As easy as it is to declare that Otto Graham is the greatest quarterback in Browns history – there is absolutely no thought that needs to go into that – it is just that difficult to figure out the order of those who follow him.
The top three candidates are, of course, Bernie Kosar, Brian Sipe and Frank Ryan. But in what order?
To determine that definitely takes some thought. It is not easy by any means.
Indeed, a great case could be made to put them into any order.
But here’s what I came up with in compiling my rankings of the best five Browns quarterbacks not named Otto Graham:
*1. Bernie Kosar (played with the Browns from 1985-93) – He was a big-time winner, which is, above all else, what a top-flight quarterback must be. Three times in a four-year period, he led the Browns to the AFC Championship Game and nearly got them into the Super Bowl twice. In 1988, when he missed most of the season with injuries, the Browns lost in the wild-card playoffs. Enough said. He never really recovered from blowing out his elbow in the 1988 opener, thus failing to become the elite quarterback everyone thought he would be, but he still managed to play pretty well. The Browns were in first place in the Central midway through the 1993 season when he was unceremoniously cut, then won just two games the rest of the season. Again, enough said.
*2. Frank Ryan (1962-68) – In my preliminary rankings, I had him No. 1. And there’s good reason for that. Again using the non-debatable contention that the quarterback’s first and only job is to win the game, Ryan shines, just as Kosar does. In 1963, his first full season as the starter after being acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Rams a year earlier, he helped lead the Browns to a 10-4 record and a second-place finish in the Eastern Conference, just a game behind the New York Giants. The Browns went 10-3-1 in 1964 and won the NFL championship with a 27-0 wipeout of the heavily-favored Baltimore Colts as Ryan put on one of the best performances in league title game history by throwing three touchdown passes to wide receiver Gary Collins. The Browns went back to the championship game in 1965 but lost to the Green Bay Packers. They were 9-5 in both 1966, when they missed the playoffs, and ’67, when they got in as winners of the Century Division. From 1963-67, he was one of the top quarterbacks in the game with 117 touchdown passes and just 75 interceptions.
*3. Brian Sipe (1974-83) – He had that magical 1980 season when he set club records and became the last Brown to be named NFL MVP, and he leads the Browns in just about every career statistical category. Yes, yes, yes, he was a great quarterback. But he slips to No. 3 in these rankings because he never won a playoff game and was the starter only once when the Browns made the postseason. Plus in 1983, with the Browns at 8-5 and seemingly on their way to the playoffs, he faltered badly down the stretch and the club fell short of getting in on tie-breakers.
*4. Bill Nelsen (1968-72) – Because of horrible knees, he didn’t play very long with the Browns. But when he did play, he was incredibly effective, leading the Browns to the NFL Championship Game in both 1968 and ’69 and then to the AFC playoffs in 1971 when he stepped back into the lineup for a struggling Mike Phipps late in the season.
*5. Milt Plum (1957-61) – He was an extremely efficient quarterback, especially in 1960 when he had one of the best seasons ever by a Cleveland passer with 21 touchdown passes with just five interceptions for a club-record 110.4 quarterback rating. In his last three years with the Browns, he threw for 53 TDs with just 23 interceptions. But he made the mistake of challenging head coach Paul Brown on his play-calling, which he contended to me in an interview was not the case at all. In any event, an angry Brown jettisoned him out of town to the Detroit Lions, with whom he struggled mightily for most of the next six years.
