The long-awaited Jim Brown statue outside FirstEnergy Stadium will be unveiled just prior to Sunday’s home opener against the Baltimore Ravens.
That’s great. Wonderful. Super. Tremendous. Long overdue. Good for Brown. Good for the Browns. And also good for the fans, who get a nice moment in what will likely be a difficult season.
Brown is not just the greatest running back of all-time, but also the greatest football player ever. Period. It is an undeniable. There can be no discussion about it.
But the honoring of Brown brings with it some questions, such as:
*Where is the statue of Otto Graham outside FirstEnergy Stadium?
*Where is the statue of Paul Brown?
*Where is the statue of Lou Groza?
The Browns can’t put up a statue of just Brown and let it go at that. They’ve got to do the same for Graham, Paul Brown and Groza.
The Browns have had a lot of great players and some great coaches as well through the years. But clearly, the best of the best have been Jim Brown, Graham, Paul Brown and Groza.
Graham may be the greatest quarterback of all-time. That’s what Joe Montana calls him for the fact Graham is the winningest quarterback ever after leading the Browns to the league championship game in each of his 10 seasons, with seven titles.
Groza was the first great kicker in the game and the man who proved the importance of kicking. It’s why the award for the best college kicker every year is named after him. And did we mention that he was the best left tackle of his era? Or that he played 21 seasons with the Browns?
Finally, there’s Paul Brown. A tremendous winner, he’s also been called – and rightfully so — “The Father of Modern Football” for all the innovations he brought to the game. He was so far ahead of the curve that he was lapping the field. Why the Super Bowl championship trophy isn’t named for him is a great mystery
The Browns have done a great job with erecting a statue to honor the great Jim Brown. Now they need to finish the job and do the same for the great Otto Graham, the great Lou Groza and the great Paul Brown.
So, Jimmy Haslam, when does that get done?
