The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Graham and Brown were key parts of Browns’ rich legacy
Coaches or general managers hired by the Browns, even owners when they take over the team, never fail to mention the team’s “rich legacy.”
Drafted players or freeagent acquisitions often say the same thing. Never mind the fact the Browns have won only one NFL championship since 1955. The rich legacy exists — you just have to dig really deep to find it.
The Browns came into existence in 1944 when Arthur “Mickey” McBride was awarded a franchise in the All America Football Conference being formed by Arch Ward, the former sports editor of the Chicago Tribune. The eightteam league was to begin play in 1946.
McBride hired Paul Brown to coach the team, and the legacy began. Brown was a success at Massillon High School (808-2 with six state titles), Ohio State (18-8-1) and the Great Lakes Naval Academy (15-5-2).
Brown was a visionary. He was the first coach to hire a full-time coaching staff and scouting department, the first to provide his players with playbooks, the first to give his players pre-draft intelligence tests and the first to time players in the 40-yard dash, among other things. He also was the first coach to integrate the AAFC when he signed guard/defensive lineman Bill Willis and fullback Marion Motley, both of whom he coached previously.
Brown’s most important decision, though, was signing Otto Graham to a two-year, $15,000 contract on March 31, 1945. While coaching Ohio State, Brown saw Graham play at Northwestern and knew he wanted Graham to be his quarterback with the Browns. The team, incidentally, was named after Brown as a result of a newspaper contest.
The Browns won the championship all four years they were in the AAFC and won the championship in 1950, ’54 and 1955 in the NFL. But Paul Brown never won another championship after Graham retired following the 1955 season.
Fast forward to 1961. Art Modell bought the Browns for $3.9 million of borrowed money.
Modell fired Paul Brown in January 1963, while The Plain Dealer and Cleveland Press were on strike. Modell hired Blanton Collier to replace Brown. Collier guided the Browns to their last championship in 1964.
The Browns had only one losing season (5-7 in 1956) between 1946 and 1973. They have had only 11 winning seasons in the past 44 years, and four of those occurred from 1986 to 1989 when Bernie Kosar was the quarterback.
Brown and Collier combined to coach the Browns
for 25 years. The Browns have had 14 coaches since Collier retired after the 1970 season. Of those 14, only Nick Skorich (30-26-2 from 1971-74) and Marty Schottenheimer (46-31 from mid-1984 to 1988) had winning records. Schottenheimer and Kosar guided the Browns to the AFC championship game three times.
Fans remained loyal despite all the losing. They had their hearts torn out when Modell announced on Nov. 6, 1995, in Baltimore he was moving his football team to that city.
The final game in old Cleveland Stadium was played on Dec. 17, 1995, against the Bengals. Only 55,875 fans — a small crowd by Browns standards at the time — attended.
After losing six straight games, the Browns gave the loyal fans a show, beating the Bengals, 26-10. Players ran to high-five fans in the lower seats. The players were in no hurry to leave.
Fans tore out seats and anything they could to take home as a souvenir. The police did not stop them as long as the fans did not turn violent.
Fans would not let go. They hounded the NFL until, on Feb. 9, 1996, former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue at a league meeting in Chicago guaranteed Cleveland would have a football team to begin play in 1999. At the time, the league still had to figure out whether it would be an expansion team or relocated team. At the same meeting, league owners — some reluctantly — approved Modell’s move to Baltimore.
“This is historic,” Tagliabue said at the meeting. “It is the end of a very emotional and difficult time. To the fans of the Browns, you can count on us that the Browns will be there in 1999.”
On March 23, 1998, the league announced the Browns would get an expansion team. The next step was to find an owner. That honor went to Al Lerner, Modell’s former friend.
Al Lerner passed away in 2002. His son, Randy, took over.
Randy Lerner sold the Browns to Jimmy Haslam in 2012. The Browns are 2076 under Haslam.
But better days appear to be ahead. The Browns have an experienced quarterback in Tyrod Taylor, and for the first time in a long time excitement surrounds the Browns.
Top 10 players 1. OTTO GRAHAM »
Graham took the Browns to the playoffs 10 straight seasons. They won four All America Conference championships under his guidance from 1946-49. He threw four touchdown passes to lead the Browns to the 1950 NFL championship and had three rushing and three passing touchdowns in the 1954 title game.
Brown was
2. JIM BROWN »
the NFL’s all-time leading rusher with 12,312 yards when he retired after the 1965 season. Though others have passed him on the rushing list, he is still regarded as the best running back in NFL history. He played in the NFL nine years and made the Pro Bowl each season. He still holds the NFL record for leading the league in rushing eight times.
3. MARION MOTLEY »
Motley played for the Browns from 1946 to 1953. He is the alltime rushing leader of the AAFC and led the NFL in rushing in 1950 with 810 yards in 12 games. He averaged 5.8 yards a carry that year. Motley was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968.
4. OZZIE NEWSOME »
Newsome was drafted in 1978. No Browns player in the Hall of Fame played more recently than Newsome, who was enshrined in 1999. He retired as the NFL’s alltime leader in receptions with 662 and is the Browns’ all-time leader in that category. He caught at least one pass in 150 straight games.
Groza is best
5. LOU GROZA »
remembered as the first in a steady line of successful place kickers for the Browns, but his real value was as a left tackle. He played from 1946 to 1959, missed 1960 with a broken leg and then played seven more seasons. He is the Browns’ all-time leading scorer with 1,345 points. The Browns headquarters in Berea, 76 Lou Groza Boulevard, is named in his honor.
6. LEROY KELLY »
First Marion Motley, then Jim Brown, then Leroy Kelly —
it seemed the Browns would always have a star in their backfield. Kelly played from 1964 to 73. His 12,329 combined yards as a runner, receiver and returner are second only to Brown in team history. Kelly was enshrined in the Hall Fame in 1994.
7. GENE HICKERSON »
Hickerson played right guard from 1958 to 1971 and left guard the final two years of his career. He was in a wheelchair by the time he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007. With Hickerson sitting in it, Brown pushed Hickerson’s wheelchair at the induction ceremony in Canton, symbolizing the many times Hickerson blocked for Brown on a run to the right side.
8. DANTE LAVELLI »
Lavelli would have thrived as a wide receiver in the modern NFL at 6-foot, 191 pounds. “Glue Fingers” played for the Browns from 1946 to 1956 and caught 386 career passes for 6,488 yards and 62 touchdowns. He caught 24 passes in six NFL title games. He was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in 1975.
9. CLAY MATTHEWS »
Matthews is not in the Hall of Fame, but a strong argument can be made saying he belongs. He played 16 seasons with the Browns (1978 to 1993). Only Groza played more (17). Matthews holds the team record for games played (232) and career sacks (76.5). More than numbers, Matthews left his mark because his work ethic was unequalled.
10. JOE THOMAS »
Thomas isn’t in the Hall of Fame because he has been retired for only four months. A player must be retired five years before becoming Hall of Fame eligible. Thomas, drafted third overall by the Browns in 2007, played 10,363 consecutive snaps at left tackle until a triceps injury ended his career in mid-2017. He made 10 consecutive Pro Bowls.
Top 10 moments in team history, chronologically: NO. 1 »
The Browns have won eight championships in their history — four of them from 1946 to 1949 when they were in the All America Conference. They went 52-4-3 in those four years, highlighted by a perfect 14-0 season in 1948. They scored 30 or more points eight times in the 1948 regular season and pulverized the Buffalo Bills, 49-7, in the championship game. Otto Graham’s best year as a pro was in 1947 when he threw 25 touchdown passes and completed a league best 60.6 percent of his passes.
NO2.»
Winning their first game in the NFL in 1950 after winning four straight AAFC championships. When the Browns joined the NFL, the league wanted to put the Browns in their place by scheduling their first game against the 1949 NFL champion Eagles in Philadelphia. Instead, Graham passed for 346 yards and three touchdowns in a 35-10 Browns’ romp.
NO. 3. »
The 1950 NFL championship game was much more dramatic. The Browns beat the Los Angeles Rams, 30-28, on a 16-yard field goal by Lou Groza with 28 seconds to play (back then, the goalpost was on the goal line). A crowd of 29,751 in old Cleveland Stadium witnessed history on a cold Christmas Eve. Afterward, Coach Paul Brown told reporters: “Next to my wife and family, these guys are my life ... What a merry Christmas they’ve made it. This is the greatest team a coach ever had.”
NO. 4. »
The Browns won their last championship in the Paul Brown era when they beat the Rams, 38-14, in Los Angeles on Dec. 26, 1955, in the final game of Graham’s glorious career. The defense intercepted seven passes — six of them thrown by Norm van Brocklin. Graham threw two touchdown passes and ran for two to lead the Browns to their second straight championship, their third
in the NFL and seventh in Graham’s 10-year career. No one would have imagined at the time the Browns would go the next 63 years (and counting) winning only one championship.
NO. 5. »
Five players were selected in the 1957 draft before the Browns took Jim Brown — running back Paul Hornung by the Packers, halfback Jon Arnett by the Rams, quarterback John Brodie by the 49ers, end/tight end Ron Kramer by the Packers and quarterback Len Dawson by the Steelers. All were good, but none dominated his position the way Brown dominated for nine years. Brown retired as the NFL’s MVP in 1965. That was 53 years ago and he is still the face of the Browns.
NO. 6. »
The Browns were huge underdogs to the Baltimore Colts in the 1964 championship game, but they played flawlessly to win, 27-0. Frank Ryan threw three touchdown passes to Gary Collins and Groza kicked two field goals in the game played at Cleveland. Ironically, that game is all Collins is remembered for, but he did much more. His 331 receptions are second most in team history behind Ozzie Newsome’s 662. His 5,299 receiving yards are third most and he still holds the team record with 70 receiving touchdowns.
NO. 7. »
Before ESPN and the NFL Network saturated television with football, Monday Night Football on ABC was the game’s showcase. The NFL owners were reluctant about the idea, but Browns owner Art Modell agreed to host the firstever Monday night game on Sept. 21, 1970, at old Cleveland Stadium — provided the opponent would be the New York Jets. Modell, with a background in television, correctly figured Jets quarterback Joe Namath would attract viewers. A standing room only crowd of 85,703 jammed the stadium. Another 2,000 had to be turned away. The Browns won, 31-21. The highlight of the night was a 94-yard kick return by the Browns’ Homer Jones to start the second half.
NO. 8. »
No season over the past 50 years was more fun than the Kardiac Kids season of 1980. The Browns made a reputation of winning games in the final minutes, usually on drives engineered by quarterback Brian Sipe. The Browns lost their first two games and then won 11 of their last 14 in the regular season. They won nine games by seven or fewer points. When they needed a Kardiac Kid finish most, however, they couldn’t pull one out.
The Browns lost a wildcard playoff game to the Oakland Raiders, 14-12. The play from that game that will forever be a part of Browns lore was “Red Right 88.” With the ball on the Raiders 13 and less than a minute to play, a pass from Sipe intended for Ozzie Newsome in the end zone was intercepted by Raiders safety Mike Davis. Logic called for a field goal, but earlier in the game, kicker Don Cockroft missed a field goal and had an extra point blocked. Paul McDonald, the holder on place kicks, mishandled a snap in another field goal situation. The Browns came back to earth the next season and finished 5-11.
NO. 9. »
The last successful Browns’ era began on April 9, 1985, when former Browns general manager Ernie Accorsi traded the Browns’ first pick in 1985, their third-round pick in 1985, their first-round pick in 1986 and their sixthround pick in 1986 to the Bills for Buffalo’s firstround pick in the 1985 supplemental draft. That enabled Accorsi to take quarterback Bernie Kosar with the first pick in the supplemental draft 33 years ago. Kosar, from Boardman, followed an intricate path to the supplemental draft, but when he arrived and Accorsi made the pick, Kosar knew he would be playing for his hometown Browns. “It’s a pleasure to be here and put an end to this whole ordeal,” Kosar said during a news conference at old Cleveland Stadium on July 3, 1985. “I’m looking forward to a long career here. This is what I’ve always wanted.”
Kosar played for the Browns from 1985 through mid-1993 when Bill Belichick infamously cut him for “diminishing skills.” Kosar took the Browns to the AFC Championship Game in the 1986 and 1987 seasons under Marty Schottenheimer and in 1989 under Bud Carson. The Browns lost each time. They have won one playoff game since then.
NO. 10. »
Browns fans have always been a powerful force, and because of them Cleveland was without football for only three years after Modell announced on Nov. 6, 1995, he was moving his team to Baltimore. Fans besieged the NFL office in New York and the 29 other teams in the league with phone calls and faxes. “No team, no peace!” was the mantra from fans and former Cleveland mayor Mike White. Pressure applied by fans led to Cleveland getting an expansion team in 1999. Fans were jubilant, but after 19 seasons, the Browns are still playing like an expansion team.