Page "Cleveland Browns" Paragraph 20

During the summer before the 1953 season, the Browns ' original owners sold the team for a then-unheard-of $ 600, 000.

The old stockholders were Arthur B.

" Mickey " McBride and his son Edward, along with minority owners including McBride business associate Dan Sherby, Brown and four others.

The buyers were a group of prominent Cleveland businessmen: Homer Marshman, an attorney, Dave R. Jones, a businessman and former Cleveland Indians director, Ellis Ryan, a former Indians president, Saul Silberman, owner of the Randall Park race track, and Ralph DeChairo, an associate of Silberman.

McBride said he made the deal simply because he'd " had his fling " with football and wanted to move on to other activities.

McBride's tenure as owner was viewed favorably, partly because of the Browns ' on-field success but also because he gave Brown a free hand to sign players and coach.

One of the new ownership group's first acts was to assure Cleveland fans they would give Brown the same kind of leeway.