CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Preston Carpenter, the Cleveland Browns’ first pick in the 1956 draft who made a position change after Jim Brown joined the Browns the following season, died on Thursday at age 77.
Published reports in Arkansas indicate Carpenter died of natural causes after a brief illness.
Carpenter was an Arkansas star halfback drafted by the Browns with the 13th overall pick. He rushed for 756 yards in his rookie season with Cleveland, then moved to wide receiver the next season, when Brown began his Hall of Fame career. Carpenter totaled 96 receptions for 1,368 yards and five touchdowns in his four years with the Browns.
(Preston Carpenter was included when The Plain Dealer recently ranked the Browns' 100 best draft picks of all-time. He is not related to Ken Carpenter, who is included in the rankings, but is the brother of Lew Carpenter, who is mentioned later in this report)
Carpenter played for five teams in 12 NFL seasons, catching 305 passes for 4,457 yards and 23 touchdowns. He made the Pro Bowl team in 1962 while with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Robbie Neiswanger of the Arkansas News writes about a highlight of Carpenter's career at Arkansas:
Carpenter lettered at Arkansas from 1953-55 and is remembered for teaming with Buddy Bob Benson for a 66-yard touchdown on “The Powder River Play.” Carpenter’s catch and run was the only score in the 6-0 win against No. 5 Ole Miss in 1954, a season in which coach Bowden Wyatt’s “25 Little Pigs” won the Southwest Conference title.
Neiswanger writes that Carpenter was inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame in 1992 and the UA Sports Hall of Honor in 1996. He also writes, with a quote about Carpenter:
“He loved the University of Arkansas,” Harold Horton, executive director of the Razorback Foundation, said Thursday night. “He loved coming back to our reunions in the spring. He enjoyed being in the lettermen’s room prior to games. He was the life of the group. Wherever he was, he just added to where he was. People enjoyed being around him."
Carpenter's brother Lew began a 10-year NFL career in 1953 with the Detroit Lions, and played on the Browns with Preston in the 1957 and 1958 seasons. Lew Carpenter died at age 78 in 2010.
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