EDITOR’S NOTE: The following, which is the second in a three-part series on the top Browns players from 1946 through ’64, covers the players ranked nos. 11 through 20. It is part of a larger series on the 70 best Browns players of all-time.
Nobody – but nobody – knows the Pro Football Hall of Fame as well as Joe Horrigan, who has been with Hall seemingly forever and now serves as vice president of communications and exhibits.
Horrigan, who served as the ball boy of the first Buffalo Bills teams in the 1960s while his father worked as the club’s public relations director, is peppered weekly, if not also daily, by people from all walks of life building a case for great players from their favorite teams to be inducted into the HOF.
A man who always treats others with respect, Horrigan will listen patiently, and thoughtfully, to what they have to say, for as long as they care to say it. It’s just good manners, and good business. And if the truth be told, in a number of instances, these people make compelling, hard-to-refute arguments.
But even though he represents the Hall and, in actuality, is the face of the Hall to a lot of people in the game, and even though he makes sure the selection process rules are strictly adhered to by the selection committee, the fact of the matter is that he has never cast a vote, and never will.
As such, Horrigan knows his place, and thus will never offer his opinion in public. Privately, he does have an opinion, make no mistake about that, but that is reserved for close friends and colleagues.
So as to not throw any of the voters under the bus, and to not get into the way of them doing their work as they see fit to do it, he has a standard, one-size-fits-all line to everyone who pleads their cases to him.
“Maybe they’re just in the Hall of the Very Good,” he’ll say with a clever smile.
Hmmm. The Hall of the Very Good. That’s catchy, thought-provoking and interesting.
Just like the Browns for two straight seasons in the late 1960s, and then for three times in a four-year stretch in the last half of the 1980s, who were right on the cusp of getting to the Super Bowl but ended up forever frozen in time, just on the outside looking in, more than half of the players listed in this piece have legitimate claims for enshrinement in the Hall of Fame. They’re right there, just a smidgen away from Canton in some regards.
Whether those claims turn into anything more than that and allow their hopes and dreams to be fulfilled, is anyone’s guess. But since their fates are now all in the hands of the Seniors Committee arm of the Selection Committee, and they played so long ago that their accomplishments are beginning to rapidly fade with time, especially in the minds of younger voters on the Selection Committee if they ever advance that far in the process, it might be like hoping against hope to think that they’ll ever be enshrined.
All 10 of these players are inductees into the Cleveland Browns Legends, the team’s hall of fame, but maybe they and the surviving family members of those who have already passed away, will have to be satisfied with that.
And that’s OK to some extent, because in being one of the best players on a franchise that has 15 players – and 16 members overall — in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, that’s still an admirable honor.
Let’s take a look, then, at these “very good,” at least for now, players:
*No. 20 – Abe Gibron, left guard, played with the Browns from 1950-56 – In playing in the NFL Championship Game six times in his seven seasons with the team, with three titles, he knew all about winning. In fact, he knew nothing but winning. And he had plenty to do with that success. He was on a team that, at one time or another during his tenure, had nine Hall of Famers, including two on the line with center Frank Gatski and left tackle Lou Groza, who played on either side of him. So he never came close to getting his due. Really, that was never a realistic possibility. And that’s a shame, for he made the Pro Bowl in four consecutive seasons, and was named to the All-NFL team for two straight years. So he without question deserved his spot on those great teams, and on those great offenses 60-some-odd years ago. If you ask Gibron’s teammates how good he was, they’ll tell you in elaboration. And earning that kind of respect from one’s peers is pretty special. It’s not getting into the HOF, but it’s a nice consolation prize.
*No. 19 – Bob Gain, defensive tackle, played with the Browns in 1952 and from 1954-64 – A lineman on the other side of the ball, he was a rock for a decade on one of the best defenses not just of that era, but in the history of the NFL. Only four times during his 12 seasons in Cleveland did opponents average four yards or better per rushing attempt. And in 1954, that figure was just 2.8. The paltry amount of points those defenses surrendered is even more impressive. Again in 1954, the Browns gave up only 162 points, or 13.6 per game. At a time in the NFL when there were a lot of points scored – they tallied 62 that year against the New York Giants, of all teams, and put up 31 or more points on six occasions overall – the Browns were oh, so stingy defensively. And just like Gibron and his blocking was an integral part of the high-scoring offense, Gain and his ability to shed blocks and get into the backfield and wreak havoc in both the running and passing games was an integral part of that great defense. How so? With the fact Gain, who was born in Akron, Ohio, was picked for five Pro Bowls, which ties him with another defensive tackle, Michael Dean Perry from 30 years later, for the most by any defensive player in team history.
*No. 18 – Walt Michaels, linebacker, played with the Browns from 1952-61 – If all seventh-round picks in the NFL Draft turned out half as good as this man, then head coaches and personnel departments everywhere would be doing cartwheels. Chosen by the Browns in 1951 out of tiny Washington & Lee, he ended up playing his rookie season with the Green Bay Packers before returning to Cleveland the following year. He turned out to be a great addition. Indeed, in the late 1950s, there was no better linebacker in the NFL, as evidenced by the fact he made it to four consecutive Pro Bowls. With Gain helping lead the charge up front, Michaels held down the middle of those outstanding Browns defenses. He was not only good, but reliable. He showed up nearly every day to work, failing to play in just two of 122 games with the club.
*No. 17 – Frank Ryan, quarterback, played with the Browns from 1962-68 – When Blanton Collier took over as head coach after Paul Brown was unceremoniously fired shortly in January 1963, he made a lot of important changes, mostly on offense, not the least of which was giving Ryan the starting job. In his first year on the team after arriving in a trade with the Los Angeles Rams, with whom he did not distinguish himself in four seasons, he shared the duties with Jim Ninowski in 1962. Both were OK, but not great, and Collier knew he would need more than that from his quarterback in order for the attacking offense was planning to use, to be successful. He saw in Ryan the man who could do the passing needed to make that scheme work. The coach had Ryan pegged correctly, as in 1963 he debuted by throwing a then club-record 25 touchdown passes. The following year, he threw for 25 scores again, and had three more in the league title game to lead a 27-0 victory over the heavily-favored Baltimore Colts. And it just went from there. The Browns hadn’t had a quarterback that good since Hall of Famer Otto Graham retired following the 1955 season.
*No. 16 – Jim Ray Smith, left guard, played with the Browns from 1956-62 – This is another lineman just like Gibron and Gain whose performance – and accomplishments — were far greater than the praise he received. Providing blocking up the middle for the Hall of Fame running back who arrived a year after he did, Jim Brown, and also for the one who arrived the following season, Bobby Mitchell, Smith quickly started making a yearly trek to the Pro Bowl. In fact, he got there in each of his last five seasons in Cleveland, which is exactly the number of trips made by HOF tackle Mike McCormack, with whom he played for all seven of his seasons. That’s not bad at all for a sixth-round draft pick in 1954.
*No. 15 – Dick Schafrath, left tackle, played with the Browns from 1959-71 – Nobody in team history has laughed harder and with more sincereity, or as enjoyed pulling a practical joke more than this man. And few Browns have played the line as well as he did. A native of Wooster, Ohio who starred for head coach Woody Hayes at Ohio State with another future Cleveland teammate, outside linebacker Jim Houston, Schafrath was drafted in the second round in 1959 and took over as the starter in 1960 when Hall of Famer Lou Groza retired temporarily because of back problems. As such, Schafrath became, in essence, only the second left tackle in the team’s history and continued the legacy of great players at the position over the next 12 seasons. He went to six straight Pro Bowls, all in a row from 1963-68, protecting the blind side of three productive quarterbacks in Ryan, Bill Nelsen and Milt Plum, and paving the way for three HOF running backs in Leroy Kelly along with Brown and Mitchell. No wonder the Cleveland offense, and the team overall, had such great success through the 1960s. As with most of the rest of the Browns, including several on this list, he was at his best in the 1964 title game as he helped to completely neutralize Baltimore’s great pass rush.
*No. 14 – Gary Collins, wide receiver, played with the Browns from 1962-71 – Chosen at No. 4 overall in 1962, thus being Paul Brown’s final first-round draft choice in Cleveland, he overcame a slow start to his career – he caught just 11 passes that year – before blossoming the next season and setting a team record with 13 touchdown receptions. In the year after that, 1964, he blossomed even more, catching three touchdown passes from Ryan to throttle the Colts and win the championship. He is second on the club with 331 career receptions, and first with 70 touchdown catches. Collins, along with Schafrath, may have the strongest arguments of anyone on the list for being in the Hall of Fame. To have that many scoring grabs in an era when defensive backs could practically mug receivers and get away with it, and then to not be enshrined in Canton, seems to be one of the Hall’s most glaring snubs. But Collins did more than just catch passes, many of them for touchdowns while running his vaunted post patterns. He also was an outstanding punter for the first six of his 10 years with the club, and in 1965 led the NFL by averaging 46.7 yards per attempt. That he also caught a team-leading 50 passes for 10 touchdowns that year, makes you wonder what was required to make the Pro Bowl back then. For despite all that, he wasn’t selected for the game, nor was he ever chosen. How does that happen? How did that happen?
*No. 13 – Dub Jones, running back/wingback/wide receiver, played with the Browns from 1948-55 – He is maybe the most versatile offensive skill player in team history for all the positions he manned during his eight-year career. The Browns lined him up all over the place, and wherever they put him, whatever they asked him to do, and however many times they asked him to do it, he delivered. At 6-foot-4, he seemed too tall to be a running back, yet in 1951 he led the team in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. He also caught 30 passes for five scores that year. His presence on the offense created a nightmare for opponents. Because he could do so much from so many places on the field, he seamlessly fit in with the rest of the offense’s plethora of weapons. Even if opponents had everybody else accounted for, they still had to pay a lot of attention to Jones because so much of the offense went through him. As such, he was that troublesome extra target. Maybe his experience in that role is why he was so effective as offensive coordinator – before that title existed – and offensive backs coach in that 1964 championship season. So, either as a coach or player, he was part of all but two of Cleveland’s eight league championships. He is also the father of former Baltimore Colts star quarterback Bert Jones.
*No. 12 – Ray Renfro, wide receiver/running back, played with the Browns from 1952-63 – Speed. Speed. Speed. Great hands. And extremely productive. In a nutshell, that’s the book on the man the Browns drafted in the fourth round in 1952 from out-of-the-way North Texas. Like Jones, a teammate for his first four seasons, he was able to carve out a big niche for himself despite being surrounded by better-known players. In the early part of his career, he battled for opportunities in the passing game with Hall of Famer Dante Lavelli and fellow wide receiver Mac Speedie, and in the last half of it, he waited for the opportunity to make plays after, with the arrival of Brown and Mitchell, the Browns morphed into a running team. So Renfro, the father of a great wideout in his own right in Mike Renfro, who played 10 solid seasons with the Houston Oilers and Dallas Cowboys from 1978-87, had to make the most of every chance. And he certainly did. He averaged 19.6 yards per reception, the best career mark in Browns history, even better than that of Hall of Famer Paul Warfield (19.2). And in 1955, he led the league at 20.8. He bettered that figure in back-to-back seasons, 1957 (28.0) and ’58 (23.9). Saving some of his best performances for the biggest stages, he led the Browns with five receptions for 94 yards and two touchdowns in the 56-10 rout of the Detroit Lions in the 1954 NFL Championship Game. He returned a year later to have another scoring reception as Cleveland breezed to the league title once more, 38-14, over the Rams.
*No. 11 – Mac Speedie, wide receiver, played with the Browns from 1946-52 – In considering players for the Hall of Fame, longevity means something. In fact, it means a lot. To be great over a long period of time is the key. Lack of production, or of staying power, simply won’t cut it. This is never truer than in the case of Speedie who, despite being so good for the time he was with the Browns and in the NFL, will likely never make it to Canton because he simply didn’t play long enough. The Browns got to the league championship game in each of his seven seasons, winning titles in the first five of them. And for that span, Speedie was nearly unstoppable as a target for Graham in the passing game, and in fact was every bit the equal of his running mate at wide receiver, Lavelli. He had 349 receptions for 5,600 yards and 33 touchdowns overall, and saved maybe his best for last in turning in an NFL-best 62 receptions in 1952. That equaled his total from 1949 and, since it happened in the NFL, stood as the official team record until Mike Pruitt, a running back, of all things, beat it by one in that Kardiac Kids season of 1980. And did we mention that Speedie had a whopping 67 catches for 1,146 yards in All-America Football Conference play in 1947? But while Lavelli remained with the club through 1956 and continued teaming with Graham to make plays, Speedie bolted over the border for the big money being offered him by the Canadian Football League. Had he stayed in the NFL and in Cleveland with those top-shelf teams, he would be in the HOF today with Lavelli and Graham. But he didn’t, and he isn’t. And, sadly, he won’t — ever.
NEXT: The best of the best, the top 10.
