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- For the engineer/mixer, producer & guitarist see Paul Brown (engineer/mixer, producer & guitarist)
However, he rectified the problem by not only ending that frustrating losing streak, but also winning 58 of the next 60 contests, tying one, and winning six straight state high school titles (1935 through 1940). Massillon outscored its opposition 2,393 to 168 during those six years. The 1940 team outscored its opponents 477 to 6, with the lone score against them made by Canton McKinley. During this period, his achievements also helped build a new stadium for the high school that seated 20,000 people, and drew crowds that surpassed every football program in Ohio except The Ohio State University. With avid support from an influential group of people, Brown moved into the college ranks by becoming head coach of those same Ohio State Buckeyes in 1941. Under Brown, the Buckeyes went 18-8-1 (1941-43), with his only loss during that first season coming against Northwestern University and their running back Otto Graham. The following year, Brown led the Buckeyes to the university's first National championship in 1942, but was unable to sustain that success when World War II depleted his talented corps of players the following year. Brown's players were known for speed, intelligence, and contact; his teams for execution and fundamentals; and he was dubbed "Precision Paul" at Ohio State. After Brown was re-classified 1-A in February 1944, he was commissioned April 12, 1944, as a lieutenant (junior grade) in the United States Navy. He served at the Great Lakes Naval Station as head coach of its Bluejacket football team, which competed against other service teams and college programs, putting together a mark of 15-5-2 during the final two years of World War II. One of those five losses, ironically, was to Ohio State on October 9, 1944.
After the war, despite still being Ohio State's head coach in absentia, Brown chose instead to become the first head coach for Arthur 'Mickey' McBride's new All America Football Conference franchise, the Cleveland Browns, signing his contract February 8, 1945, while still in the Navy. Such was his popularity that the team was named in his honor following a poll taken in the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
NFL career
Cleveland Browns
While the AAFC lasted only four seasons, the Browns served as the gold standard for the league, winning the championship each year and outdrawing the Cleveland's NFL franchise, the Rams, who had left town for Los Angeles after winning the NFL championship in 1945. Brown had put together a talented team, primarily by combining players from Massillon, Ohio State and Great Lakes. One key move came when he shifted Otto Graham to quarterback, providing the team with a signal caller who would lead the team to the league title game in each of his 10 seasons. In addition, Brown ignored the gentlemen's agreement that barred African-American players from the league, adding future Pro Football Hall of Famers Marion Motley and Bill Willis. Following the merger between the NFL and AAFC, The Browns, along with the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Colts, moved to the NFL in 1950 and didn't miss a beat, winning the NFL Championship in their first year. Critics had predicted that the overall weakness of the AAFC would expose the Browns, but the team defeated the Rams in the title game on December 24 on a last-minute field goal by Lou Groza. The Browns went on to appear in the next five title games, winning back-to-back titles in 1954 and 1955. Brown gained a reputation as an innovator during his time in Cleveland. He was the first to use intelligence tests to judge players, establish a film library, and install face masks on helmets. Another innovation was the use of "messenger guards" to relay plays from the sidelines, and he even experimented with helmet radios, decades before they became part of the game. The offense directed by Graham was the predecessor of the West Coast Offense made famous by Bill Walsh, a protege of Brown. He was also a person known for his stubborn approach to criticism. After the Browns had soundly defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in the opening game of the 1950 NFL season, Eagles head coach Greasy Neale dismissed the Browns by saying, "All they do is pass the ball." In the team's subsequent meeting a few months later, the Browns set an NFL record that still stands by attempting no passes in their win over the Eagles.Fired
Brown was fired as coach on January 9, 1963 by majority owner, Art Modell, who had purchased the club in 1961 and looked to take more control over the team. Controversy developed over the timing of the decision, coming in the midst of a local newspaper strike that limited discussion of the move. One comment from a local journalist later noted the move was akin to the toppling of the Terminal Tower, then Cleveland's tallest building. The relationship, which had never been warm, had continued to deteriorate because of what Brown felt was Modell's infringing on his duties. Having little contact with Modell, Brown privately made a huge trade with the Washington Redskins in December 1961 without the owner's knowledge. Brown's deal secured Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis, the star running back from Syracuse University. However, the trade marked the beginning of the end of his Cleveland career and turned tragic when Davis developed leukemia during his first training camp in 1962. The feud itself was exacerbated when Brown chose not to play Davis, despite assurances from doctor that Davis could withstand the physical demands of NFL action. Modell saw no harm in playing Davis, with his financial investment obviously a consideration in his thinking. Davis would never play, dying of the disease on May 18, 1963. In exile after more than 30 years of coaching, Brown spent the next five years on the sidelines, never once attending a Browns contest. While he was secure financially, earning $80,000 annually for the final five years of his contract as well as owning approximately six percent of the team, Brown's frustration grew with each passing year, later recalling, "It was terrible. I had everything a man could want: leisure, enough money, a wonderful family. Yet with all that, I was eating my heart out." Just months after his dismissal, he was rumored to be part of an ownership group to buy the Philadelphia Eagles, but no deal was ever officially signed. Then, in May 1966, Brown traveled with Ohio governor James A. Rhodes to make a presentation on behalf of Cincinnati for an American Football League franchise.Cincinnati Bengals
On September 26, 1967, Brown officially returned to football as part-owner of the Cincinnati Bengals of the AFL. The team would join the NFL with the NFL-AFL merger in 1970. He would coach the team for eight seasons, leading the team to three playoff berths, including one in the team's third year of operation in 1970. In each of those seasons, as well as a number of preseason clashes, Browns' Bengals took on his former Browns team, reigniting the bitter rivalry between Brown and Modell.Retirement
After retiring on January 1, 1976, he began a 15-year tenure as team president, with the Bengals making two trips to the Super Bowl, losing both games to the San Francisco 49ers. Following his death in 1991 of complications from pneumonia, he was succeeded by his son Mike.Honors
Brown was honored in 1967 by his election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. In addition to that accolade, two stadiums bear his name: Paul Brown Tiger Stadium in Massillon, and Paul Brown Stadium, current home of the Bengals. One could also say that a third stadium is named after Coach Brown: the "Cleveland Browns Stadium." Paul Brown is buried in Massillon.See also
External link
Source
- Park, Jack, The Official OHIO STATE Football Encyclodpedia (2002), ISBN 1-58261-274-9 (Massillon record and "Precision Paul" p. 183, US Navy p. 218, loss to OSU p. 222, AAFC contract p. 228)
1908 births 1991 deaths People from Ohio Miami University alumni Pro Football Hall of Fame High school football coaches Miami RedHawks football coaches Ohio State Buckeyes football coaches All America Football Conference coaches Cleveland Browns coaches American Football League coaches Cincinnati Bengals coaches Cincinnati Bengals American football executives
"Paul Brown"