Even the great ones need to practice and sharpen up their skills.
They can’t just show up and play – at least not at the level to which they and everybody else are accustomed.
That’s what Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Otto Graham and the Browns found out 60 years ago today, on Sept. 25, 1955.
With Graham having to be replaced at halftime because of ineffectiveness, the Browns fell behind 13-0 in the second quarter and never could catch up in losing 27-17 to the Washington Redskins at Cleveland Stadium in the season opener.
Graham had led the Browns to the 1954 NFL title, putting on nearly a one-man show in a 56-10 drubbing of the Detroit Lions, and then announced his retirement. He had played all nine seasons of the Browns’ existence, leading them to the league championship game nine times, with six titles. As such, there wasn’t anything more he felt he needed, or wanted, to accomplish.
But before he headed off to begin the next chapter of his life, Graham told Paul Brown that if the head coach could not find a suitable replacement for him in 1955, he would return.
Brown didn’t, and Graham did.
But Graham had re-joined the team just three weeks before the opener. He was as rusty as an old gate, and it showed in the way he played against Washington, turning in one of the worst performances of his career with just three completions in nine attempts for 30 yards and no touchdowns with two interceptions.
George Ratterman, Graham’s backup since 1952, finished the game. He led the Browns to two third-quarter TDs but then fumbled the ball away in the fourth quarter to seal Cleveland’s fate.
To be fair, Ratterman was not a bad quarterback, as evidenced by the fact he hit on 12 of 18 passes for 159 yards and two TDs – a 21-yarder to wide receiver Darrel Brewster and an eight-yarder to speedy wingback Ray Renfro — with no interceptions against Washington, but it’s just that he was certainly no Otto Graham. Nobody was, really.
The Browns needed Graham, one of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time and definitely the winningest ever, playing at his usual high level in order to make another run at at a championship. He returned to form in no time, and the Browns, with him leading their way in the championship game, ended up getting their title.
Two other interesting notes about the game against the Redskins: Fred “Curly” Morrison rushed for 117 yards in just 15 carries and Ohio State’s Heisman Trophy-winning running back Vic Janowicz, an Elyria, Ohio native, scored Washington’s first touchdown on a four-yard run.
Other than that, this was a game to forget – other than the lesson it provided that even the best of the best have to work at their game.
