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| Otto Graham(60) accounted for 397 yards of total offense(298 passing, 99 rushing) and threw four touchdown passes in leading the Browns to a win over the Rams in the 1950 NFL Title Game. |
Since their revival in 1999 after the Browns left for Baltimore in 1995, the team has had only two winning seasons, one of them resulting with a playoff berth, and have gone through seven head coaches and had 23 different quarterbacks start at least one game.
The franchise’s bad run since their return to the NFL in addition to all the heartbreaking playoff losses since the team’s last championship in 1964 have made the Cleveland Browns fanbase perhaps the
But there was a time when the Cleveland Browns were the model franchise in the NFL, in fact they were so good that then NFL commissioner Bert Bell called them “the greatest team to ever play football”.
The Browns joined the NFL in 1950 as one of three franchises from the All American Football Conference, a league that ran for four seasons in which the Browns were crowned champions after all four seasons.
The team was coached and named after Paul Brown, who was already a legend in the state of Ohio as he had coached the Masillion High School football team to six straight state championships and then coached the Ohio State Buckeyes to the 1942 AP national title.
Brown’s team featured quarterback Otto Graham, fullback Marion Motley (one of the first African Americans to play professional football), and kicker/defensive tackle Lou Groza, who was so good at kicking that he was nicknamed “The Toe”.
When the Browns entered the NFL, they were perceived as a great team in a dominant league.
But the Browns quickly squashed those thoughts in their season opener when they dominated the 2-time defending NFL champion Philadelphia Eagles 35-10 in Philadelphia.
The Browns would go to finish the regular season with a 10-2 record in a tie for first place in the American Conference with the New York Giants, forcing a one-game playoff to see who would go on to the NFL Championship Game.
In a low scoring affair, the Browns would win 8-3 thanks to in large part to Groza’s two field goals and they were off to the NFL title game in their first season where they would face off with the Los Angeles Rams.
The Rams were under the direction of first-year head coach Joe Stadyhr, who had helped put together the greatest offense the NFL had ever seen up to that point.
The Rams set a then record for points in a season with 466 points over 12 games, and still hold the average points per game with 38.8, despite using two quarterbacks, Norm Van Brocklin and Bob Waterfield, who combined to throw for 3601 yards and 29 touchdowns, with their favorite target being Tom Fears who caught 84 passes for 1106 yards and seven touchdowns.
The offense also featured former Heisman Trophy winner Glenn Davis, who had over 1,000 yards of total offense during the season.
Despite their record-setting offense, the Rams finished tied for first place in the National Conference with a 9-3 record and had to face the Chicago Bears in a one-game playoff.
The Rams defeated the Bears 24-14 to earn a trip to Cleveland to face the Browns for the NFL title.
It was ironic that the Rams would have to face the Browns in Cleveland’s first NFL championship game since the Rams franchise operated in Cleveland from 1937-1945, which included a NFL championship in their final season in 1945 before moving west to Los Angeles.
If the Rams were to win the NFL title, they would have do in their former city on a cold Christmas Eve where temperatures did not get above 30 degrees with a wind blowing nearly 30 miles per hour.
The Rams got the ball to start the game as Verda Smith returned the opening kickoff to the Rams’ 18-yard-old-line.
On the first snap, Waterfield dropped back and launched a pass that was caught by Davis 30 yards downfield.
Davis then proceeded to run the remaining 52 yards to complete the shocking 82-yard touchdown that gave the Rams a 7-0 lead just 27 seconds into the game.
The Browns responded with a six-play, 70-yard drive that culminated with a 31-yard touchdown pass from Graham to Dub Jones,one play after Graham had scrambled 22 yards for a 1st down on a 3rd-and-5 at the Browns’ 47.
Lou Groza’s extra point tied the game at 7, with 11:50 still to play in the first quarter.
The Rams would take over at their own 19 and drive right back down the field as Waterfield connected with Tom Fears for a 44-yard pass and a 15-yard run by Smith set up a four-yard touchdown run by Dick Hoerner that put Los Angeles back in front 14-7 as both teams had combined for three touchdowns in the first 15 plays of the game.
The offensive fireworks continued in the second quarter as Graham connected with Dante Lavelli for a 37-yard touchdown to end a 8-play, 65-yard drive.
However on the extra point, holder Tommy James mishandled the snap, leading to a wild scramble that ended with James throwing a desperation pass to Tony Admale, who dropped the pass in the end zone, keeping the Rams in front with a 14-13 lead.
Back came the Rams down the field as they drove to the Browns’ seven-yard-line until a holding penalty pushed them back to the 26-yard-line, which was followed by an interception by Browns safety Ken Gorgel who returned it 33 yards to the Cleveland 49.
But the Browns could not do nothing with the turnover as they lost 12 yards on three plays, forcing a punt from Horace Gilliam, who shanked the kick as it went only nine yards, giving the Rams the ball back at the Cleveland 46-yard-line.
Again the Rams drove to inside the Browns’ ten-yard-line as they drove to the eight-yard-line to set up a 15-yard field goal attempt by Waterfield(the goalposts were at the front of the end zone, not in the back).
Inexplicably, Waterfield would miss the kick keeping it a 14-13 game.
The Rams would get one more chance before halftime to get points on the board but Waterfield would be intercepted by Browns linebacker Hal Herring, ending the first half with the Rams still in the lead 14-13.
The Browns got the ball to start the second half as drove 77 yards in five plays, with Graham connecting with Gilliam for a 29-yard completion to set up a 39-yard touchdown pass from Graham to Lavelli that gave Cleveland its first lead of the game at 20-14.
But the Rams would strike back on their next possession as Waterfield completed three straight passes, the last being a 38-yard pass to Smith, that put Los Angeles at the Browns’ 17-yard-line.
That is when Los Angeles went to the ground game as they ran the ball seven straight times, the last carry being a one-yard touchdown run by Hoerner that with Waterfield’s extra point put the Rams back in front 21-20.
The Rams’ lead increased on the Browns’ first play from scrimmage after the touchdown as Motley, who was held to nine yards on six carries, while trying to find reverse field on a run, lost the football when he was hit by the Rams’ two defensive ends, Larry Brink and Jack Zilly, at his own 14-yard-line.
The ball bounced back to the six-yard-line where Brink scooped it up and ran it in for the touchdown that gave the Rams their second touchdown in 21 seconds and their largest lead of the game, 28-20.
The fumble return for the touchdown seemed to take the steam out of Cleveland as they went three-and-out on their next drive, giving the ball back to the Rams who had a chance to ice the game with another touchdown.
But on that ensuing possession, Waterfield would be intercepted again, this time by Browns defensive back Warren Lehr, giving Cleveland the ball at that own 35-yard-line toward the end of the third quarter.
With the Rams going to a prevent defense, Graham throw short passes, nine of them in fact, the last being a 14-yard touchdown pass to Rex Bumgardner, who made a shoestring catch for the touchdown, that with Groza’s extra point brought the Browns to within one point, 28-27 with 10:25 to play.
After an exchange of punts, the Browns forced Waterfield to throw his 4th interception of the game with linebacker Tommy Thompson being the recipient, giving Graham and the Browns the ball at Rams’ 47-yard-line with five minutes to go.
It seemed the Browns were on the verge of taking the lead as Graham connected with Jones for a 22-yard gain to the LA 25, putting Cleveland in Groza’s range for a field goal.
But on the very next play, Graham would fumble the football when he was hit by Rams linebacker Mike Lazetich, who would then recover the ball at the Cleveland 24, giving the Rams the ball with three minutes to go and a chance to ice the game with a first down.
However, the Browns defense only allowed six yards on three plays, forcing Los Angeles to punt the ball back to Cleveland and given Graham a chance to redeem himself.
After Cliff Lewis returned Waterfield’s punt 13 yards to the Cleveland 32-yard-line, the Browns had 1:48 left and one timeout to get into field goal range.
On the first snap from scrimmage, Graham scrambled for 16 yards for a 1st down, then hit Bumgardner for 13 yards and another 1st down at the Rams’ 39-yard-line.
After an incompletion, Graham found Jones for a 16-yard-gain, then followed it up with another 12-yarder to Bumgardner, which put Cleveland at the LA 11-yard-line with 45 seconds to play.
The Cleveland fans were begging for Groza to come onto the field and kick the field goal, but Brown and assistant coach Blanton Collier told Graham to sneak the ball into the middle to give Groza a better chance for his kick.
Graham compiled and ran to the center of the field and gaining a yard allowing for Brown to call on Groza and the field goal unit.
The 29,751 fans at Municipal Stadium waited nervously as they hoped Groza would come through again like he did a week before against the Giants.
The snap was good, James’ hold was good, and Groza’s kick was good as his 16-yard field goal gave the Browns a 30-28 lead with 20 seconds to play.
Needing a miracle to win the game, the Rams almost got one on the ensuing kickoff as Jerry Williams ran the kick back 35 yards, only to be tackled by Groza at the Rams’ 47-yard-line.
That is when Stydahar called on his long passer, Van Brocklin,in hopes of throwing a long touchdown pass.
Van Brocklin took the snap and dropped back seven yards before launching his pass, which went 55 yards before it was picked off by Lahr, as he snatched the ball away from Davis, thus ending the game and sending the fans into a frenzy as they come onto the field and tore down the goalposts in celebration of the Browns’ 30-28 victory and NFL championship.
The two teams would meet again in the NFL Championship game the following year, this time in Los Angeles and this time the Rams winning, as Fears caught a 73-yard touchdown pass from Van Brocklin in the 4th quarter to give Los Angeles a 24-17 win and the NFL championship.
The two teams would meet again for the NFL championship in 1955. this time with the Browns winning easily 38-14, giving Cleveland its second straight NFL title and third in six seasons.
The game was the last of Graham’s 10-year career, who took the Browns to a league championship games in all 10 of his seasons, finishing with a 7-3 record in those 10 title games.
Since his retirement, the Browns have only one NFL championship, which came in 1964 with running back Jim Brown and Collier as the head coach.
But it is safe to say that no NFL team will ever play in 10 straight championship games again.
And most younger fans will find hard to believe that is was the Cleveland Browns who accomplished this feat.
The franchise’s bad run since their return to the NFL in addition to all the heartbreaking playoff losses since the team’s last championship in 1964 have made the Cleveland Browns fanbase perhaps the
But there was a time when the Cleveland Browns were the model franchise in the NFL, in fact they were so good that then NFL commissioner Bert Bell called them “the greatest team to ever play football”.
The Browns joined the NFL in 1950 as one of three franchises from the All American Football Conference, a league that ran for four seasons in which the Browns were crowned champions after all four seasons.
The team was coached and named after Paul Brown, who was already a legend in the state of Ohio as he had coached the Masillion High School football team to six straight state championships and then coached the Ohio State Buckeyes to the 1942 AP national title.
Brown’s team featured quarterback Otto Graham, fullback Marion Motley (one of the first African Americans to play professional football), and kicker/defensive tackle Lou Groza, who was so good at kicking that he was nicknamed “The Toe”.
When the Browns entered the NFL, they were perceived as a great team in a dominant league.
But the Browns quickly squashed those thoughts in their season opener when they dominated the 2-time defending NFL champion Philadelphia Eagles 35-10 in Philadelphia.
The Browns would go to finish the regular season with a 10-2 record in a tie for first place in the American Conference with the New York Giants, forcing a one-game playoff to see who would go on to the NFL Championship Game.
In a low scoring affair, the Browns would win 8-3 thanks to in large part to Groza’s two field goals and they were off to the NFL title game in their first season where they would face off with the Los Angeles Rams.
The Rams were under the direction of first-year head coach Joe Stadyhr, who had helped put together the greatest offense the NFL had ever seen up to that point.
The Rams set a then record for points in a season with 466 points over 12 games, and still hold the average points per game with 38.8, despite using two quarterbacks, Norm Van Brocklin and Bob Waterfield, who combined to throw for 3601 yards and 29 touchdowns, with their favorite target being Tom Fears who caught 84 passes for 1106 yards and seven touchdowns.
The offense also featured former Heisman Trophy winner Glenn Davis, who had over 1,000 yards of total offense during the season.
Despite their record-setting offense, the Rams finished tied for first place in the National Conference with a 9-3 record and had to face the Chicago Bears in a one-game playoff.
The Rams defeated the Bears 24-14 to earn a trip to Cleveland to face the Browns for the NFL title.
It was ironic that the Rams would have to face the Browns in Cleveland’s first NFL championship game since the Rams franchise operated in Cleveland from 1937-1945, which included a NFL championship in their final season in 1945 before moving west to Los Angeles.
If the Rams were to win the NFL title, they would have do in their former city on a cold Christmas Eve where temperatures did not get above 30 degrees with a wind blowing nearly 30 miles per hour.
The Rams got the ball to start the game as Verda Smith returned the opening kickoff to the Rams’ 18-yard-old-line.
On the first snap, Waterfield dropped back and launched a pass that was caught by Davis 30 yards downfield.
Davis then proceeded to run the remaining 52 yards to complete the shocking 82-yard touchdown that gave the Rams a 7-0 lead just 27 seconds into the game.
The Browns responded with a six-play, 70-yard drive that culminated with a 31-yard touchdown pass from Graham to Dub Jones,one play after Graham had scrambled 22 yards for a 1st down on a 3rd-and-5 at the Browns’ 47.
Lou Groza’s extra point tied the game at 7, with 11:50 still to play in the first quarter.
The Rams would take over at their own 19 and drive right back down the field as Waterfield connected with Tom Fears for a 44-yard pass and a 15-yard run by Smith set up a four-yard touchdown run by Dick Hoerner that put Los Angeles back in front 14-7 as both teams had combined for three touchdowns in the first 15 plays of the game.
The offensive fireworks continued in the second quarter as Graham connected with Dante Lavelli for a 37-yard touchdown to end a 8-play, 65-yard drive.
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| Dante Lavelli caught a then NFL Championship game 11 passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns. |
However on the extra point, holder Tommy James mishandled the snap, leading to a wild scramble that ended with James throwing a desperation pass to Tony Admale, who dropped the pass in the end zone, keeping the Rams in front with a 14-13 lead.
Back came the Rams down the field as they drove to the Browns’ seven-yard-line until a holding penalty pushed them back to the 26-yard-line, which was followed by an interception by Browns safety Ken Gorgel who returned it 33 yards to the Cleveland 49.
But the Browns could not do nothing with the turnover as they lost 12 yards on three plays, forcing a punt from Horace Gilliam, who shanked the kick as it went only nine yards, giving the Rams the ball back at the Cleveland 46-yard-line.
Again the Rams drove to inside the Browns’ ten-yard-line as they drove to the eight-yard-line to set up a 15-yard field goal attempt by Waterfield(the goalposts were at the front of the end zone, not in the back).
Inexplicably, Waterfield would miss the kick keeping it a 14-13 game.
The Rams would get one more chance before halftime to get points on the board but Waterfield would be intercepted by Browns linebacker Hal Herring, ending the first half with the Rams still in the lead 14-13.
The Browns got the ball to start the second half as drove 77 yards in five plays, with Graham connecting with Gilliam for a 29-yard completion to set up a 39-yard touchdown pass from Graham to Lavelli that gave Cleveland its first lead of the game at 20-14.
But the Rams would strike back on their next possession as Waterfield completed three straight passes, the last being a 38-yard pass to Smith, that put Los Angeles at the Browns’ 17-yard-line.
That is when Los Angeles went to the ground game as they ran the ball seven straight times, the last carry being a one-yard touchdown run by Hoerner that with Waterfield’s extra point put the Rams back in front 21-20.
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| Dick Hoerner scores one of his two touchdowns in the 1950 NFL Championship Game. |
The ball bounced back to the six-yard-line where Brink scooped it up and ran it in for the touchdown that gave the Rams their second touchdown in 21 seconds and their largest lead of the game, 28-20.
The fumble return for the touchdown seemed to take the steam out of Cleveland as they went three-and-out on their next drive, giving the ball back to the Rams who had a chance to ice the game with another touchdown.
But on that ensuing possession, Waterfield would be intercepted again, this time by Browns defensive back Warren Lehr, giving Cleveland the ball at that own 35-yard-line toward the end of the third quarter.
With the Rams going to a prevent defense, Graham throw short passes, nine of them in fact, the last being a 14-yard touchdown pass to Rex Bumgardner, who made a shoestring catch for the touchdown, that with Groza’s extra point brought the Browns to within one point, 28-27 with 10:25 to play.
After an exchange of punts, the Browns forced Waterfield to throw his 4th interception of the game with linebacker Tommy Thompson being the recipient, giving Graham and the Browns the ball at Rams’ 47-yard-line with five minutes to go.
It seemed the Browns were on the verge of taking the lead as Graham connected with Jones for a 22-yard gain to the LA 25, putting Cleveland in Groza’s range for a field goal.
But on the very next play, Graham would fumble the football when he was hit by Rams linebacker Mike Lazetich, who would then recover the ball at the Cleveland 24, giving the Rams the ball with three minutes to go and a chance to ice the game with a first down.
However, the Browns defense only allowed six yards on three plays, forcing Los Angeles to punt the ball back to Cleveland and given Graham a chance to redeem himself.
After Cliff Lewis returned Waterfield’s punt 13 yards to the Cleveland 32-yard-line, the Browns had 1:48 left and one timeout to get into field goal range.
On the first snap from scrimmage, Graham scrambled for 16 yards for a 1st down, then hit Bumgardner for 13 yards and another 1st down at the Rams’ 39-yard-line.
After an incompletion, Graham found Jones for a 16-yard-gain, then followed it up with another 12-yarder to Bumgardner, which put Cleveland at the LA 11-yard-line with 45 seconds to play.
The Cleveland fans were begging for Groza to come onto the field and kick the field goal, but Brown and assistant coach Blanton Collier told Graham to sneak the ball into the middle to give Groza a better chance for his kick.
Graham compiled and ran to the center of the field and gaining a yard allowing for Brown to call on Groza and the field goal unit.
The 29,751 fans at Municipal Stadium waited nervously as they hoped Groza would come through again like he did a week before against the Giants.
The snap was good, James’ hold was good, and Groza’s kick was good as his 16-yard field goal gave the Browns a 30-28 lead with 20 seconds to play.
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| Both teams watch as Groza's 16-yard filed goal goes through the uprights. |
Needing a miracle to win the game, the Rams almost got one on the ensuing kickoff as Jerry Williams ran the kick back 35 yards, only to be tackled by Groza at the Rams’ 47-yard-line.
That is when Stydahar called on his long passer, Van Brocklin,in hopes of throwing a long touchdown pass.
Van Brocklin took the snap and dropped back seven yards before launching his pass, which went 55 yards before it was picked off by Lahr, as he snatched the ball away from Davis, thus ending the game and sending the fans into a frenzy as they come onto the field and tore down the goalposts in celebration of the Browns’ 30-28 victory and NFL championship.
The two teams would meet again in the NFL Championship game the following year, this time in Los Angeles and this time the Rams winning, as Fears caught a 73-yard touchdown pass from Van Brocklin in the 4th quarter to give Los Angeles a 24-17 win and the NFL championship.
The two teams would meet again for the NFL championship in 1955. this time with the Browns winning easily 38-14, giving Cleveland its second straight NFL title and third in six seasons.
The game was the last of Graham’s 10-year career, who took the Browns to a league championship games in all 10 of his seasons, finishing with a 7-3 record in those 10 title games.
Since his retirement, the Browns have only one NFL championship, which came in 1964 with running back Jim Brown and Collier as the head coach.
But it is safe to say that no NFL team will ever play in 10 straight championship games again.
And most younger fans will find hard to believe that is was the Cleveland Browns who accomplished this feat.
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| The Browns celebrate after winning the 1950 NFL Championship. |
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