Mount Rushmore of Browns defensive tackles
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EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the 12th in a series of stories about the Mount Rushmore-worthy players – the best players – in Browns history. Today we look at defensive tackles.
By STEVE KING
The Browns have had a lot of great defensive tackles over the years.
There are so many, in fact, that we’ve divided them into two groups. In addition to tackles, we will also feature nose tackles/middle guards in our next post. They are two different positions. Whereas tackles usually play opposite offensive guards, nose tackles and middle guards play “nose-up” on centers. In this way, then, a greater number of worthy candidates can be recognized.
In any event, the top four true Browns defensive tackles in history – those who earned a spot on the Mount Rushmore of the position – are Jerry Sherk (1970-81), Walter Johnson (1965-76), Bob Gain (1952, 1954-64) and Don Colo (1953-58).
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Let’s take a look at them:
JERRY SHERK
The fourth player taken by the Browns in the 1970 NFL Draft, being the latter of two second-round picks, at No. 47 overall, out of Oklahoma State, he is not just the best defensive tackle in Browns history, but also would likely be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame if his career had not been cut short because of a health issue. He was having the best season of his career, having 12 sacks, tied for the fifth-most in club history, in just 10 games in 1979, when he suffered a staph infection against the Philadelphia Eagles on the artificial surface of Veterans Stadium. It ended his season and, for all intents and purposes, his career, and it very nearly cost him his life. He made it to four Pro Bowls and is second in Browns history with 69 career sacks. He shares the team record with two other players with four sacks in a game (1976 against the Eagles) and is second with 547 career sack yards. For that 1976 season, he was named the top defensive tackle in the NFL.
WALTER JOHNSON
Nicknamed “Zoom,” he played alongside Sherk for seven seasons (1970-76), giving the Browns one of the top defensive tackle tandems in the NFL at the time. Johnson, a bull of a man with tremendous upper-body strength, was the last of the Browns’ three second-round draft picks in 1965, at No. 27 overall out of Los Angeles State (now Cal State-Los Angeles. He made it to three straight Pro Bowls, and his 58 career sacks is third in Browns history.
BOB GAIN
For whatever reason, he’s a player who often gets forgotten in team history, and that’s unfortunate, for a strong case could be made for him being in the Hall of Fame. He made it to the Pro Bowl five times, tied for the most by a defensive player in Browns history.
DON COLO
Perhaps you’ve not heard of him, but he certainly deserves to be on Mount Rushmore. Like Gain, beside whom he played for four seasons (1955-58) on one of the dominant tackle tandems in the NFL, Sherk and Johnson, Colo is a Cleveland Browns Legend. He went to three Pro Bowls.
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