HERE’S PART 1 OF OUR NEW BROWNS SERIES, ‘250 FOR 250,
THE ENCORE’
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is the first in a multi-part series of items that did not make it into our recent special series for the Fourth of July entitled, “250 for 250, Browns Style,” and some that did make it in but only partly so and thus deserve further explanation. We’ll call this series, “250 for 250, The Encore.”
By STEVE KING
251) — Ohio State. The Browns. The stars. The superstars. It’s off the charts.
In the late 1950s and early ‘60s, the Buckeyes were filled with a lot ot great football players, many of whom ended up with the Browns — at least for a little while. There was:
*Left tackle Dick Schafrath, a Wooster High School product who was taken in the second round of the 1959 NFL Draft by the Browns and played 13 seasons. He should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
*Outside linebacker/defensive end Jim Houston, who was drafted in the first round, at No. 8 overall, in 1960. The Massillon High School product, who is in the so-called Hall of the Very Good, played 13 years with the Browns.
*Wide receiver Paul Warfield of Warren Harding High School. Taken in the first round, at No. 18 overall, in 1964’ mm, he played eight years for the Browns and five with the Miami Dolphins in his Pro Football Hall of Fame career. He later worked in the front office of the Browns.
*Defensive back Dick LeBeau of London High School. Drafted in the fifth round in 1959, he failed to make the Browns’ final roster but was signed by the Detroit Lions and fashioned a Pro Football Hall of Fame career with them. Following retirement, he went into NFL coaching for 35 years, many of
them with the Browns’ rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers, as one of the greatest defensive coordinators in pro football history.
*Wide receiver John Havlicek. He was a first-team All-Ohio selection in football, basketball and baseball as a senior at Bridgeport High School. He went on to Ohio State and played basketball, being an integral part of the school’s 1960 national championship team. Despite not playing football for the Buckeyes, the Browns drafted him in the seventh round in 1962. He almost made the team, finally being waived in the final cutdown of training camp. He ended up going to the Boston Celtics and became a Naismith Basetball Hall of Famer, helping lead them to numerous NBA titles.
In addition to these players, there were two other Ohio State players at the time who you may have heard of. On that 1960 national championship basketball team with Havlicek were Jerry Lucas of Middletown High School and Bobby Knight of Orrville High School. Lucas went on to star in the NBA, being named one of its 50 greatest all-time players. As for Knight, he became one of the greatest head coaches in college basketball history.
Steve King
