A coin toss the Browns lost prior to the first portion of the 1957 NFL Draft changed the course of the franchise — fortunately for them.
The NFL draft was much different back then compared to the three-day spectacle of today. The first four rounds of the 1957 draft were held with three games left in the 1956 regular season. About a month later, the draft concluded with 26 more rounds.
The Browns and Steelers were 3-6 after games played Nov. 25, 1956. The draft was the next day. Since the rivals shared the same record, their position in the draft was determined by a coin flip. Which team called heads or tails and how the coin landed has been lost to history. Be that as it may, Pittsburgh won the coin toss and the privilege of drafting fifth. The Browns had to settle for the sixth pick.
The Pittsburgh Steelers, unknowingly, did the Browns a solid, and because they did the Browns were able to draft running back Jim Brown from Syracuse. Brown — considered the greatest player in Browns history and one of the greatest in the entire history of the NFL — passed away on May 18 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 87.
Quarterback Otto Graham retired after the 1955 season with the impeccable record of taking the Browns to 10 straight championship games — four in the AAFC and six in the NFL. The Browns won the AAFC championship every year from 1946 to 1949 and three more in the NFL — 1950, 1954 and 1955 — with Graham at the helm.
Tom O’Connell, Vito Parilli and George Ratterman played quarterback for the Browns in 1956. The team finished 5-7 and for the first time under Coach Paul Brown, the Browns missed the playoffs.
Paul Brown needed a better quarterback. He had his sights on Len Dawson from Purdue with the sixth pick before the draft started, but the Steelers used the fifth pick on Dawson. The Browns drafted Jim Brown with the next pick and then selected quarterback Milt Plum from Penn State with the fourth pick in the second round.
Dawson is in the Hall of Fame, but not because of how he played for the Steelers. He was with Pittsburgh three seasons and started only one game.
A little more than three years after the Browns missed out on Dawson in the draft, the Steelers traded Dawson and wide receiver Gern Nagler to Cleveland on Jan. 1, 1960, for running back Preston Carpenter and safety Lowe Wren.
Plum, in his fourth season by 1960, easily beat out Dawson for the Browns’ starting job. Plum made the Pro Bowl that year and led the NFL with a 60.4 percent completion percentage (151 of 250 passing). In fact, Plum led the league in completion percentage in 1959 and 1961 as well.
The Browns released Dawson after the 1961 season. He completed 15 of 28 passes for 108 yards with one touchdown pass and three interceptions during his time with the Browns.
Dawson in 1962 signed with the Dallas Texans in the American Football League. The Texans head coach, Hank Stram, was an assistant coach at Purdue when Dawson played for the Boilermakers. Dawson’s career took off under Stram. A year later, the Texans relocated and became the Kansas City Chiefs.
Meanwhile, Jim Brown led the NFL in rushing as a rookie in 1957 with 942 yards in a 12-game season. He went on to lead the league in rushing seven more times in the final eight years of his career. He was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 1957, 1958 and 1965.
Brown played in 118 games, all with the Browns, and averaged 104.3 yards per game. He is the only player in NFL history to average more than 100 yards a game.
All in all, an excellent return for losing a coin flip.
