Because he played way back when – he began his career 42 years ago, in 1973 – today’s fans may not fully grasp just how good Browns running back Greg Pruitt really was.
 
He was outstanding, one of the team’s all-time best. He is fourth on the Browns’ career rushing list with 5,496 yards and third with 323 receptions, and as such is one of just three players to be in the top 10 in both categories.
 
Think Eric Metcalf, with all the speed, quickness and elusiveness, but with more power, enabling him to run through some would-be tacklers.
 
In fact, Metcalf, whose career started five years after Pruitt’s ended in 1984, was the next generation of Pruitt, just as Pruitt was the next generation of Bobby Mitchell, whose career ended five years before Pruitt came along.
 
So when the Browns lost the 5-foot-11, 190-pound Pruitt midway through the 1979 season with a knee injury, it was devastating. It was a big reason why they went only 3-4 in their last seven games to finish 9-7, just barely missing the playoffs.
 
With Pruitt, they likely would have made the postseason for the first time in seven years.
 
His injury occurred 36 years ago today, on Oct. 28, 1979, in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Despite that, though, the Browns ran – literally and figuratively – to a 38-20 win to improve their record to 6-3.
 
They did so in large part because of rushing for 226 yards and four touchdowns. Most of it came from the usual sources, as Cleo Miller had 11 attempts for 80 yards, including a 39-yarder for a touchdown, Calvin Hill had nine carries for 43 yards, and Mike Pruitt had eight tries for 41 yards, including a one-yarder for a score.
 
Some of it, though, came from unlikely sources.
 
Cleveland Benedictine High School product Pat Moriarity, now a front-office executive for the original Browns franchise, the Baltimore Ravens, added a one-yard TD run. Dino Hall ran twice for 61 yards, including a 52-yarder for a score to culminate a 21-point fourth quarter, pushing the lead to 31-13 and sealing the deal.
 
Listed at just 5-7 and 165 pounds – that must have been after he had been stretched out on the Rack, eaten a big Thanksgiving dinner, and had a brick tucked into both of his pants pockets – Hall, just a rookie free agent from tiny Glassboro State (now Rowan), was so small that he made Greg Pruitt look big.
 
After retiring, Hall became a high school teacher in his native New Jersey. One day, a camera crew from the Browns’ website made a pre-arranged visit to Hall’s classroom during a school day. His students were confused that antone would want to film their teacher. They had kind of gotten the drift that he had been a football player of some sort at one time, but they never asked for specifics and he never given them any. So as far as they knew, he was a just a smallish ex-player who taught school.
 
As such, then, they were stunned to learn that day that he had played five seasons in the NFL (1979-83), all of which were with the Browns.
 
Hall spent most of his time as a returner. That day in St. Louis was his biggest day as a running back, and it’s one that former Browns head coach Sam Rutigliano talks about often. Never in his wildest dreams did he think that Hall would do all that when he inserted him into the game.
 
Quarterback Brian Sipe was, after coming into his own late in 1978, superb, completing 20 of 28 passes for 208 yards and a TD on a six-yarder to wide receiver Dave Logan. Hill, in his first season with the Browns after spending eight years with the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins, caught seven passes for 81 yards. Wide receiver Reggie Rucker added four receptions for 76 yards.
 
Tight end Gary Parris, who had played the previous four seasons in Cleveland, being let go when the Browns drafted some guy named Ozzie Newsome, was the Cardinals’ leading receiver with three catches for 60 yards. He also caught a one-point extra-point pass after the kick attempt was botched.
 
The Browns had won the battle that day in St. Louis, but, as mentioned, with the way Pruitt’s absence affected them going forward, they were on their way to losing the war.