Regular-season openers are exciting times for NFL teams.
But 52 years ago today, on Sept. 15, 1963, the Browns’ opener against the host Washington Redskins was more odd than anything else.
It marked the first Browns game without Paul Brown as head coach. Brown is the man for whom the team is named and served as coach for its first 17 seasons.
Think about Mr. Macy being absent for good one day when Macy’s department store opened its doors, and you get the idea of, at least perceptually, what it was like for the Browns to go forward without Brown.
He had been the face of the franchise for as long as the franchise had existed, and now the face was gone after Brown was unceremoniously fired a little over three weeks following the conclusion of the 1962 season. Though it was shocking, the move was almost inevitable, as he and team owner Art Modell were polar opposites and as such didn’t see eye to eye from the time Modell purchased the club in March 1961.
Brown’s replacement was his top assistant for nine of those 17 seasons, Blanton Collier.
If following a legend wasn’t difficult enough, Collier also had the unenviable task of maneuvering the Browns through a nightmarish offseason in which three players died within a five-month period in running back Ernie Davis, safety Don Fleming of tiny Shadyside, Ohio in Belmont County and Tom Bloom, a Purdue back who was selected in the sixth round of the 1963 NFL Draft.
But through Collier’s grace, strength and ability to build relationships, the Browns made it through the challenging time.
And while all this was going on, Collier was also quietly working behind the scenes to change the way the team was run. He abolished Brown’s messenger-guard system of sending in offensive plays and let the quarterbacks call the plays. In addition, he sought the players’ input in putting together game plans and other major decisions.
Personnel-wise, Collier took Gene Hickerson and John Wooten, the guards who had rotated in and out bringing in plays during the Brown days, and made them full-time starters on the right and left sides, respectively.
Finally – and perhaps most importantly – Collier took Frank Ryan, who had split time with Ninowski at quarterback in 1962, and installed him as the full-time starter.
It worked like a charm, as all three players immediately blossomed into stars.
All that began to manifest itself in the opener. The Browns raced out to a 24-7 halftime lead on Ryan’s two touchdown passes, a four-yarder to wide receiver Bobby Crespino and an 83-yarder to running back Jim Brown, Brown’s 10-yard scoring run and Lou Groza’s 42-yard field goal.
Brown ran 80 yards for a TD in the second half and Groza added field goals from 24 and 39 yards to make the final score of 37-14.
With Wooten and Hickerson helping to lead the way, Brown rushed for 162 yards in just 15 carries. Ryan completed 21 of 31 passes for 334 yards and the two TDs with a pair of interceptions.
So the Browns had played their first game in the post-Paul Brown era, and with Collier, the kindly older gentleman and football genius who was hard of hearing, leading the way, it had been a rousing success.
The success continued, too, as the Browns won their first six games. But more on that later.
By Steve King
