EDITOR’S NOTE: In honoring the fact that February was Black History Month, we continue with a short series on Browns Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Bobby Mitchell.

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The then Washington Redskins team that came to Cleveland to play the Browns in Week 2 of the 1962 season was a whole lot different than the one that visited Cleveland Stadium in Week 11 on Nov. 26, 1967, the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend.

That earlier date marked not just Bobby Mitchell’s first time back in Cleveland since being traded by the Browns right after the 1962 NFL Draft, it was also only his second game overall with his new team, which had little offense around him. Indeed, it was Mitchell and a bunch of guys nobody knew.

By the later stages of 1967, his sixth season with Washington, Mitchell was surrendered by people who not only understood offense, but also  excelled in it. That was especially true with the passing game.

There was Mitchell, who was moved from running back, where he had played so well in all four of his seasons with the Browns, to wide receiver upon arriving in Washington and became an instant star at that position, too.

There was another game-breaking talent on the outside in Charley Taylor, a first-round draft pick in 1964 who also first spent time at running back (three seasons) before being moved to wideout, where he immediately blossomed.

There was Jerry Smith, a ninth-round draft choice in 1965 who quickly began catching a lot of passes at a time in history when tight ends really did not do that.

There was someone who could distribute the ball with the best of them in quarterback Sonny Jorgensen, a fourth-round selection of the Philadelphia Eagles in that standout-rich 1957 draft who was traded to Washington in 1964 in exchange for Eagles quarterback Norm Snead, the man who threw the game-winning touchdown pass to Mitchell to beat the Browns in that 1962 game.

And, in what may be a little-known fact even to ardent Browns fans, there was a head coach in Otto Graham — perhaps you’ve heard of him — who was in the second season of what would be a three-year stint with Washington and was drawing up some exciting pass plays for all of his playmakers to make big plays.

In going against a Browns team that had been amongst the best in the NFL, particularly offensively, since Blanton Collier took over as head coach in 1963 upon the firing of Paul Brown, this had all the makings of a fun, explosive game with plenty of offense.

And it did not disappoint, even in the least bit.

Steve King

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