Mount Rushmore of Browns centers

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the 14th in a series of stories about the Mount Rushmore-worthy players – the best players – in Browns history. Today we look at centers.

By STEVE KING

A good quarterback needs a good center.

They are indelibly linked.

While the left tackle always gets praised as being the quarterback’s protector, and there’s a lot of truth to that, it’s also true that a center is the quarterback’s bodyguard. A center protects him, too, calling out all the blocking assignments so as to make sure the quarterback stays clean, especially up the middle. Indeed, a quarterback has nowhere to go if he gets pressure through, over and around the center. A clean quarterback – not getting hit — makes for a good offense, and a good offense often translates to wins, and championships.

And so it has been – pretty much so, anyway — with Browns centers, and quarterbacks, over the years.

The first man on the Mount Rushmore of Browns centers, Pro Football Hall of Famer Frank “Gunner” Gatski (1946-56), played with Hall of Famer Otto Graham as Cleveland, with the best offense and best quarterback in the game, went to a pro football-record 10 straight league championship games, with seven titles.

John Morrow (1960-66) was the center for Frank Ryan when the Browns made back-to-back trips to the NFL Championship Game, including in 1964 when the club won it all as the quarterback stood back there, surveyed the field and threw three touchdown passes to Gary Collins.

Tom DeLeone (1974-84) was the center for Brian Sipe when the quarterback won the first MVP award by a Brown in 15 years and the 1980 Kardiac Kids captured the club’s first AFC Central title in nine seasons.

And finally, Alex Mack (2009-15) was the center when Brian Hoyer, a Cleveland St. Ignatius High School product, led the Browns to a 7-4 start before General Manager Ray Farmer foolishly pulled the plug on Hoyer and sabotaged the season by forcing Johnny Manziel to take over at quarterback.

Following is a look at these men:

ALEX MACK

A California product, he was taken in the first round, at No. 21 overall, in the 2009 NFL Draft and immediately became the middle anchor on the line. Although the Browns, aside from that 2014 season, struggled during his career here, in large part because they never found a quarterback, Mack flourished, making it to the Pro Bowl three times. With his work in Cleveland, and then with the Atlanta Falcons, with whom he signed in free agency, Mack was named to the NFL’s All-Decade team for the 2010s.

TOM DELEONE

From Kent Roosevelt High School and Ohio State, he first fizzled out with the Cincinnati Bengals and then went to the Browns two years later and found his niche, being the starter for eight consecutive seasons and making it to back-to-back Pro Bowls.

JOHN MORROW

With all the great offensive linemen the Browns had in the 1960s, he got overshadowed and has never gotten his due. But make no mistake about it, he was a good one, making it to two Pro Bowls. That’s not bad for a guy who first made it into the NFL with the Los Angeles Rams as a 28th-round draft choice – two rounds from the bottom — of the Los Angeles Rams in 1956 out of Michigan.

FRANK GATSKI

That the Marshall product made it to the Pro Bowl just once is laughable. Thankfully, the Hall of Fame voters got it right and corrected that indignation. Like many of his Browns teammates at the time, he showed his athleticism and versatility by playing both ways in the team’s first four years in the All-America Football Conference. He was also a part-time linebacker, intercepting three passes, one of which he returned for a touchdown.

NEXT: Guards.

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