History
Cleveland Browns Stadium sits on the former site of Cleveland Municipal Stadium, which was the team's home for 49 years. Ironically, Browns owner Art Modell moved the franchise to Baltimore (and ultimately became the Baltimore Ravens) because he said the city would not refurbish Cleveland Municipal Stadium, which caused the city to build the new stadium. As part of the deal with the National Football League to reactivate the Browns, the city of Cleveland tore down Cleveland Stadium after the 1996 season to make room for the new facility. Debris from the former stadium was submerged in Lake Erie and now serves as an artificial reef.
Ground was broken on May 15, 1997, the stadium opened in July 1999. The first Browns game at the stadium was played on September 12, 1999, a 43-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
As of the 2011-12 season, if Super Bowls are included, Cleveland Browns Stadium is only current NFL venue that has yet to host a playoff game. The Detroit Lions have never hosted a playoff game at Ford Field, but the stadium served as the host of Super Bowl XL.
Read more about this topic: Cleveland Browns Stadium
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“Only the history of free peoples is worth our attention; the history of men under a despotism is merely a collection of anecdotes.”
—Sébastien-Roch Nicolas De Chamfort (1741–1794)
“It takes a great deal of history to produce a little literature.”
—Henry James (1843–1916)
“All history becomes subjective; in other words there is properly no history, only biography.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)