HISTORIC WEEKEND IN BROWNS HISTORY
By STEVE KING
Though it’s likely that no one at team headquarters in Berea is aware of it – and, to be fair, probably most people, even the most ardent of fans of the club, aren’t aware of it, either – this is a historic time in Browns history.
Sunday was the 74th anniversary of the Browns’ first regular-season game. It was Sept. 6, 1946, on the Friday night of Labor Day weekend, that the Browns walloped the Miami Seahawks 44-0 at Cleveland Stadium in the All-America Football Conference’s inaugural contest. The attendance was 60,135, making it the largest crowd ever to see a pro football game to that point.
Dino Lucarelli, clearly recalls this historic weekend in Browns history. the longtime member of the Browns media relations team, watched the game as a 12-year-old living in the Cleveland suburb of Garfield Heights. He has talked often over the years about how impressed he was by the Browns’ performance that evening.
“It was such fast-paced football, and the Browns were so good,” he says. “They really put on such an entertaining show. It was so much fun to see it.”
He’s right. The Browns, with an intricate, precision passing game and an array of other innovations, such as a trap play, were playing a kind of football that no one had ever seen before.
The Browns won their first seven games in 1946, finished the regular season 12-2 and came from behind to beat the New York Yankees 14-9 in the league championship game at Cleveland on a late touchdown pass from Otto Graham to the guy who would turn out to be his favorite target for 10 seasons, wide receiver – and Hudson native — Dante Lavelli.
The Browns also won the next three league titles through 1949 and finished with a 52-4-3 overall record, their dominance in essence putting the league out of business. Being absorbed into the NFL along with the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Colts in 1950, the Browns played in six more title games in a row, capturing three crowns.
Their great 10-year run of 10 championship game appearances, with seven titles, is something that will almost certainly never be matched.
And it all started this weekend nearly three-quarters of a century ago.
