The dream backfield Paul Brown envisioned in 1962 is finally a tandem, albeit only in a spiritual sense.
Jim Brown, the Browns’ all-time leading rusher and holder of numerous other franchise records, passed away May 18 at age 87. Exactly 60 years earlier, Ernie Davis, the first pick of the 1962 draft and with the Browns for a very brief time, died from leukemia on May 18, 1963. Davis was born in New Salem, Pennsylvania about 21 months after Brown was born on St. Simons Island in Georgia.
Paul Brown was the coach and general manager of the Browns since their inception in 1946 until he was fired in January 1963. He made decisions on trades and draft picks without consulting the team’s original owner, Mickey McBride, and continued that practice when McBride sold the team to a group of Cleveland businessmen for $600,000 in 1953. Art Modell bought the Browns in 1961. He had no plans of being a silent owner.
The Browns drafted Jim Brown from Syracuse sixth overall in the 1957 draft (Brown was drafted on Nov. 26, 1956). Davis played at Syracuse from 1959-61. Brown wore “44” at Syracuse, and so did Davis. Davis in 1961 became the first Black player to win the Heisman trophy.
The Washington Redskins had the first pick in the 1962 draft. The Redskins’ owner, George Preston Marshall, had the reputation of being a racist. The Redskins were the last team to integrate. The only reason he finally did so was because he was pressured by the administration of President John F. Kennedy to sign a Black player or face eviction from D.C. Stadium, which was city-owned.
The Redskins used the first pick in 1962 on Davis. The Buffalo Bills of the American Football League drafted Davis fourth overall two days before the NFL held its draft.
Davis refused to play for the Redskins because of Marshall’s racist views. Davis demanded a trade. He had leverage because if the Redskins refused he could sign with the Bills and the Redskins would be left with nothing.
That’s where Paul Brown stepped into the picture. John Brown, a teammate of Davis’ at Syracuse, was drafted by the Browns in 1961. That meant Davis already had a friend with the Browns, plus Davis had respect for Jim Brown.
Without consulting Modell, Paul Brown traded flanker/running back Bobby Mitchell and running back Leroy Jackson, selected by the Browns with the 11th pick in the first round of the 1962 draft, to the Redskins for Davis’ draft rights. That same year the Browns drafted wide receiver/punter Gary Collins fourth in the first round.
Mitchell played four seasons with the Browns. His best year in Cleveland was 1960 when he rushed 111 times for 506 yards and five touchdowns and caught 45 passes for 612 yards and six touchdowns. Mitchell blossomed with the Redskins, posting 1,384 receiving yards and 1,436 receiving yards in back-to-back seasons.
A backfield of Davis and Jim Brown could have made the Browns the scourge of the NFL again, just as they were from 1950-55 when Otto Graham was the quarterback and Marion Motley (1950-53) was the running back.
But the Brown-Davis duo never played even one regular season snap together. Davis was diagnosed with acute monocytic leukemia in the summer of 1962. He was allowed to practice during training camp without contact and played in just one preseason game. He was gone by the following May.
The Browns retired Davis’ “45.” Ernie Green, drafted in the fourth round in 1962, became Jim Brown’s running mate.
Modell fired Paul Brown in 1963. A year later, the Browns drafted Leroy Kelly and that year won Cleveland’s most recent NFL championship.
Jim Brown retired after the 1965 season. He went out being named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player. Kelly played 10 seasons, all with the Browns, in a Hall of Fame career.
