ADD MAC SPEEDIE TO THE HOF LIST
By STEVE KING
For those who have read brownsdailydose.com for a while – and I hope that’s a lot of you, but whatever the case, I’m grateful for each and every one of you – my opinion on former Browns stars from the original franchise who deserve to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, is well-documented.
I have always had two players on that list: wide receiver Gary Collins and left tackle Dick Schafrath, both of whom were on the 1964 NFL championship team.
Collins caught three touchdowns in that title game and leads the Browns with 70 career scorning receptions, which is a heckuva lot considering it was done in an era when defensive players could mug receivers all over the field. Plus he is second on the team’s career receptions list with 331, which is more than two HOF receivers, Dante Lavelli and Paul Warfield.
As for Schafrath, the Wooster High School and Ohio State product made it to six Pro Bowls – all of which came in a row — blocked for three HOF running backs in Jim Brown, Marion Motley and Leroy Kelly, and protected the blind side of Frank Ryan, one of the most prolific quarterbacks of his time.
And both men played on teams that were perennial contenders.
So what are they lacking?
Nothing! Absolutely nothing!
But now I want to add another player to that list in wide receiver Mac Speedie, who played on the first seven Browns teams from 1946-52. I’ve written before that Speedie would already be in the HOF if he had not bolted to the CFL after that 1952 season. He just needed more NFL seasons, I reasoned.
But on second thought, I think he does have enough NFL seasons. Seven is plenty.
For in those seven seasons, he put up some big numbers – 349 yards for 5,602 yards (16.1 average) and 33 TDs — and was actually more productive in most aspects than Lavelli for the time they played together. Lavelli, from Hudson High School and Ohio State, also joined the Browns in 1946.
So, are you listening, HOF Veterans Committee?
Probably not, I’m afraid, in regards to all three players on my list, and that’s as wrong as wrong can be.
Going to the Muni Lot this season?
