I have a large collection of Cleveland Browns football cards which I am posting on this website. In 1950, the year the Browns entered the NFL, the Bowman Gum Company included several Browns players in that year's issue. Usually football cards are sold every year with the cards containing the player's statistics from the previous year. (For instance, cards issued in 1968 contain the player's 1967 season statistics). In the case of the 1950 Browns cards they do not list the players 1949 statistics because they were in the All-America Football Conference that year (In 1999 Topps would do a similar team set issue with the newly reconstituted Cleveland Browns since the team didn't exist from 1996-98). However, since the 1950 set of Browns cards was issued during their first year in the NFL that makes those cards rookie cards even though they had played previously in the AAFC. The 1951 set of Browns cards contains their 1950 inaugural NFL season statistics.

Beginning with their first season in the NFL I have the complete team sets of Cleveland Browns football cards from 1950 to the present. I'm am referring to the cards that were issued by the Bowman Company, the Philadephia Company, and the Topps Company. During the late 80s and early 90s Score, Upper Deck, and other card companies started issuing sets of football cards as the trading card industry exploded. I have many of the Browns cards from these companies as well. I will post these other sets of Browns cards as time allows.

I started collecting cards in 1968 when I was ten years old. That was the year I started following the Cleveland Browns and also the year that Leroy Kelly became my favorite player of all-time. (I even used to carry his 1969 card in my wallet when I was eleven years old.) Every card posted throughout this website is from my collection. When I started collecting football cards most trading was done between myself and my friends. At ten years old I had no idea of how many Browns cards had been issued up until that time nor could I have ever imagined owning every one of the major card companies' Browns team sets. My two favorite designs are the oval photos on the 1958 set and the 1962 set with frames including an action photograph of the player. I also like the 1964 set because they show the Browns in their full uniforms holding their orange helmets (and reportedly Jim Brown's Cadillac in the background - At an autograph signing Ernie Green confirmed to me that was indeed Jim Brown's car) and also remember seeing them in my older brothers collection when I was a kid. However, the cards from the mid-sixties to the mid-eighties were very generic and bland in nature. That changed when the market became competitive in the 1990s. The photography on these other companies' cards evolved into some really beautiful cards and in the process forced Topps to improve the design of their previously uninspired creations. I believe the 1993 Fleer set of cards may be the best designed base card set ever issued. The inaugural 1991 Topps Stadium Club premium set consists of borderless cards with beautiful photos of Browns players in game action. The front of the cards have a foil Stadium Club logo imprint and the backs have photos of each player's Topps rookie card. Autograph and Jersey cards were also introduced during this time along with foil lettering and other artistic innovations.

Out of the hundreds of Cleveland Browns football cards that I own, I prize one above all the others. In 1970, when I was 12 years old, my dad drove me to the downtown Lazarus store in Columbus Ohio to meet my all-time favorite player Leroy Kelly. He was signing autographs at the store and back then athletes didn't charge money to get their autograph. He signed a photograph they were giving away and I also asked him to sign a 1970 Topps Leroy Kelly card which I owned. The card below is to me the most valuable card I have because my favorite player signed it for me.

I know the vintage Browns cards I have can be found on a few other websites but I am posting my cards as a Browns fan. These cards may not be as valuable as others team's cards because the Browns have not had much success since the 60s. However, to me they are worth a lot because of the memories they have for me. I hope you enjoy them too. Click on any Year link listed below to see the Browns cards for that year.