Browns go with throwbacksSteve King, Staff Writer 10.09.2008Check out the Cleveland Browns Team Shop "Vintage Classics" collection by clicking here.Throwback uniforms for a throwback opponent.That will be the case for the Browns on Monday night when they host the New York Giants in a nationally-televised game at Cleveland Browns Stadium.To honor the fact that this will be Cleveland Browns Legends weekend, with Warren Lahr, Paul Wiggin, Walter Johnson and Eric Metcalf being inducted into the Browns Hall of Fame at halftime, the Browns will wear throwback uniforms. These are the uniforms - helmets and all - worn by the club from 1957-59.Keep in mind that, aside from a few changes, the Browns have basically the same uniforms today that they did back in that inaugural season of 1946. Thus, a throwback uniform for this team is more like going back to the future.In any event, the Browns will wear:*Brown jerseys, nearly identical to the ones that are worn by the Browns on every other Sunday this year. It should be noted that in 2006 the Browns went back to the white and orange striping on sleeves that was used until the late 1960s. In between, the Browns used different striping that incorporated brown and feather striping -- a thin space between the various stripes. *White pants with thinner stripes than the ones that are used today, running down the outside of each leg. These pants were used through 1995, when the original Browns franchise moved to Baltimore.*Brown socks with white and orange striping that matches the striping on the uniform sleeves. They were worn into the late 1960s.*Orange helmets with a single white stripe going down the middle from front to back, with the players' jersey numbers in brown print displayed on both sides. Brown stripes on either side of the white one were added in 1960 and remain part of the Browns regular helmet. The numbers were removed after the 1960 season and have not appeared since other than for these throwback purposes.*Black shoes. The Browns wore this color through 1974, at which time they went to white. They began wearing black again in 2006.But the defending Super Bowl champion Giants will have a "throwback" look, too, even though they are not doing anything different to accomplish it. In 2000, they went back to the uniform style -- white jerseys with red numbers and striping, silver pants and the "ny" symbol on each side of their helmets -- that they began wearing in 1961.That was long before the Browns had moved to the re-named AFL, the AFC, to complete the NFL-AFL merger in 1970. It was a time, instead, when the Browns and Giants, virtual strangers now since they are in difference conferences and don't play each other much, were heated rivals in the American/Eastern Conference.The Browns won the conference title from 1950-55, '57, '64 and '65. They claimed NFL championships in 1950, '54, '55 and '64.The Giants ruled the East in 1956, and '58-63, and were tops in the NFL in '56.New Browns Legends Lahr, Wiggin and Johnson played for the team during that time. In fact, Lahr was part of two clubs, in 1950 and '58, that tied the Giants for the regular-season conference crown, forcing a special playoff game to decide who would advance to the league championship contest. The Browns won 8-3 in 1950 and lost 10-0 in '58.For longtime Browns fans, the memories of all these things will no doubt come flooding back Monday night when their team takes on the once-hated Giants, now big and bad once again as they are fresh off another league title. The clubs' throwback uniforms - and Monday Night Football, which certainly didn't exist back then - will only add to the electric atmosphere.
