The 2025 NFL Draft is right around the corner, as the three-day event begins on Thursday night.
The Browns currently have the No. 2 overall pick, so make sure to tune in right away.
This, then, is Part 1 of a series about the five most impactful drafts in Browns history, done in chronological order. We begin where you longtime Browns fans knew we’d begin, in 1957:
The best NFL Draft in history — and the best Browns draft ever — occurred in 1957. A number of players who would go on to greatness, both with the Browns and with other teams throughout the league, were taken that year.
Browns head coach Paul Brown, looking for a successor at quarterback to the iconic Otto Graham. who had retired — for the second time — two years earlier, was intent on choosing Alliance High School and Purdue product Len Dawson with the No. 6 overall pick. However, the Pittsburgh Steelers, who had searched for a quarterback for their nearly 25-year existence without success, beat him to the punch and grabbed Dawson at No. 5. As the groundskeeper says in the Snickers commercial when he learns he just spent hours painting “Chefs” in the end zone in Kansas City, Brown was beside himself. He had to “settle” for his Plan B choice, Syracuse running back Jim Brown, who, to the surprise of everyone, especially Paul Brown, turned out to be the greatest player in the game’s history.
Dawson fizzled with the Steelers and ended up in Cleveland in 1960 and also did nothing in his two seasons there. It wasn’t until he went to the Dallas Texans, the forerunner of the Kansas City Chiefs, and was reunited with his offensive coordinator at Purdue, Hank Stram, the head coach of the Chiefs, that he began in earnest his Pro Football Hall of Fame career. When the Chiefs offense metriculated its way up and down the field against the heavily-favored Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV en route to a shocking 23-7 win, you have to wonder if Dawson and Stram celebrated by eating a Snickers bar?
The Browns drafted three Hall of Famers in all in 1957. In addition to Jim Brown, they got, in the seventh round, Mississippi tackle Gene Hickerson, who was converted to guard and helped to lead the way for Brown, and also Virginia defensive tackle Henry Jordan in the fifth round. Jordan struggled in his short time in Cleveland, but he blossomed once he went to Green Bay and played a key role in the Packers’ 23-12 win over the Browns in the 1965 NFL Championship Game, which turned out to be Jim Brown’s last game (he played in the Pro Bowl a week later, but since that was an exhibition game, it doesn’t count as his final contest). Jordan and the Green Bay defense, with the help of a muddy, sloppy and slippery field, held him to 50 yards rushing.
Steve King
