A photo that stood the test of time in so many ways

I’ve seen it countless times, probably moreso than any other photo, sports or otherwise.

And I’ve seen a lot of them, for I am a photos junkie.

But every time I run across it online or in a book, I stop dead in my tracks and stare at it. I can’t help it. It gives me chills — and makes me smile — just thinking about it. Whatever I’m really supposed to be doing at that moment can wait — for as long as I deem necessary. First things first. There is a pecking order in our lives.

To be sure, it’s a guilty pleasure.

I’m talking about the famous photo of Lou Groza’s winning kick — a 16-yard field goal with 29 seconds left — as the Browns edged the Los Angeles Rams 30-28 in the 1950 NFL Championship Game at Cleveland Stadium.

Yes, I know, a lot of you have read what I’ve written about that photo — and that game — over the years. But for those who haven’t seen it, or even for those who already have — — it’s the perfect time to look at it once again because Wednesday is the 75th anniversary of when it was taken, Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, 1950.

There are a number of pro football history websites out there.  They show plenty of photos, all of them good, to be sure, but they pale in comparison to this one.

This was the Browns’ first season in the NFL after winning four straight titles in as many years in the All-America Football Conference from 1946-49. None of the hardline NFL people thought the Browns could simply compete in the bigger league, let alone capture a championship, when they were absorbed into the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers and the first version of the Baltimore Colts after the breakup of the AAFC.

But here the Browns were, playing for all the marbles against Cleveland’s former pro football team
in the Rams. Starting play in Cleveland in 1937, the Rams otherwise struggled but they finally got their act together and won the 1945 NFL title by topping the Washington Redskins 15-14 on this very field and then, instead of staying to compete for the city’s hearts with the new Browns team that was being formed, they uprooted themselves and headed for the sunny skies and wide-open territory of the West Coast.

Thus, fittingly so — appropriately so, poetically so — here the Rams were four years later back in their old stomping grounds playing for another title against the team that replaced them. It had a distinct magical, storybook feel to it. Indeed, ladies and gentlemen, you can’t make this stuff up.

The game went back and forth for most of the afternoon, but in the fourth quarter, the Browns found themselves trailing 28-20. This was before the institution of the two-point conversion rule, so the Browns needed two scores to go ahead.

The Browns went to work and scored a touchdown to cut their deficit to one point, 28-27, then held the Rams and got the ball back and, with quarterback “Automatic Otto” Graham leading the way, drove into position for Groza to kick the Browns into the lead and, in essence, win the game although the Rams got the ball back for one last desperate drive that fizzled.

Yes, being of just 16 yards in length — the goal posts were on the goal line then — made it a veritable chip-shot try for Groza, the Martins Ferry High School and Ohio State product who is called “The Father of Modern Kicking” and is the man for whom the award for college football’s best kicker every year is now named.

But Huntington Bank Field was built on the exact footprint of Cleveland Stadium — the field even runs the same way — so then, just as now, wind was a real problem, especially late in the season and particularly at the east (currently Dawg Pound) end of the stadium, from which Groza was kicking.

And then, of course, the snap by center Frank “Gunner” Gatski and the placement by Graham had to both be perfect. But the Browns, unlike other teams at the time, spent a lot of time practicing special teams, understanding the importance of them, and the three men who would be handling the situation are all now Pro Football Hall of Famers. So, the attempt was in good hands — and feet — for Groza, nicknamed “The Toe.”

The photo was taken from the bleachers, or Dawg Pound, end of the stadium, and all 22 players — 11 on each side — have turned to focus intently — laser-focused, certainly — on the flight of the ball. It was, obviously, an all-important kick for both teams, but moreso for the Browns, who needed to win to validate their greatness. Coming up short by a point would not do it. The kick meant everything. It changed the history of not just these two franchises, but, really, pro football overall.

This kick and narrow victory is why all of you are Browns fans, for your parents and grandparents and even great-grandparents did see it and then saw what it meant to being the keynote moment of that historic early run by the team, and passed that down to you like an heirloom.

However, the Browns and Rams players had no idea of any of that, or that their images would still be the subject of fans’ interest exactly three-quarters of a century later.

If we could just read their minds, huh?

A picture says 1,000 words, as they say, correctly so, and it would be fascinating to find out what theirs were.

This is where our imagination comes in, for each time I look at this photo, I try to fill in some of the blanks. I still have a lot left.

Steve King

The Ultimate Cleveland Browns Trivia Book on Amazon

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