art Modell who owned the Cleveland Browns (Named for the team's first coach, Paul Brown). He was very greedy, and became angry when the City of Cleveland would not finance a new stadium for him. (The old football stadium was nicknamed "The Mistake on The Lake"...Lake Erie that is.)
Grinch Modell had everything from the Browns training center and locker rooms packed up, and had it all loaded in a fleet of semi trucks in the middle of the night. Some factory workers across the river noticed the strange goings on at the stadium, and they alerted the radio stations and newspaper. Lo and behold, Grinch Modell had struck a secret deal with the mayor of Baltimore. Overnight, the Cleveland Browns were transformed into the Rat Birds....um the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens were named when a contest was held through the newspaper. The name is homage to Edgar Allen Poe who did much of his writing in the city, and is buried in Baltimore.
After being sued by Cleveland and the NFL, Grinch Modell had to return all logos, chronicles, and memorabilia of the Browns history.
Poor Cleveland, Ohio, was without another team until they reached an agreement with the NFL in 1998 to establish a new expansion team using the old Browns name and logo. In return, the city had to demolish the old stadium and build a new one on the same site. The new Browns played for the first time in the 1999 season.
