It’s been said, “First impressions last.”
That’s so true.
But it can also be said, “Last impressions last.”
That second quote certainly applies to those first Browns teams. They won league championships in each of their first five years of existence, four in the All-America Football Conference from 1946-49 and then in 1950 in their inaugural season in the NFL.
But while they made it to the NFL title game in each of the next three seasons, they did not win a crown, losing to the Los Angeles Rams in 1951 and to the Detroit Lions in both 1952 and ‘53. The first two games were close — they fell to the Rams by seven points, and to the Lions by one point the second time, both on late touchdowns, and they were defeated by 10 points the first time against Detroit after trailing by seven at halftime. But finishing second, however it came about, did not make Browns head coach Paul Brown one bit happy. In fact, when they lost to the Rams, Brown just about lost his mind. He examined everything in the organization to try to find out why they had been defeated. He was after great endings, not just good ones.
The Browns players were frustrated, too. They knew they were better than that. They had to find a way to win.
The Browns and Detroit got matched up again in the title game exactly 71 years ago Friday, on Dec. 26, 1954, at Cleveland Stadium. The night before the game, the players met secretly at their downtown hotel and, because they thought Brown had gotten too conservative offensively in those three championship game defeats, they decided to override the plays he would send in through his messenger guard system, and let quarterback Otto Graham call his own plays. But at the same time, they talked openly about the need to be right, for if the plan backfired, then Brown would be irate. He would say nothing if it worked.
Brown never said a word because it worked like a charm. The Browns won by a resounding count of 56–10.
Graham retired after the game, but he told Brown he would entertain coming back if the coach couldn’t find a quarterback he liked.
The Browns lost to the Washington Redskins for the first time, 27-17, in their 1955 opener, and Brown wasted no time placing a call to Graham. The quarterback was true to his word and came back, leading the Browns to the championship game once more, against the Rams at Memorial Coliseum, exactly 70 years ago Friday, on Dec. 26, 1955, and they won by a lopsided margin for the second straight time, 38–14.
Graham retired after the game, this time for good, and the timing was perfect. The Browns had been nearly as good at the end of their great 10-year run as they were at the beginning. They played in 10 straight league championship games, capturing seven titles, five at the beginning and two at the end. It is a streak of excellence in pro football the likes of which had never happened before, and has not happened since.
And, in looking back at all that now, it is certainly true that last impressions do last as well.
Steve King
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