The Browns have a big game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at home on Sunday, but that’s not the biggest news of the day.
Rather, it is that today, Thursday, is Pearl Harbor Day.
That, unfortunately, might not mean much to many of you, and that number is probably decreasing appreciably by the day, but it means a lot to older Americans in that it was on this day 82 years ago, Dec. 7, 1941, that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and launched our country into World War II.
It was certainly a big day for all of the players on those great early Browns teams, for they ended up serving in the war in some way, shape or form. That includes Pro Football Hall of Fame left tackle/kicker Lou Groza.
The native of Martins Ferry, Ohio, where, as a junior in 1941, the All-Ohio center led the Purple Riders to the Class A state championship, was recruited to Ohio State for football (he was all-state in that sport as well) by a new head coach by the name of Paul Brown, who also served in the war and then right after it became head coach of the start-up Browns. Groza was the first player he signed in Cleveland.
Groza played 21 years overall with the Browns, first from 1946-59 before retiring for a year because of a bad back, then again as a kicker only from 1961-67 before calling it quits for good. He kicked the game-winning field goal as the Browns edged the Los Angeles Rams 30-28 in the NFL Championship Game in 1950, their first year in the league, and, while being nearly 41 years old, kicked two field goals in the 27-0 victory over the Baltimore Colts to capture the 1964 title.
Groza was the first in two great Browns lineages, at left tackle and kicker, but he was adamant in saying he wasn’t a kicker who also played left tackle. Rather, he said he was a left tackle who also kicked. Indeed, he could have made it into the Hall of Fame at either position.
The road in Berea on which Browns Headquarters is located was renamed 30 years ago from
First Avenue to Lou Groza Boulevard, and its number address from 80 to 76, which is what his jersey number was for the last 15 years of his career. It also is one of just five jersey numbers retired by the Browns.
Ironically, Groza was 76 when he died on Nov. 29, 2000.
But it is as a kicker where he is best remembered. He is known as “The Father of Modern Kicking” not just because he was the game’s first great kicker, but also because he was the first player to work hard at his craft and its technique, setting a standard not seen before. Previously, kicking was just an after-thought. But Paul Brown, who was always so far ahead of the curve, realized its value and focused on it.
Groza was such a historically significant player that the Lou Groza Award is given annually to the top college kicker.
A good friend has some special needs nieces and nephews who are in Florida for several months to undergo surgeries and treatment. She sent me a copy of a story in the Palm Beach Post about the finalists for the award, which has local sponsorship and is handed out there, recently visited the facility that houses the patients and their families and spent some time with them. The joy on all the faces — the players and the family members — showed the time was well spent.
Lou Groza, who was a big kid at heart, would be thrilled that his name and that award is connected to these special children and their families.
Steve King
