The anniversary of its occurrence has passed – but only barely. And we can’t miss honoring one of the Browns’ eight league championships, can we?
 
It was 68 years ago yesterday, on Dec. 14, 1947, that the Browns turned back the New York Yankees 14-3 before a full house of 61,879 at Yankee Stadium to win their second straight All-America Football Conference title.
 
The first championship, in 1946 in the Browns’ and the AAFC’s inaugural season, had also come over the Yankees, 14-9.
 
The Browns won with a powerful running game led by Marion Motley, and a great defense.
 
Motley, the bruising 240-pound fullback from Canton McKinley High School who is enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in that city, rushed for 109 yards in 13 carries, averaging 8.4 yards a try. He also had 13 attempts in the 1946 title game, doing almost as well in gaining 98 yards.
 
Cleveland ran for 172 yards overall.
 
Both of the Browns’ touchdowns came via the rush, on quarterback Otto Graham’s one-yarder in the first quarter to provide a 7-0 lead and Edgar Jones’ four-yarder in the third quarter to complete the scoring and seal the deal after New York had crept to within 7-3 at halftime.
 
Graham was held to 112 yards passing, hitting 14 of 21 attempts, but the running game more than made up for that.
 
Half of his completions went to his wide receivers, with Dante Lavelli catching three passes for 37 yards and Mac Speedie adding four receptions for 25 yards. Jones had three grabs for 31 yards coming out of the backfield, adding a complement to both the outside passing attack and Motley’s running, nearly all of which was done between the tackles.
 
And that Cleveland defense? It held New York to just 212 total yards, including only 89 passing, and had an interception.
 
So the Browns, in just two seasons of existence, had two league championships under their belts. While that was a huge accomplishment, in reality, they were just getting started on what would turn out to be a historic 10-year run.