BALTIMORE (AP) -- Matt Stover played five years with the Cleveland Browns before coming to Baltimore in 1995, an unwilling pawn in a move that made Art Modell a villain in the city he called home for 35 years.

Stover, who now wears the purple and black of the Baltimore Ravens, expects to experience more than a mere twang of emotion when he sees the familiar orange helmets of the new Browns on Sunday.

"Most of all, I'm happy Cleveland got a team back. That city deserves a football team," said Stover, who holds several Browns records. "It will fun to see the Browns out on the field, but I have to go out there and kick my field goals, even if it is against my old team."

The expansion Browns, who have been outscored 69-9 in their two losses, probably won't win too many games this season. Their fans understand. But that doesn't undermine their interest in this game, and more importantly, the rematch in Cleveland on Nov. 7.

"You can bet when we go there, it will be a love-hate relationship," Stover said. "They'll love some of the former Browns but hate the team."

Offensive tackle Orlando Brown went from Cleveland to Baltimore in 1995, then returned to Cleveland as a free agent in the offseason. Upon rejoining the Browns, he quickly found out which two games were the most important on the schedule.

"You have to get fired up for the Ravens. I heard that from 100 fans since I signed here," Brown said.

The game also carries meaning to Baltimore fans, who had to wait 13 years for a football team after their beloved Colts bolted to Indianapolis after the 1983 season. Cleveland, in turn, went only three years without a team.

"I imagine there will be a lot of emotion in the stadium Sunday. This is no normal game," Stover said.

Stover is one of five former Browns still playing with the Ravens. The others are defensive linemen Rob Burnett and Larry Webster, safety Stevon Moore and special teams standout Bennie Thompson.

But the Ravens' ties to Cleveland run much deeper.

Ravens vice president of player personnel Ozzie Newsome, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer, played 13 seasons with the Browns. He expects that watching the game Sunday will be a strange experience.

"You're talking about a team I gave a lot of blood, sweat and tears for. And now I have to beat them," Newsome said.

Modell, who orchestrated the move after the 1995 season, has been uncharacteristically quiet this week. There's little he can say that would lessen the hate that many Cleveland fans feel toward him, so he has decided to say nothing at all.

Except to Newsome.

"I've been getting early morning phone calls all week. He wants me to make sure everyone understands the importance of this ball game," Newsome said.

Modell made the move because he didn't think the team could operate effectively in Cleveland. He had no idea of the depth of the hatred that the relocation would cause among Browns fans, who stuck by a franchise still trying to make its first trip to the Super Bowl.

"Art still carries a lot of hurt because of the way he's thought of in Cleveland," Newsome said. "They say time heals all wounds. But it's going to take a long time. It may take the Modell family selling the franchise before it's all over."

Earnest Byner, who starred at running back in a Cleveland uniform, now serves as director of player development for the Ravens. He appreciates the loyalty that Modell has showed him, but will always have a place in his heart for Cleveland and its fans.

"To feel that excitement, the love from the fans, was amazing," Byner said. "There is no way I can replace the emotional ties I had with Cleveland."

For most of the Ravens -- even the ex-Browns -- the game is significant because Baltimore needs a victory after an 0-2 start.

"It's just another conference team we have to beat," Thompson said. "We need this one in order to get where we're trying to get."

To many, however, the importance of this game stems from where the Ravens came from.

"I can't lose. If the Browns win Sunday, I can go home and say we won the game. I am a Cleveland Brown," Newsome declared. "But on Sunday, my fingerprints are on the other team."

CLEVELAND Season schedule and results

BALTIMORE Season schedule and results

September 12 Pittsburgh L 0-43 September 19 @Tennessee L 9-26 September 26 @Baltimore 1:00pm ET October 3 New England 1:00pm ET October 10 Cincinnati 1:00pm ET October 17 @Jacksonville 1:00pm ET October 24 @St. Louis 1:00pm ET October 31 @New Orleans 1:00pm ET November 7 Baltimore 1:00pm ET November 14 @Pittsburgh 1:00pm ET November 21 Carolina 1:00pm ET November 28 Tennessee 1:00pm ET December 5 @San Diego 4:15pm ET December 12 @Cincinnati 1:00pm ET December 19 Jacksonville 1:00pm ET December 26 Indianapolis 1:00pm ET

September 12 @St. Louis L 10-27 September 19 Pittsburgh L 20-23 September 26 Cleveland 1:00pm ET October 3 @Atlanta 1:00pm ET October 10 @Tennessee 4:15pm ET October 21 Kansas City 8:20pm ET October 31 Buffalo 1:00pm ET November 7 @Cleveland 1:00pm ET November 14 @Jacksonville 4:05pm ET November 21 @Cincinnati 4:05pm ET November 28 Jacksonville 1:00pm ET December 5 Tennessee 1:00pm ET December 12 @Pittsburgh 1:00pm ET December 19 New Orleans 1:00pm ET December 26 Cincinnati 1:00pm ET January 2 @New England 1:00pm ET

Records source: STATS, Inc.

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