Mount Rushmore of Browns utility backs – Mitchell, Metcalf, Dub and Renfro
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the 23rd in a series of stories about the Mount Rushmore-worthy players – the best players – in Browns history. Today we look at utility backs.
By STEVE KING
New superstar Christian McCaffrey of the Carolina Panthers has brought into focus in an off-the-charts way the last two years the value of an NFL running back who is as good catching the ball as he is running with it.
Advertisement: Buying or selling a home? Visit the Jacob Coker Group with Keller Williams Chervenic Realty
But if the truth be told, that type of back – we’ll call them utility backs because their greatest worth is that they are two-dimensional – has, in fact, been around for a long, long time, dating back decades. That includes the Browns. In fact, no team has had a better history of this type of back than they have.
The Mount Rushmore of Browns utility backs includes a Pro Football Hall of Famer in Bobby Mitchell, who played for the club from 1958-61 before that infamous trade to the Washington Redskins; Dub Jones (1948-55), who shares a key NFL record with two legends; Eric Metcalf (1989-94), an electrifying player whose highlight reel is as long as a mini-series; and Ray Renfro (1952-63), who was emerging with the Browns – in a big, big way – just as Jones’s career was starting to wind down. Renfro, Metcalf and Jones are all Cleveland Browns Legends.
Let’s look at the list:
BOBBY MITCHELL
After being taken in the seventh round, at No. 84 overall, of the 1958 NFL Draft out of Illinois, he was like Ernie Green, who is on the Mount Rushmore of Browns halfbacks (running backs). in that he made the most of a limited amount of touches. Playing alongside the incomparable Jim Brown, just as Green did, necessitated that complementary role. Mitchell is the 10th-leading career rusher in Browns history with 2,297 yards, averaging 5.4 yards per carry, and he also caught 128 passes. Fittingly so, he had 16 rushing touchdowns and 16 receiving TDs.
DUB JONES
He scored six touchdowns – four rushing and two receiving – in a 1951 game against the Chicago Bears to share an NFL record with Hall of Famers Ernie Nevers (1929) and, later, Gayle Sayers (1965). Both of the other players ran for all of their touchdowns. Played Nov. 25 at Cleveland Stadium, the game, won by the Browns 42-21 (yes, Jones accounted for all of their scoring, minus Lou Groza’s extra points), still ranks as the most penalized contest in NFL history. After playing his first two pro seasons with the All-America Football Conference rival Miami Seahawks and Brooklyn Dodgers, he came to the Browns in 1948. Combined in his eight years in the AAFC and NFL, he rushed for 1,910 yards and 20 touchdowns, and had 171 receptions for 20 scores, averaging 16.9 yards per catch.
ERIC METCALF
Drafted in the first round, at No. 13 overall, in 1988 out of Texas, he was an immediate hit, rushing for six touchdowns and scoring four more on receptions as a rookie. He rushed for 2,229 career yards, putting him just out of the Browns’ top 10, and had 297 receptions, which are eight-best. He scored a combined total of 26 TDs rushing and receiving.
RAY RENFRO
Because he was on a team with so many great players, he has gotten overshadowed. But make no mistake about it, Renfro is truly special. The latter of the Browns’ two fourth-round draft choices, at No. 48 overall, in 1952 out of North Texas, he got going in his second season of 1953 and never looked back. Used as both a runner and wide receiver for his first four years, he was moved exclusively to wideout in 1956. He finished with 682 career rushing yards but had 281 receptions, which rank ninth in Browns history, for 5,508 yards (second) and 50 touchdowns (third). His 19.6 yards-per-catch average is No. 1. His 20.8 average in 1955 led the NFL.
NEXT: Quarterbacks.
Advertisement: For a free insurance review visit Allstate Agent Clint Stott
Cleveland Browns:
- “Bitonio Excited About What He Sees The Wide Zone Scheme Can Be” (OBR)
- New 2020 Cleveland Browns Jerseys
- Mount Rushmore of Browns fullbacks (Browns Daily Dose)
- “Mayfield voluntarily jumping into other position meetings” (cleveland.com)
- “OBJ A ‘Model Guy’ During Browns’ Virtual Offseason Program” (AP)
- “Myles Garrett on George Floyd protests: ‘Change isn’t always a clean process’” (WKYC)
We may earn an Affiliate Commission if you purchase something through recommended links in this Mount Rushmore of Browns utility backs article.
I was wondering if you’d find a way to put Jones and Renfro into a category. They belonged somewhere. This is a good way to do it.