The Cleveland Browns did not fire Bill Belichick

The Cleveland Browns have made more than their share of mistakes during the past two decades, but firing Bill Belichick is not one you can pin on them.

A piece of Cleveland died in November of 1995 when Art Modell announced that he was moving the Cleveland Browns to Baltimore at the end of the season.

While the Browns would return to the NFL for the 1999 season, the franchise’s ongoing futility has made it difficult to view the team in the same light as the “original” Browns.

The ensuing years have not been made any easier thanks to the success of Bill Belichick, who a few weeks ago won his fifth Super Bowl with the Patriots. Belichick, of course, was the last head coach the Browns had before they moved to become the Ravens.

The fact was pointed out earlier today in Tweets from ESPN and Sports Illustrated:

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There is just one problem with that: the Browns never fired Belichick, it was the Ravens that let him go. (To their credit, Sports Illustrated later deleted their Tweet.)

This is not a case of disagreeing with something and yelling that it is “fake news,” but rather an actual factual error, the kind that would have earned an “F” in our News Writing class at Kent State.

The Browns officially came to an end on Feb. 8, 1996, when the city of Cleveland reached a deal with Modell and the NFL that allowed Modell to move the team.

Belichick was not fired until Feb. 14, 1996, as Michael Poplar laid out in his 1997 book, Fumble! The Browns, Modell and the Move:

"Rumors were circulating that Art Modell had made inquiries of Jimmy Johnson and Don Shula as to their interest in taking over the reins in Baltimore. Most people felt that Belichick was indeed finished, but Art’s words that “Belichick will be going to Baltimore as the coach of the team” were still fresh in people’s mind."

"It turned out to be Wednesday, February 14, when Art sent his Valentine to Belichick. What had been rumored for weeks finally came to fruition … Belichick was fired by telephone. He was “cut” in much the same cold fashion he had used when letting his ex-players go."

Let’s also take a moment to remember that Modell also told New England owner Robert Kraft that if he hired Belichick it would be “the biggest mistake of my life.”

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The Browns had done more than enough since 1999 to earn the ridicule of fans and media members, but firing Belichick is not one of them.

That one belongs forever and a day to the Baltimore Ravens.