Paul Brown
Encyclopedia
Paul Eugene Brown was a coach in American football
and a major figure in the development of the National Football League
. A seminal figure in the game's history, Brown is considered the "father of the modern offense", and one of the greatest of football coaches in history, achieving success at every major level—high school, college, and professional—and introducing numerous innovative coaching methods still in use today. He is also credited with founding both the Cleveland Browns
and Cincinnati Bengals
franchises, with the former named after him and the latter naming their stadium
in his honor.
, Brown's family moved to Walshingham when he was nine. His father Lester, a dispatcher for the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad, was described as "very meticulous, serious-minded and highly-disciplined," all of which characterized Brown's later approach to coaching. Brown graduated from Washington High School
in Massillon, Ohio
in 1925, having played varsity quarterback in the wake of Harry Stuhldreher
(one of Notre Dame
's legendary Four Horsemen
).
quarterback
, Brown found his 145-pound frame would not stand the rigors of major college football, and transferred to Miami University
in Oxford, Ohio
, losing a year of eligibility in the process. Under Coach Chester Pittser
, Brown played two years and was named to the All-Ohio small college second team by the AP
at the end of the 1928 season. In 1930, he graduated from Miami with a B.A. in Education. He would complete his academic career in 1940 when he received an M.A. in Education from The Ohio State University.
As his academic credentials indicate, Brown was as much a teacher as he was a coach. He qualified for a Rhodes Scholarship
in 1930, but he had married Katie Kester, his "high school sweetheart", in 1929 and with the coming of the Great Depression
, he needed employment. His coaching career began in 1930 when he was hired as a teacher/coach at Severn School
, in Severna Park, Maryland
, at the time a Naval Academy prep school
.
Tigers. In his nine years at Massillon
, Brown posted an 80–8–2 record which included a 35-game winning streak. After his first three years, he had improved the fortunes of the Tigers, but still had been unable to defeat the team's bitter rival, Canton McKinley High School
, losing all three meetings by at least fifteen points per game.
Brown not only ended that frustrating losing streak, but also won the next six games with McKinley, and an overall total of 58 of the next 60 contests, tying one. Massillon was voted to six straight Ohio poll high school football championships (1935 through 1940). The Tigers outscored their opposition 2,393 to 168 during those six years. The 1940 team outscored its opponents 477 to 6, with the lone score against them made by Canton McKinley. During this period, Brown's achievements also helped build a new stadium for the high school that seated 20,000 people, and drew crowds that surpassed every football program in Ohio except Ohio State University.
Brown had achieved this success by implementing a system at Massillon based on techniques developed by Dr. John B. "Jock" Sutherland
, head coach at the University of Pittsburgh
. Sutherland had played professional football for the pioneer Massillon Tigers club when Brown was a boy and had gone on to success as a coach. Brown planned every phase of his program, detailing practice schedules, assigning assistant coaches (which he dubbed "position coaches") specific duties, and installing his entire system in Massillon's junior high schools so that players would already know his system when they reached high school.
head coach Jack Mollenkopf of Toledo
Waite High School, Brown moved into the college ranks by becoming head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes
on January 14, 1941. Under Brown, the Buckeyes went 18–8–1 (1941–43). Brown's players were known for speed, intelligence, and contact; his teams for execution and fundamentals; and he was dubbed "Precision Paul" at Ohio State.
Paul Brown was also a brother of the Delta Kappa Epsilon
fraternity (Kappa chapter).
In his first season at Ohio State Brown went 6–1–1, losing to Northwestern University
and their running back Otto Graham
(who would go on to become his quarterback for the Browns for 10 seasons, reaching the championship game every season and winning 7 of them), and tying Michigan
. The Buckeyes tied for second place in the Western Conference
, finished 13th in the AP Poll, and Brown was voted fourth place on balloting for National Coach of the Year behind Frank Leahy
, Bernie Bierman
, and Earl Blaik
.
The following year (1942), despite losing 18 lettermen to graduation and to military service in World War II
, Brown led the Buckeyes to a share of the university's first National championship, using a team of three seniors, 16 juniors, and 24 sophomores. (Georgia
also claimed the title that year.) Among his players were sophomore Les Horvath
and four former Massillon players, two of whom (Lin Houston
and Tommy James
) would play for the Cleveland Browns. The only loss in 1942 was on the road to Wisconsin
in a game that came to be known as the "Bad-Water Game," because most of the team came down with dysentery
from unsanitary water during their travel to Madison
by railroad.
Brown had recruited what was reputedly the finest freshman team in Ohio history in 1942 but lost virtually all of them to military service. In 1943 Ohio State was handicapped when the school affiliated itself with the U.S. Army's ASTP
officer training, which did not allow its trainees to participate in varsity sports, while schools such as Michigan and Purdue became part of the Navy's V-12
program, which did. Although the Big Ten promulgated a special wartime exemption in 1943 allowing freshmen to play varsity football, Ohio State found itself in competition against older and larger teams (both military and college) featuring players such as Elroy Hirsch
. The 1943 "Baby Bucks" had only five returning players and one starter from the national champion team, six from the 1942 freshman team, and 33 17-year-old freshmen, going 3–6.
After Brown was re-classified 1-A in February 1944, he was commissioned April 12, 1944, as a lieutenant (junior grade) in the United States Navy
. He served at the Great Lakes Naval Station
as head coach of its Bluejacket football team, which competed against other service teams and college programs, putting together a mark of 15-5-2 during the final two years of World War II
. One of those five losses was to Ohio State on October 9, 1944.
After the war, despite still being Ohio State's head coach in absentia
, Brown chose instead to go to Cleveland as part-owner, vice president, general manager and head coach for Arthur B "Mickey" McBride's entry in the upstart All-America Football Conference
. He signed his contract February 8, 1945, while still in the Navy. A name-the-team poll taken in the The Plain Dealer's most popular submission was "Browns" in recognition of Paul Brown, already an established and popular figure in Ohio sports. Brown at first objected to the name and the team selected from the contest entries the name "Panthers." However, after an area businessman informed the team that he owned the rights to the name Cleveland Panthers from an earlier failed football team, another contest was held with the winning entry "Brown Bombers." It was shortened to Browns as Coach Brown rescinded his objection and agreed to the use of his name.
Until 1951, Brown retained an interest in coaching the Buckeyes. Despite his success as a professional head coach, he let it be known following the resignation of Wes Fesler
that he would entertain an offer to return to Ohio State, and he received an immediate show of strong support from many of the same organizations and people who had supported him in 1940. However Brown had also alienated many of his supporters within the Buckeye alumni ranks for failing to return to the coaching position reserved for him at the end of World War II, and within the athletics department by signing Buckeye players, Lou Groza
chief among them, to professional contracts before their college eligibility had ended. Brown strenuously denied breaking any rules, claiming that the Browns were allowed to sign those players because they had all completed World War II military service and their college classes had already graduated, as allowed by the rules then in place. Although he interviewed with the university's athletic board on January 27, 1951, with tumultuous campus support, the board unanimously rejected Brown in favor of Woody Hayes
, who was unanimously endorsed by the board of trustees.
hired Paul Brown when Brown was still coaching at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station during World War II
, paying Brown $20,000 per year plus 15% of the profits, plus $1,000 per month until the end of the war. While the AAFC lasted only four seasons, the Browns served as the gold standard for the league, winning all four championships and losing only four games during the league's four-year existence.
Brown put together the most extensive player recruitment network that had ever been seen in pro football at the time. The great majority of the early Browns teams came from Massillon, Ohio State and Great Lakes. One key move came when he tapped Otto Graham
, a single-wing
tailback
during his days at Northwestern University
, as his quarterback
, providing the team with a signal caller who would lead the team to the league title game in each of his ten seasons. In addition, Brown ignored the gentlemen's agreement
that barred African-American players from the league, adding future Pro Football Hall of Fame
rs Marion Motley
and Bill Willis
.
Following the merger between the NFL and AAFC, the Browns, along with the San Francisco 49ers
and the first Baltimore Colts
franchise, moved to the NFL in 1950. Critics had predicted that the overall weakness of the AAFC would expose the Browns. However, in their very first official NFL game, the Browns dismantled the two-time defending champion Philadelphia Eagles
35–10, putting up 487 yards of total offense, 346 of them in the air. They won the NFL Championship in their first year, defeating the Rams in the title game on December 24 on a last-minute field goal by Lou Groza
. This 1950 NFL championship gave Brown the distinction of being the first head coach to win a college national championship and an NFL championship, Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer later winning college championships and Super Bowls. The Browns went on to appear in the next five title games, winning back-to-back titles in 1954 and 1955.
Brown was a great innovator during his time in Cleveland. He was the first to use intelligence tests to judge players, establish a game film library, instruct players in a classroom setting, use a radio transmitter to communicate with players on the field, and install face masks on helmet
s (At the professional level. Many players in college attached crude forms of face masks on their helmets before Brown.). Another innovation was the use of "messenger guards" to relay plays from the sidelines after the radio proved problematic due to the technology then available. The offense directed by Graham was the predecessor of the West Coast offense
made famous by Bill Walsh
, a protégé of Brown.
He was also a person known for his stubborn approach to criticism. In 1950, Eagles head coach Greasy Neale dismissed the Browns' shredding of his Eagles' vaunted defense in the season opener by saying, "All they do is pass the ball." In the teams' subsequent meeting a few months later, the Browns set an NFL record that still stands by attempting no passes in a 13–7 win over the Eagles.
At the end of the 1958 season, the Green Bay Packers
were searching for a new head coach. They talked to Brown, who recommended either Blanton Collier
or Vince Lombardi
. Once Lombardi was hired, Brown made a short list of young players with promise but no roster spot. Lombardi chose four players, two became Hall of Famers and three of his four defensive linemen.
By 1959, Brown was respected enough in the NFL that efforts were made to draft him for the league's commissionership, which was vacant following the death of Bert Bell
. Brown declined, and Pete Rozelle
was eventually chosen.
, who had purchased the club in 1961. Controversy developed over the timing of the decision, coming in the midst of a local newspaper strike, which limited discussion of the move. Cleveland sportswriter Frank Gibbons said the firing was "Like toppling the Terminal Tower
", which was then Cleveland's tallest building.
Modell and Brown were at odds from the start. Shortly after Modell took over the club, Brown made a trade with the Washington Redskins
in December 1961 without Modell's knowledge. Brown's deal secured the rights to 1961 Heisman Trophy
winner Ernie Davis
, star running back from Syracuse University
. However, the trade marked the beginning of the end of Brown's Cleveland career. Davis was diagnosed with leukemia
during his first training camp in 1962. The feud between Brown and Modell was exacerbated when Brown chose not to play Davis, despite assurances from doctors that Davis could withstand the physical demands of NFL action. Modell, conversely, saw no harm in playing Davis. Ultimately, the relationship between coach and owner was never repaired, and Ernie Davis never played in a professional game, dying of the disease on May 18, 1963.
In exile after more than 30 years of coaching, Brown spent the next five years away from the sidelines, never once attending a Browns' contest. While he was secure financially, receiving his paycheck from the Browns for the duration of the final five years of his contract, as well as retaining approximately six percent of the team, Brown's frustration grew with each passing year. He later recalled, "It was terrible. I had everything a man could want: leisure, enough money, a wonderful family. Yet with all that, I was eating my heart out." Because Brown was still receiving his annual salary and liked to golf, it was said (in jest) that the only two people who made more money at golf than he did were Arnold Palmer
and Jack Nicklaus
.
Just months after his dismissal, Brown was rumored to be part of an ownership group to buy the Philadelphia Eagles, but no deal was ever officially signed. In May 1966, Brown sold his stake in the Browns and traveled with Ohio Governor James A. Rhodes to make a presentation on behalf of Cincinnati for an American Football League
franchise.
of the NFL's rival American Football League
. He would coach the team for eight seasons, leading the team to three playoff berths, including one in the team's third year of operation in 1970. In each of those seasons, as well as a number of preseason clashes, Browns' Bengals took on his former Browns team, reigniting the bitter rivalry between Brown and Modell. Brown was criticized for failing to shake Browns' coach Collier's hand after the first Browns/Bengals games in 1970.
Brown stepped down as coach on January 1, 1976, but remained as team president. Under him, the Bengals made two trips to the Super Bowl
, losing both games to Bill Walsh's San Francisco 49ers
. Following his death in 1991 of complications from pneumonia, Brown was succeeded by his son Mike
as Bengals' team president.
Ironically, Walsh, who was a Cincinnati Bengals assistant for seven seasons under Brown, was passed over in favor of Bill "Tiger" Johnson when Brown retired in 1975. In a 2006 interview
, Walsh claimed that during his tenure with the Bengals, Brown "worked against my candidacy" to be a head coach anywhere in the league. "All the way through I had opportunities, and I never knew about them," Walsh said. "And then when I left him, he called whoever he thought was necessary to keep me out of the NFL." Michael Lewis confirmed Walsh's argument (cf. "The Blind Side," pp. 96–7, W.W. Norton, 2006): "Brown had several times refused other NFL teams permission to interview Walsh for their head coaching jobs, without bothering to mention their interest to Walsh. Instead Brown had told Walsh that he didn't think he'd ever make a good NFL head coach."
in Canton, Ohio
. In addition to that accolade, two stadiums bear his name: Paul Brown Tiger Stadium
in Massillon, Ohio
, and Paul Brown Stadium
, current home of the Cincinnati Bengals. On July 29, Sporting News honored Brown by naming him to their 50 Greatest Coaches of All Time list, appearing in the 13th position, with only two other NFL coaches listed above him.
Brown's first wife, Kathryn "Katie" Brown, died in 1969 and in 1973 he married his former secretary, Mary Rightsell. He died in Cincinnati on August 5, 1991, and is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Massillon, Ohio
.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
and a major figure in the development of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
. A seminal figure in the game's history, Brown is considered the "father of the modern offense", and one of the greatest of football coaches in history, achieving success at every major level—high school, college, and professional—and introducing numerous innovative coaching methods still in use today. He is also credited with founding both the Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
and Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL...
franchises, with the former named after him and the latter naming their stadium
Paul Brown Stadium
Paul Brown Stadium is an American sports stadium located in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the home venue of the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League. It opened on August 19, 2000. The stadium was named after Bengals' founder Paul Brown. The stadium is located on approximately of land and...
in his honor.
Early life
Born in Norwalk, OhioNorwalk, Ohio
At the 2000 census, there were 16,238 people, 6,377 households and 4,234 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,950.3 per square mile . There were 6,687 housing units at an average density of 803.1 per square mile...
, Brown's family moved to Walshingham when he was nine. His father Lester, a dispatcher for the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railroad, was described as "very meticulous, serious-minded and highly-disciplined," all of which characterized Brown's later approach to coaching. Brown graduated from Washington High School
Massillon Washington High School
Massillon Washington High School, is a 9 to 12 grade secondary school within the Massillon City School District located in the city of Massillon, Ohio. It serves students within the city of Massillon as well as parts of Tuscarawas Township...
in Massillon, Ohio
Massillon, Ohio
Massillon is a city located in Stark County in the U.S. state of Ohio, approximately 8 miles to the west of Canton, Ohio, 20 miles south of Akron, Ohio, and 50 miles south of Cleveland, Ohio. The population was 32,149 at the 2010 census....
in 1925, having played varsity quarterback in the wake of Harry Stuhldreher
Harry Stuhldreher
Harry Augustus Stuhldreher was an American football player, coach, and college athletics administrator. He played quarterback at University of Notre Dame from 1922 to 1924, where he was a three-time All-American and member of the legendary "Four Horsemen" backfield...
(one of Notre Dame
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
's legendary Four Horsemen
Four Horsemen (football)
The Four Horsemen of Notre Dame comprised a winning group of American football players at the University of Notre Dame under coach Knute Rockne. They were the backfield of Notre Dame's 1924 football team...
).
High school and college coaching career
Enrolling at The Ohio State University as a freshmanFreshman
A freshman or fresher is a first-year student in secondary school, high school, or college. The term first year can also be used as a noun, to describe the students themselves A freshman (US) or fresher (UK, India) (or sometimes fish, freshie, fresher; slang plural frosh or freshmeat) is a...
quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
, Brown found his 145-pound frame would not stand the rigors of major college football, and transferred to Miami University
Miami University
Miami University is a coeducational public research university located in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and the second oldest university in Ohio, founded four years after Ohio University. In its 2012 edition, U.S...
in Oxford, Ohio
Oxford, Ohio
Oxford is a city in northwestern Butler County, Ohio, United States, in the southwestern portion of the state. It lies in Oxford Township, originally called the College Township. The population was 21,943 at the 2000 census. This college town was founded as a home for Miami University. Oxford...
, losing a year of eligibility in the process. Under Coach Chester Pittser
Chester Pittser
Chester M. "Chett" Pittser was an American football, basketball, and baseball coach at the college level. He served as the head football coach at Miami University from 1924 to 1931 and at Montclair State Teachers College, now Montclair State University, from 1934 to 1942, compiling a career...
, Brown played two years and was named to the All-Ohio small college second team by the AP
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
at the end of the 1928 season. In 1930, he graduated from Miami with a B.A. in Education. He would complete his academic career in 1940 when he received an M.A. in Education from The Ohio State University.
As his academic credentials indicate, Brown was as much a teacher as he was a coach. He qualified for a Rhodes Scholarship
Rhodes Scholarship
The Rhodes Scholarship, named after Cecil Rhodes, is an international postgraduate award for study at the University of Oxford. It was the first large-scale programme of international scholarships, and is widely considered the "world's most prestigious scholarship" by many public sources such as...
in 1930, but he had married Katie Kester, his "high school sweetheart", in 1929 and with the coming of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, he needed employment. His coaching career began in 1930 when he was hired as a teacher/coach at Severn School
Severn School
Severn School was founded in 1914 by Rolland M. Teel in Severna Park, Maryland, as a preparatory school for the United States Naval Academy. Today, Severn is a day school enrolling boys and girls in grades 6 through 12...
, in Severna Park, Maryland
Severna Park, Maryland
Severna Park is a census-designated place in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, United States. The population was 28,507 at the 2000 census.-History:Robinson House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.-Geography:...
, at the time a Naval Academy prep school
University-preparatory school
A university-preparatory school or college-preparatory school is a secondary school, usually private, designed to prepare students for a college or university education...
.
Massillon Tigers
Tasting success with a 16–1–1 mark in two seasons at Severn, Brown gave up a brief attempt at law school in 1932 to become at age 23 the head football coach of his hometown Massillon Washington High SchoolMassillon Washington High School
Massillon Washington High School, is a 9 to 12 grade secondary school within the Massillon City School District located in the city of Massillon, Ohio. It serves students within the city of Massillon as well as parts of Tuscarawas Township...
Tigers. In his nine years at Massillon
Massillon, Ohio
Massillon is a city located in Stark County in the U.S. state of Ohio, approximately 8 miles to the west of Canton, Ohio, 20 miles south of Akron, Ohio, and 50 miles south of Cleveland, Ohio. The population was 32,149 at the 2010 census....
, Brown posted an 80–8–2 record which included a 35-game winning streak. After his first three years, he had improved the fortunes of the Tigers, but still had been unable to defeat the team's bitter rival, Canton McKinley High School
Canton McKinley High School
Canton McKinley Senior High School is a public high school in Canton, Stark County, Ohio, U.S. It is one of the largest and oldest high schools in Ohio.-Athletics:...
, losing all three meetings by at least fifteen points per game.
Brown not only ended that frustrating losing streak, but also won the next six games with McKinley, and an overall total of 58 of the next 60 contests, tying one. Massillon was voted to six straight Ohio poll high school football championships (1935 through 1940). The Tigers outscored their opposition 2,393 to 168 during those six years. The 1940 team outscored its opponents 477 to 6, with the lone score against them made by Canton McKinley. During this period, Brown's achievements also helped build a new stadium for the high school that seated 20,000 people, and drew crowds that surpassed every football program in Ohio except Ohio State University.
Brown had achieved this success by implementing a system at Massillon based on techniques developed by Dr. John B. "Jock" Sutherland
Jock Sutherland
Dr. John Bain "Jock" Sutherland, D.D.S., was an American football coach. He coached college football at Lafayette College and the University of Pittsburgh and professional football for the Brooklyn Dodgers and Pittsburgh Steelers...
, head coach at the University of Pittsburgh
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
. Sutherland had played professional football for the pioneer Massillon Tigers club when Brown was a boy and had gone on to success as a coach. Brown planned every phase of his program, detailing practice schedules, assigning assistant coaches (which he dubbed "position coaches") specific duties, and installing his entire system in Massillon's junior high schools so that players would already know his system when they reached high school.
Ohio State Buckeyes
With avid support from influential groups including the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association and future Purdue UniversityPurdue Boilermakers football
The Purdue Boilermakers football team is the intercollegiate football program of the Purdue University Boilermakers. The program is classified in the NCAA's Division I Bowl Subdivision, and the team competes in the Big Ten Conference. The Boilermakers have an all-time record of...
head coach Jack Mollenkopf of Toledo
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
Waite High School, Brown moved into the college ranks by becoming head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State Buckeyes football
The Ohio State Buckeyes football team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of The Ohio State University. The team is a member of the Big Ten Conference of the NCAA, playing at the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly Division I-A, level. The team nickname is derived from the state...
on January 14, 1941. Under Brown, the Buckeyes went 18–8–1 (1941–43). Brown's players were known for speed, intelligence, and contact; his teams for execution and fundamentals; and he was dubbed "Precision Paul" at Ohio State.
Paul Brown was also a brother of the Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon is a fraternity founded at Yale College in 1844 by 15 men of the sophomore class who had not been invited to join the two existing societies...
fraternity (Kappa chapter).
In his first season at Ohio State Brown went 6–1–1, losing to Northwestern University
Northwestern Wildcats
The Northwestern Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent Northwestern University, a founding member of the Big Ten Conference and the only private university in the conference. Northwestern has eight men's and eleven women's Division I sports teams. The mascot is Willie the Wildcat...
and their running back Otto Graham
Otto Graham
Otto Everett Graham, Jr. was a professional American football and basketball player who played for the Cleveland Browns in both the All-America Football Conference and National Football League, as well as the Rochester Royals in the National Basketball League.-Early life:Born in Waukegan,...
(who would go on to become his quarterback for the Browns for 10 seasons, reaching the championship game every season and winning 7 of them), and tying Michigan
Michigan Wolverines football
The Michigan Wolverines football program represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins and the highest winning percentage in college football history...
. The Buckeyes tied for second place in the Western Conference
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...
, finished 13th in the AP Poll, and Brown was voted fourth place on balloting for National Coach of the Year behind Frank Leahy
Frank Leahy
Francis William Leahy was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and professional sports executive...
, Bernie Bierman
Bernie Bierman
Bernard W. "Bernie" Bierman was an American football player and coach. He coached from 1919 to 1950 except for a span during World War II when he served in the U.S. armed forces...
, and Earl Blaik
Earl Blaik
Earl Henry "Red" Blaik was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and United States Army officer. He served as the head football coach at Dartmouth College from 1934 to 1940 and at the United States Military Academy from 1941 to 1958, compiling a career college...
.
The following year (1942), despite losing 18 lettermen to graduation and to military service in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Brown led the Buckeyes to a share of the university's first National championship, using a team of three seniors, 16 juniors, and 24 sophomores. (Georgia
Georgia Bulldogs football
The Georgia Bulldogs football team represents the University of Georgia in football. The Bulldogs are a member of the Southeastern Conference and are frequently a top-25 team. The University of Georgia has had a football team since 1892 and has an all-time record of 738–398–54...
also claimed the title that year.) Among his players were sophomore Les Horvath
Les Horvath
Leslie "Les" Horvath was the 1944 Heisman Trophy winner, who played quarterback and halfback for the Ohio State University.- Early life :He was born in South Bend, Indiana, and raised in the Cleveland, Ohio area....
and four former Massillon players, two of whom (Lin Houston
Lin Houston
Lindell Lee Houston was an American football guard who played eight seasons in the All-America Football Conference and in the National Football League with the Cleveland Browns. He is the older brother of Jim Houston.Nicknamed "Mr...
and Tommy James
Tommy James (football player)
Thomas L. "Tommy" James, Jr. was a former professional American football cornerback.James played for Paul Brown at Massillon High School and Ohio State before rejoining him with him the Cleveland Browns in 1948 after a year in Detroit.James started at right cornerback in 1948 and intercepted four...
) would play for the Cleveland Browns. The only loss in 1942 was on the road to Wisconsin
Wisconsin Badgers football
The Wisconsin Badgers are a college football program that represents the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision and the Big Ten Conference. They play their home games at Camp Randall Stadium, the fourth-oldest stadium in college football...
in a game that came to be known as the "Bad-Water Game," because most of the team came down with dysentery
Dysentery
Dysentery is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the faeces with fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, dysentery can be fatal.There are differences between dysentery and normal bloody diarrhoea...
from unsanitary water during their travel to Madison
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
by railroad.
Brown had recruited what was reputedly the finest freshman team in Ohio history in 1942 but lost virtually all of them to military service. In 1943 Ohio State was handicapped when the school affiliated itself with the U.S. Army's ASTP
Army Specialized Training Program
The Army Specialized Training Program was a military training program instituted by the United States Army during World War II at a number of American universities to meet wartime demands for junior officers and soldiers with technical skills...
officer training, which did not allow its trainees to participate in varsity sports, while schools such as Michigan and Purdue became part of the Navy's V-12
V-12 Navy College Training Program
The V-12 Navy College Training Program was designed to supplement the force of commissioned officers in the United States Navy during World War II...
program, which did. Although the Big Ten promulgated a special wartime exemption in 1943 allowing freshmen to play varsity football, Ohio State found itself in competition against older and larger teams (both military and college) featuring players such as Elroy Hirsch
Elroy Hirsch
Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch was an American football running back and receiver for the Los Angeles Rams and Chicago Rockets, nicknamed for his unusual running style.-Early life:...
. The 1943 "Baby Bucks" had only five returning players and one starter from the national champion team, six from the 1942 freshman team, and 33 17-year-old freshmen, going 3–6.
After Brown was re-classified 1-A in February 1944, he was commissioned April 12, 1944, as a lieutenant (junior grade) in the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. He served at the Great Lakes Naval Station
Naval Station Great Lakes
Naval Station Great Lakes is the home of the United States Navy's only boot camp, located near the city of North Chicago, Illinois, in Lake County. Important tenant commands include the Recruit Training Command, Training Support Center and Navy Recruiting District Chicago...
as head coach of its Bluejacket football team, which competed against other service teams and college programs, putting together a mark of 15-5-2 during the final two years of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. One of those five losses was to Ohio State on October 9, 1944.
After the war, despite still being Ohio State's head coach in absentia
In absentia
In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
, Brown chose instead to go to Cleveland as part-owner, vice president, general manager and head coach for Arthur B "Mickey" McBride's entry in the upstart All-America Football Conference
All-America Football Conference
The All-America Football Conference was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the nation's best players, and introduced many lasting innovations...
. He signed his contract February 8, 1945, while still in the Navy. A name-the-team poll taken in the The Plain Dealer's most popular submission was "Browns" in recognition of Paul Brown, already an established and popular figure in Ohio sports. Brown at first objected to the name and the team selected from the contest entries the name "Panthers." However, after an area businessman informed the team that he owned the rights to the name Cleveland Panthers from an earlier failed football team, another contest was held with the winning entry "Brown Bombers." It was shortened to Browns as Coach Brown rescinded his objection and agreed to the use of his name.
Until 1951, Brown retained an interest in coaching the Buckeyes. Despite his success as a professional head coach, he let it be known following the resignation of Wes Fesler
Wes Fesler
Wesley Eugene "Wes" Fesler was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach of football and basketball. He was three-sport athlete at Ohio State University and a consensus first-team selection to the College Football All-America Team three straight years...
that he would entertain an offer to return to Ohio State, and he received an immediate show of strong support from many of the same organizations and people who had supported him in 1940. However Brown had also alienated many of his supporters within the Buckeye alumni ranks for failing to return to the coaching position reserved for him at the end of World War II, and within the athletics department by signing Buckeye players, Lou Groza
Lou Groza
Louis Roy Groza was an American football placekicker and offensive tackle who played his entire career for the Cleveland Browns....
chief among them, to professional contracts before their college eligibility had ended. Brown strenuously denied breaking any rules, claiming that the Browns were allowed to sign those players because they had all completed World War II military service and their college classes had already graduated, as allowed by the rules then in place. Although he interviewed with the university's athletic board on January 27, 1951, with tumultuous campus support, the board unanimously rejected Brown in favor of Woody Hayes
Woody Hayes
Wayne Woodrow "Woody" Hayes was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at Denison University , Miami University , and Ohio State University , compiling a career college football record of 238–72–10.During his 28 seasons as the head coach of the Ohio...
, who was unanimously endorsed by the board of trustees.
Cleveland Browns
In 1945, a new professional football franchise was founded in Cleveland, Ohio. Team owner Arthur B. McBrideArthur B. McBride
Arthur B. "Mickey" McBride was the founder of the Cleveland Browns professional football team. McBride was a real estate developer and operator, active in Chicago, Cleveland and Florida. He also operated taxicab companies in Cleveland, Akron and Canton, Ohio, a printing company, and a horse...
hired Paul Brown when Brown was still coaching at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, paying Brown $20,000 per year plus 15% of the profits, plus $1,000 per month until the end of the war. While the AAFC lasted only four seasons, the Browns served as the gold standard for the league, winning all four championships and losing only four games during the league's four-year existence.
Brown put together the most extensive player recruitment network that had ever been seen in pro football at the time. The great majority of the early Browns teams came from Massillon, Ohio State and Great Lakes. One key move came when he tapped Otto Graham
Otto Graham
Otto Everett Graham, Jr. was a professional American football and basketball player who played for the Cleveland Browns in both the All-America Football Conference and National Football League, as well as the Rochester Royals in the National Basketball League.-Early life:Born in Waukegan,...
, a single-wing
Single-wing
In American and Canadian football, a single-wing formation is any offensive formation having exactly one wingback and one tight end aligned together. The single-wing formation, created by Glenn "Pop" Warner, was a precursor to the modern spread or shotgun formation...
tailback
Tailback
Tailback can mean:* Halfback * A line of motor vehicles caught up in traffic congestion; a traffic jam...
during his days at Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
, as his quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
, providing the team with a signal caller who would lead the team to the league title game in each of his ten seasons. In addition, Brown ignored the gentlemen's agreement
Gentlemen's agreement
A gentlemen's agreement is an informal agreement between two or more parties. It may be written, oral, or simply understood as part of an unspoken agreement by convention or through mutually beneficial etiquette. The essence of a gentlemen's agreement is that it relies upon the honor of the parties...
that barred African-American players from the league, adding future Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
rs Marion Motley
Marion Motley
Marion Motley was a professional football player, a fullback for the Cleveland Browns, and briefly for the Pittsburgh Steelers.-Early years:...
and Bill Willis
Bill Willis
William Karnet Willis was one of the dominant American football players of the 1940s and 1950s, and is an inductee in the College and Professional Football Halls of Fame. Willis was one of the first African American football players to play professional football...
.
Following the merger between the NFL and AAFC, the Browns, along with the San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
and the first Baltimore Colts
Baltimore Colts (1947-50)
The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The first team to bear the name Baltimore Colts, they were members of the All-America Football Conference from 1947–1949, and then joined the National Football League for one season before folding...
franchise, moved to the NFL in 1950. Critics had predicted that the overall weakness of the AAFC would expose the Browns. However, in their very first official NFL game, the Browns dismantled the two-time defending champion Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
35–10, putting up 487 yards of total offense, 346 of them in the air. They won the NFL Championship in their first year, defeating the Rams in the title game on December 24 on a last-minute field goal by Lou Groza
Lou Groza
Louis Roy Groza was an American football placekicker and offensive tackle who played his entire career for the Cleveland Browns....
. This 1950 NFL championship gave Brown the distinction of being the first head coach to win a college national championship and an NFL championship, Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer later winning college championships and Super Bowls. The Browns went on to appear in the next five title games, winning back-to-back titles in 1954 and 1955.
Brown was a great innovator during his time in Cleveland. He was the first to use intelligence tests to judge players, establish a game film library, instruct players in a classroom setting, use a radio transmitter to communicate with players on the field, and install face masks on helmet
Football helmet
A football helmet is a protective device used primarily in American football and Canadian football. It consists of a hard plastic top with thick padding on the inside, a face mask made of one or more plastic bars, and a chinstrap. Some players add polycarbonate visors to their helmets, which are...
s (At the professional level. Many players in college attached crude forms of face masks on their helmets before Brown.). Another innovation was the use of "messenger guards" to relay plays from the sidelines after the radio proved problematic due to the technology then available. The offense directed by Graham was the predecessor of the West Coast offense
West Coast offense
In American football, "West Coast Offense" refers to two similar but distinct offensive-strategic-systems of play: the "Air Coryell" system; or more commonly the pass play system popularized by Bill Walsh...
made famous by Bill Walsh
Bill Walsh (football coach)
William Ernest "Bill" Walsh was a head coach for the San Francisco 49ers and Stanford Cardinal football team, during which time he popularized the West Coast offense....
, a protégé of Brown.
He was also a person known for his stubborn approach to criticism. In 1950, Eagles head coach Greasy Neale dismissed the Browns' shredding of his Eagles' vaunted defense in the season opener by saying, "All they do is pass the ball." In the teams' subsequent meeting a few months later, the Browns set an NFL record that still stands by attempting no passes in a 13–7 win over the Eagles.
At the end of the 1958 season, the Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
were searching for a new head coach. They talked to Brown, who recommended either Blanton Collier
Blanton Collier
Blanton Long Collier was an American football coach who led the University of Kentucky and the Cleveland Browns...
or Vince Lombardi
Vince Lombardi
Vincent Thomas "Vince" Lombardi was an American football coach. He is best known as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers during the 1960s, where he led the team to three straight league championships and five in seven years, including winning the first two Super Bowls following the 1966 and...
. Once Lombardi was hired, Brown made a short list of young players with promise but no roster spot. Lombardi chose four players, two became Hall of Famers and three of his four defensive linemen.
By 1959, Brown was respected enough in the NFL that efforts were made to draft him for the league's commissionership, which was vacant following the death of Bert Bell
Bert Bell
De Benneville "Bert" Bell was the National Football League commissioner from 1946 until his death in 1959. As commissioner, he helped chart a path for the NFL to facilitate its rise in becoming the most popular sports attraction in the United States...
. Brown declined, and Pete Rozelle
Pete Rozelle
Alvin Ray "Pete" Rozelle was the commissioner of the National Football League from January 1960 to November 1989, when he retired from office. Rozelle is credited with making the NFL into one of the most successful sports leagues in the world....
was eventually chosen.
Departure from Cleveland
Brown was terminated as coach on January 9, 1963 by majority owner, Art ModellArt Modell
Arthur B. Modell is an American businessman, entrepreneur and former National Football League team owner. He owned the Cleveland Browns franchise from 1961–1995 and the Baltimore Ravens franchise from 1996–2004. Modell is the grandson of the late Morris Modell who founded the northeast...
, who had purchased the club in 1961. Controversy developed over the timing of the decision, coming in the midst of a local newspaper strike, which limited discussion of the move. Cleveland sportswriter Frank Gibbons said the firing was "Like toppling the Terminal Tower
Terminal Tower
The Terminal Tower is a landmark skyscraper located on Public Square in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. It was built during the skyscraper boom of the 1920s and 1930s, and was the second-tallest building in the world when it was completed. The Terminal Tower stood as the tallest building in North America...
", which was then Cleveland's tallest building.
Modell and Brown were at odds from the start. Shortly after Modell took over the club, Brown made a trade with the Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
in December 1961 without Modell's knowledge. Brown's deal secured the rights to 1961 Heisman Trophy
Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...
winner Ernie Davis
Ernie Davis
Ernest "Ernie" Davis was an American football running back and the first African-American athlete to win the Heisman Trophy. Wearing number 44, Davis competed collegiately for Syracuse University before being drafted by the Washington Redskins, then almost immediately traded to the Cleveland...
, star running back from Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
. However, the trade marked the beginning of the end of Brown's Cleveland career. Davis was diagnosed with leukemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
during his first training camp in 1962. The feud between Brown and Modell was exacerbated when Brown chose not to play Davis, despite assurances from doctors that Davis could withstand the physical demands of NFL action. Modell, conversely, saw no harm in playing Davis. Ultimately, the relationship between coach and owner was never repaired, and Ernie Davis never played in a professional game, dying of the disease on May 18, 1963.
In exile after more than 30 years of coaching, Brown spent the next five years away from the sidelines, never once attending a Browns' contest. While he was secure financially, receiving his paycheck from the Browns for the duration of the final five years of his contract, as well as retaining approximately six percent of the team, Brown's frustration grew with each passing year. He later recalled, "It was terrible. I had everything a man could want: leisure, enough money, a wonderful family. Yet with all that, I was eating my heart out." Because Brown was still receiving his annual salary and liked to golf, it was said (in jest) that the only two people who made more money at golf than he did were Arnold Palmer
Arnold Palmer
Arnold Daniel Palmer is an American professional golfer, who is generally regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of men's professional golf. He has won numerous events on both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour, dating back to 1955...
and Jack Nicklaus
Jack Nicklaus
Jack William Nicklaus , nicknamed "The Golden Bear", is an American professional golfer. He won 18 career major championships on the PGA Tour over a span of 25 years and is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional golfers of all time. In addition to his 18 Majors, he was runner-up a...
.
Just months after his dismissal, Brown was rumored to be part of an ownership group to buy the Philadelphia Eagles, but no deal was ever officially signed. In May 1966, Brown sold his stake in the Browns and traveled with Ohio Governor James A. Rhodes to make a presentation on behalf of Cincinnati for an American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
franchise.
Cincinnati Bengals
On September 26, 1968, Brown officially returned to football as principal owner, general manager, and coach of the Cincinnati BengalsCincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL...
of the NFL's rival American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
. He would coach the team for eight seasons, leading the team to three playoff berths, including one in the team's third year of operation in 1970. In each of those seasons, as well as a number of preseason clashes, Browns' Bengals took on his former Browns team, reigniting the bitter rivalry between Brown and Modell. Brown was criticized for failing to shake Browns' coach Collier's hand after the first Browns/Bengals games in 1970.
Brown stepped down as coach on January 1, 1976, but remained as team president. Under him, the Bengals made two trips to the Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
, losing both games to Bill Walsh's San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
. Following his death in 1991 of complications from pneumonia, Brown was succeeded by his son Mike
Mike Brown (football team owner)
Michael "Mike" Brown is the owner of the Cincinnati Bengals, an American football team in the National Football League. He is the son of former Cleveland Browns, Ohio State University and Cincinnati Bengals coach/co-founder, Paul Brown....
as Bengals' team president.
Ironically, Walsh, who was a Cincinnati Bengals assistant for seven seasons under Brown, was passed over in favor of Bill "Tiger" Johnson when Brown retired in 1975. In a 2006 interview
, Walsh claimed that during his tenure with the Bengals, Brown "worked against my candidacy" to be a head coach anywhere in the league. "All the way through I had opportunities, and I never knew about them," Walsh said. "And then when I left him, he called whoever he thought was necessary to keep me out of the NFL." Michael Lewis confirmed Walsh's argument (cf. "The Blind Side," pp. 96–7, W.W. Norton, 2006): "Brown had several times refused other NFL teams permission to interview Walsh for their head coaching jobs, without bothering to mention their interest to Walsh. Instead Brown had told Walsh that he didn't think he'd ever make a good NFL head coach."
Honors
Brown was honored in 1967 by his election to the Pro Football Hall of FamePro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
in Canton, Ohio
Canton, Ohio
Canton is the county seat of Stark County in northeastern Ohio, approximately south of Akron and south of Cleveland.The City of Caton is the largest incorporated area within the Canton-Massillon Metropolitan Statistical Area...
. In addition to that accolade, two stadiums bear his name: Paul Brown Tiger Stadium
Paul Brown Tiger Stadium
Paul Brown Tiger Stadium is a stadium in Massillon, Ohio. It is primarily used for American football, and is the home field of the Massillon Washington High School. The stadium holds 19,000 people when extra seating is brought in. Without additional seating, the stadium holds 16,600. It is...
in Massillon, Ohio
Massillon, Ohio
Massillon is a city located in Stark County in the U.S. state of Ohio, approximately 8 miles to the west of Canton, Ohio, 20 miles south of Akron, Ohio, and 50 miles south of Cleveland, Ohio. The population was 32,149 at the 2010 census....
, and Paul Brown Stadium
Paul Brown Stadium
Paul Brown Stadium is an American sports stadium located in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the home venue of the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League. It opened on August 19, 2000. The stadium was named after Bengals' founder Paul Brown. The stadium is located on approximately of land and...
, current home of the Cincinnati Bengals. On July 29, Sporting News honored Brown by naming him to their 50 Greatest Coaches of All Time list, appearing in the 13th position, with only two other NFL coaches listed above him.
Brown's first wife, Kathryn "Katie" Brown, died in 1969 and in 1973 he married his former secretary, Mary Rightsell. He died in Cincinnati on August 5, 1991, and is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Massillon, Ohio
Massillon, Ohio
Massillon is a city located in Stark County in the U.S. state of Ohio, approximately 8 miles to the west of Canton, Ohio, 20 miles south of Akron, Ohio, and 50 miles south of Cleveland, Ohio. The population was 32,149 at the 2010 census....
.
Coaching tree
The following coaches either coached under or played for Paul Brown and were influenced at least to some degree by him and his football knowledge and offensive system:- Blanton CollierBlanton CollierBlanton Long Collier was an American football coach who led the University of Kentucky and the Cleveland Browns...
(coach under Paul Brown) - Weeb Ewbank (coach under Paul Brown)
- Abe GibronAbe GibronAbraham Gibron was an American football coach and player. He is best remembered for his tenure as head coach of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League. He played in the NFL as an offensive lineman for the Cleveland Browns, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Bears...
(player) - Sid GillmanSid GillmanSidney "Sid" Gillman was an American football player, coach, executive, and innovator. Gillman's insistence on stretching the football field by throwing deep downfield passes, instead of short passes to running backs or wide receivers at the sides of the line of scrimmage, was instrumental in...
(coach) - Otto GrahamOtto GrahamOtto Everett Graham, Jr. was a professional American football and basketball player who played for the Cleveland Browns in both the All-America Football Conference and National Football League, as well as the Rochester Royals in the National Basketball League.-Early life:Born in Waukegan,...
(player for Paul Brown) - Bill "Tiger" Johnson (coach under Paul Brown)
- Chuck NollChuck NollCharles Henry "Chuck" Noll is a former professional American football player and coach, and a member of the Sid Gillman coaching tree. He served most notably as the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League from 1969 to 1991...
(player for Paul Brown) - Ara ParseghianAra ParseghianAra Raoul Parseghian is a former American football player and coach of Armenian descent. He served as the head football coach at Miami University , Northwestern University , and the University of Notre Dame , compiling a career college football record of 170–58–6...
(player for Paul Brown) - Lou SabanLou SabanLouis Henry Saban was an American football player and coach. Saban played for Indiana University in college and as a pro for the Cleveland Browns of the All-America Football Conference...
(player for Paul Brown) - Don ShulaDon ShulaDonald Francis "Don" Shula is a former American football cornerback and coach.He is best known as coach of the Miami Dolphins, the team he led to two Super Bowl victories, and to the National Football League's only perfect season. Shula was named 1993 Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated....
(player for Paul Brown) - Bill WalshBill Walsh (football coach)William Ernest "Bill" Walsh was a head coach for the San Francisco 49ers and Stanford Cardinal football team, during which time he popularized the West Coast offense....
(coach under Paul Brown) - Bruce CosletBruce CosletBruce Coslet is a former American college and professional football player and professional football coach. A tight end, he played for the University of the Pacific and in 1969 debuted with the American Football League's Cincinnati Bengals...
(player and head coach under team President Paul Brown) - Sam WycheSam WycheSamuel David "Sam" Wyche is a former American football player and head coach, who is best known as the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals of the NFL...
(player and head coach under team President Paul Brown)
College
AAFC/NFL/AFL
| Team | |Regular Season | CLE 1946 Cleveland Browns season The 1946 Cleveland Browns season marked the team's inaugural season in the All-America Football Conference. The Browns, coached by Paul Brown, ended their first season in the league with a record of 12–2, winning the Western Division... |
1946 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 85.7 | 1st in AAFC Western Conference | 1 | 0 | 100.0 | Beat New York Yanks in AAFC championship game | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLE 1947 Cleveland Browns season The 1947 Cleveland Browns season was the team's second season with the All-America Football Conference. The Browns were coached by Paul Brown, and ended their season with a record of 12–1–1, winning the Western Division for the second straight year... |
1947 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 89.2 | 1st in AAFC Western Conference | 1 | 0 | 100.0 | Beat New York Yanks in AAFC championship game | |||
| CLE 1948 Cleveland Browns season The 1948 Cleveland Browns season was the team's third season with the All-America Football Conference. It was also a perfect season, recognized as such by the Pro Football Hall of Fame, although the NFL, as the AAFC's former rival, does not recognize it... |
1948 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 100.0 | 1st in AAFC Western Conference | 1 | 0 | 100.0 | Beat Buffalo Bills in AAFC championship game | |||
| CLE 1949 Cleveland Browns season The 1949 Cleveland Browns season was the team's fourth and final season with the All-America Football Conference. The Browns won their fourth straight league championship. In the season's sixth game on October 9, 1949, the San Francisco 49ers stopped the Browns' professional football record long... |
1949 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 83.3 | 1st in AAFC regular season | 2 | 0 | 100.0 | Beat Buffalo Bills in 1st round, Beat San Francisco 49ers in AAFC championship game | |||
| CLE AAFC Total | 47 | 4 | 3 | 89.8 | 5 | 0 | 100.0 | 4 league titles, 4 regular season 1st places in 4 seasons | |||||
| CLE 1950 Cleveland Browns season The 1950 Cleveland Browns season was the team's first season with the National Football League after playing the previous four years in the All-America Football Conference, which folded after the 1949 season. The Browns' first NFL game was against the two-time defending champion Philadelphia Eagles... |
1950 | 10 | 2 | ||||||||||
| 83.3 | 1st-T in NFL Eastern Conference | 2 | 0 | 100.0 | Beat New York Giants in Eastern Conference tie-breaker, beat Los Angeles Rams in NFL Championship game | ||||||||
| CLE 1951 Cleveland Browns season The 1951 Cleveland Browns season was the team's second season with the National Football League. Dub Jones set an NFL record with six touchdowns in one game versus the Chicago Bears.-Exhibition Schedule:-Regular Season Schedule:-Playoffs:-Standings:... |
1951 | 11 | 1 | ||||||||||
| 91.7 | 1st in NFL Eastern Conference | 0 | 1 | 00.0 | Lost to Los Angeles Rams in NFL Championship game | ||||||||
| CLE 1952 Cleveland Browns season The 1952 Cleveland Browns season was the team's third season with the National Football League.-Exhibition Schedule:-Regular Season Schedule:-Standings:... |
1952 | 8 | 4 | ||||||||||
| 66.7 | 1st in NFL Eastern Conference | 0 | 1 | 00.0 | Lost to Detroit Lions in NFL Championship game | ||||||||
| CLE 1953 Cleveland Browns season The 1953 Cleveland Browns season was the team's fourth season with the National Football League.-Exhibition Schedule:-Regular Season Schedule:-NFL Championship Game:Scoring*DET – Walker 1 yard run *CLE – FG Groza 13 yard... |
1953 | 11 | 1 | ||||||||||
| 91.7 | 1st in NFL Eastern Conference | 0 | 1 | 00.0 | Lost to Detroit Lions in NFL Championship game | ||||||||
| CLE 1954 Cleveland Browns season The 1954 Cleveland Browns season was the team's fifth season with the National Football League. The Browns' defense became the first defense in the history of the NFL to lead the league in fewest rushing yards allowed, fewest passing yards allowed and fewest total yards allowed... |
1954 | 9 | 3 | ||||||||||
| 75.0 | 1st in NFL Eastern Conference | 1 | 0 | 100.0 | Beat Detroit Lions in NFL Championship game | ||||||||
| CLE 1955 Cleveland Browns season The 1955 Cleveland Browns season was the team's sixth season with the National Football League. The Browns' defense became the first defense in the history of the NFL to lead the league in fewest points allowed and fewest total yards allowed for two consecutive seasons.-Exhibition Schedule:-Regular... |
1955 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 81.8 | 1st in NFL Eastern Conference | 1 | 0 | 100.0 | Beat Los Angeles Rams in NFL Championship game | |||
| CLE 1956 Cleveland Browns season The 1956 Cleveland Browns season was the team's seventh season with the National Football League. This is the first time they have had a losing season or did not make the playoffs.-Exhibition Schedule:-Regular Season Schedule:-Standings:... |
1956 | 5 | 7 | ||||||||||
| 41.7 | 4th in NFL Eastern Conference | - | - | - | |||||||||
| CLE 1957 Cleveland Browns season Scoring*DET – FG Martin 31*DET – Rote 1 yard run *DET – Gedman 1 yard run *CLE – Brown 29 yard run *DET – Junker 26 yard pass from Rote *DET – Barr 19 yard interception... |
1957 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 81.8 | 1st in NFL Eastern Conference | 0 | 1 | 00.0 | Lost to Detroit Lions in NFL Championship game | |||
| CLE 1958 Cleveland Browns season The 1958 Cleveland Browns season was the team's ninth season with the National Football League.-Exhibition Schedule:-Regular Season Schedule:*Tommy O’Connell was the first MVP to be cut from a team before the start of the following season.-Playoffs:... |
1958 | 9 | 3 | ||||||||||
| 75.0 | 1st-T in NFL Eastern Conference | 0 | 1 | 00.0 | Lost to New York Giants in Eastern conference tie-breaker | ||||||||
| CLE 1959 Cleveland Browns season The 1959 Cleveland Browns season was the team's tenth season with the National Football League.-Exhibition Schedule:-Regular Season Schedule:-Standings:... |
1959 | 7 | 5 | ||||||||||
| 58.3 | 2nd in NFL Eastern Conference | - | - | - | |||||||||
| CLE 1960 Cleveland Browns season The 1960 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 11th season with the National Football League.-Exhibition schedule:-Regular season schedule:-Awards and records:*Jim Brown, NFL Rushing Leader, 1,257 yards*Milt Plum, NFL Leader, Passing Yards,... |
1960 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 72.7 | 2nd in NFL Eastern Conference | - | - | - | ||||
| CLE 1961 Cleveland Browns season The 1961 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 12th season with the National Football League.-Offseason:On March 22, Dave R. Jones sold the Browns to a group headed by Arthur B... |
1961 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 61.5 | 3rd in NFL Eastern Conference | - | - | - | ||||
| CLE 1962 Cleveland Browns season The 1962 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 13th season with the National Football League.-Exhibition schedule:-Regular season schedule:-Standings:-References:... |
1962 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 53.8 | 3rd in NFL Eastern Conference | - | - | - | ||||
| CLE NFL Total | 111 | 44 | 6 | 70.8 | 4 | 5 | 44.4 | 3 league titles, 7 conference titles in 13 seasons | |||||
| CIN 1968 Cincinnati Bengals season The 1968 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's first year in professional football.Paul Brown, who left the Cleveland Browns following the 1962 season with an NFL record of 115–49–6, seven conference titles, and three NFL championships, had the urge to get back into football. His son Mike Brown... |
1968 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 21.4 | 5th in AFL West Division | - | - | - | ||||
| CIN 1969 Cincinnati Bengals season The 1969 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's 2nd year in professional football.Paul Brown drafted quarterback Greg Cook of the Univ. of Cincinnati in the first round.The same draft also produced linebacker Bill Bergey.... |
1969 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 30.8 | 5th in AFL West Division | - | - | - | ||||
| CIN AFL Total | 7 | 20 | 1 | 26.8 | - | - | - | ||||||
| CIN 1970 Cincinnati Bengals season The 1970 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's 3rd year in professional football and its 1st with the National Football League.The NFL-AFL merger took place before the season, and the Bengals made their first NFL campaign a memorable one... |
1970 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 57.1 | 1st in NFL AFC Central | - | 1 | 0.00 | Lost to Baltimore Colts in AFC Divisional Playoff | |||
| CIN 1971 Cincinnati Bengals season The 1971 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's fourth year in professional football and its second with the National Football League.Cornerback Lemar Parrish set a team record with seven interceptions, including one for a 65-yard score, Cincinnati's first-ever interception return for a... |
1971 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 28.6 | 4th in NFL AFC Central | - | - | - | ||||
| CIN 1972 Cincinnati Bengals season The 1972 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's fifth year in professional football and its 3rd with the National Football League. Starting off the 1972 season winning 5 of 7 games, this looked to be the Bengals break out year, that was until the away game at Pittsburgh, the Bengals suffered a... |
1972 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 57.1 | 3rd in NFL AFC Central | - | - | - | ||||
| CIN 1973 Cincinnati Bengals season The 1973 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's 6th year in professional football and its 4th with the National Football League.The Bengals split their first eight games, then swept their last six to win their second AFC Central Division title.... |
1973 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 71.4 | 1st in NFL AFC Central | - | 1 | 0.00 | Lost to Miami Dolphins in AFC Divisional Playoff | |||
| CIN 1974 Cincinnati Bengals season The 1974 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's seventh year in professional football and its fifth with the National Football League.Cincinnati traded Bill Bergey to Philadelphia for two first-round draft choices and a third-round pick in 1977. Jim LeClair replaced Bergey at middle linebacker... |
1974 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 50.0 | 2nd in NFL AFC Central | - | - | - | ||||
| CIN 1975 Cincinnati Bengals season The 1975 Cincinnati Bengals season was the team's eighth year in professional football and its sixth with the National Football League.The Bengals opened with six straight wins and went on to post an 11–3 record, their best regular-season mark. The Bengals qualified as the AFC wild card team for... |
1975 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 78.6 | 2nd in NFL AFC Central | - | 1 | 0.00 | Lost to Oakland Raiders in AFC Divisional Playoff | |||
| CIN NFL Total | 48 | 36 | 0 | 57.1 | 0 | 3 | 00.0 | 2 Division titles, 3 playoff appearances in 6 seasons | |||||
| Professional Total | 206 | 104 | 10 | 65.9 | 9 | 8 | 52.9 | 7 league titles in 25 seasons | |||||