by This came after a failed attempt in the Cleveland local newspaper to let the fans decide on a name for the team. The Fans had voted for Panthers as the name for the team, but Paul Brown shot that down. He stated that the Panthers were associated with failure from a past team in town. Brown was brought in to coach the team after years of serving in the U.S. Navy. He signed a contract worth a reported $17,500 yearly, which at the time was the highest paid coaching contract in football. McBride even reportedly offered Brown a stipend for the rest of his time in the military.
Brown wasted no time bringing in as many players as he felt could help the team immediately win. Some of the biggest and best players included Northwestern quarterback, Otto Graham. Running behind Graham would be eventual Hall of Fame running back, Marion Montley. With star wide out, Dante Lavelli, and placekicker, Lou “The Toe” Groza, the new team in town proved to be a force to reckon with.
The Browns began practicing at the campus of Bowling Green State University a couple hours west of from Cleveland. The team colors came from the Bowling Green Falcons, who were brown and orange. “The Browns were being lead by a great disciplinarian”, DeLuca recalls telling a story regarding coach Paul Brown, “He was such a strict coach that even enforced a dress code, but that is why his players respected him. He even fired team captain, Jim Daniel, after he had gotten drunk a week before the 1946 Championship game. Daniel had gotten so drunk that he even took a swing at a cop. In order to set an example for the rest of his team, Paul Brown didn’t hesitate to cut his captain”.
The Browns joined the All American Football Conference in 1946. So prepared for the challenge was Brown that he even convinced McBride to keep a list of reserves, who didn’t make the team, employed on his taxi cab payroll just in case of an injury. The part-time taxi drivers were fondly known as the Taxi Squad. Brown searched the entire country to bring in the best talent he could find.
The Browns took the field at Municipal Stadium for the first game against the Miami Seahawks in front of 63,000 fans on September 6, 1946. Joe DeLuca can still close his eyes and recall the moment fondly. “The lights were shut off in the whole stadium, the only light coming from the exits signs when a spotlight from the right field stands turned on. The light shone into the dugout where the Miami Seahawks players were about to run out and take the field. As the announcer spoke and the first player from the Seahawks ran across the field, he kicked up a little dust as he ran across the dirt infield. I remember getting chills seeing this thinking something great was happening. I still get goose bumps as I think about it all these later”,
DeLuca can still name every single player from the 1946 roster, the position they played, and their number without even having to look at a team picture. Years later, he met Lou Groza at a laundry mat and told him that it was the greatest team in Cleveland Browns history. When Groza asked him why he felt that team was the best ever, DeLuca replied “If that team was lousy, no one would have came and they would have left town”. It was vital that the 1946 Cleveland Browns be great.
Winning brought packed houses for each game. The Cleveland fans quickly forgot about the Rams when the Browns crushed the Seahawks and kept the ball rolling all season. Mickey McBride was a smart business man who took full advantage of the team’s success. Tickets sold at the premium price of 25 cents each. Included in each paid program was a raffle number to allow a fan to win a brand new car. McBride even promised a big celebrity to appear at every home game as well.
In 1946, the Cleveland Browns won their first league championship by beating the New York Yankees 14-9. This completed a magical first season that spilled over into a 1947 season. In their second year, the Browns defeated the Baltimore Colts 42-0 for a second consecutive championship. Heading into 1948, nothing would change as the Browns won their third championship with a 49-7 rout over the Buffalo Bills. The Cleveland Browns did not lose a single game the entire 1948 season making them a dominant force in the league
The 1948 year in sports had been so amazing for Cleveland that the city was now known simply as “The City of Champions”! As Joe Deluca recalls, “We were so spoiled with all the winning; it was as if it would never end”. In 1949, the Browns won the championship yet again with a 21-7 win over the San Francisco 49ers. In 1950, the Cleveland Browns moved to the NFL but they remained dominant, winning the championship on Christmas Eve over the Los Angeles Rams 30-28. Joe DeLuca attended that game with many other rabid freezing fans. The irony was sweet, as they had beaten the former Cleveland Rams.
The fall of the Browns would only come years later when Jim Brown and his militant ways destroyed the atmosphere. He caused turmoil which resulted in Paul Brown getting fired. Jim Brown had little to do with their one championship win when he was on the team. His teammates will agree that he didn’t pass block, and was soley concerned with his own rushing totals and greatness. Jim Brown may have been a great runner, but he was a horrible teammate and one of the biggest reasons the Cleveland Browns have faced years of struggles since his departure.
He actually retired from the set of a movie, instead of doing the classy thing and show the fans, and his teammates respect by retiring in front of them. Jim Brown has gone on to do many questionable things since his retirement that solidify how many of his teammates felt for him. The media has done an amazing job covering up his faults and continuing to treat him like superman.
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