Nine seasons. Nine Pro Bowls. 12,312 yards. 5.2 yards per carry. 120 touchdowns, 106 of them on the ground. Eight rushing titles. Eight first-team All-Pro selections. An NFL title in 1964. Never missed a game. Still the standard by which running backs are measured. The Best.
Why would a guy who rushed for only 4,700 yards in eight seasons rank so high on this list?
Because to hear eyewitnesses tell it, it wouldn't be that much of a stretch to put him at No. 1. He was that good.
When Paul Brown assembled the talent that would become pro football's dominant team in the 1940s and 1950s, the cornerstone of his backfield was Marion Motley.
Motley led the All-America Football Conference in rushing all four years of the league's existence. The Browns, not coincidentally, won all four AAFC titles.
The Browns joined the NFL in 1950 and promptly won the championship there, too. Motley led that league in rushing, too.
Mind you, this was occurring while Motley was playing in an offense that was revolutionizing the game. Paul Brown utilized the passing game like no one had before him. Even so, Motley's greatness as a runner was crucial to Cleveland's unmatched run of 10 straight title game appearances, seven of which ended in championships.
At 6'1" and 232 pounds, he was also a bruising pass blocker and played linebacker on defense, a throwback to the days when star athletes were used on both sides of the ball.
Motley rushed for 4,712 yards in eight seasons with Cleveland, but his 5.7 yards-per-carry average is an indication of how difficult he was to bring down.
He was named to the NFL's 75-year anniversary team, and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968.
Even higher praise came when former Sports Illustrated scribe Paul Zimmerman called Motley, quite simply, the best player in the history of football.
5. With the NFL's salary cap, it's the easiest of the three main pro leagues for teams to reverse their fortunes. The Packers are the 10th team in the last 10 years to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, and even the Saints managed to win it. It used to be New Orleans fans were the ones with bags over their heads
4. We have Holmgren! Browns president Mike Holmgren has taken the Packers and Seahawks to Super Bowls and Cleveland finally has a guy who knows what it takes to win.
3. The Browns are getting closer. They were a better team last year than the season before, even though they've had consecutive 5-11 seasons. There are some positive building blocks in place.
2. The odds have to eventually shift in Cleveland's favor, don't they? Every drive, fumble, shot, blown save and decision can't always go against us -- one of these years will be the Browns' time.
1. To paraphrase another former rival's words, one-time Bengals coach Sam Wyche, "You don't live in Pittsburgh, you live in Cleveland!"
So keep the faith -- it will be all the sweeter when the Browns do win a Super Bowl one day.
Selected in the eighth round of the 1964 NFL Draft out of Morgan State, Kelly served as Jim Brown's understudy and Cleveland's premier kick returner for two seasons.
When Brown abruptly retired prior to the 1966 season, Kelly took over as the Browns' featured back. He promptly ran for 1,141 yards and 15 touchdowns—the first of three consecutive 1,000 yard seasons.
A six-time Pro Bowl selection, Kelly rushed for 7,274 yards and 74 touchdowns during his career, most of it during a phenomenal seven-year stretch from 1966 to 1972.
He compiled more than 12,000 all-purpose yards and 90 touchdowns in all, and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1994.
Perhaps one of the most unsung stars in Browns history, the "other" Pruitt stands third on the team's all-time rushing list, behind only Jim Brown and Leroy Kelly.
Pretty heady company, and well-deserved. When the dust had settled, Mike had distinguished himself as "the" Pruitt in Cleveland.
Had he played 20 years earlier and compiled the totals he did (7,378 career rushing yards with three teams), he would have been a candidate for the Hall of Fame. As it is, he's been recognized as one of the Browns legends.
With Cleveland Pruitt amassed 6,540 yards over nine seasons with 47 touchdowns. He also caught 255 passes for 1,761 yards and five more scores.
The first round draft choice out of Purdue made two Pro Bowl appearances as a Brown, before finishing his career with Buffalo and Kansas City.
At 6'0", 225 pounds, Mack was a bulldog and a real load, which made him perfect for Cleveland's blue-collar football mentality. Coming out of Clemson University, Mack opted to sign with the USFL's Los Angeles Express in 1984. Later that year, he joined the Browns via the supplemental draft, and he would remain a fixture with the team for nine seasons. During that time Mack would compile 5,123 yards at a 4.0 per-carry clip, with 46 touchdowns. He scored eight more touchdowns on pass receptions; he had 197 of those for another 1,602 yards, more than respectable numbers for a fullback. Mack teamed with Earnest Byner in the mid-1980s, forming a powerful backfield that propelled the Browns to the AFC Championship Game three out of four years late in the decade. He earned two Pro Bowl trips along the way.
Pruitt had been a college sensation at Oklahoma, and he proceeded to breathe new life into Cleveland's attack. Over nine seasons in the orange and brown, he would produce more than 8,000 yards rushing and receiving, including 42 touchdowns—25 of them on the ground.
Pruitt was also an exciting return specialist. The main knock: 57 fumbles running the ball, and 83 overall.
He ranks fifth all-time on the team's rushing list, with 5,496 yards and a superb 4.7 average per carry.
Sadly, Byner is best remembered nationally for "The Fumble" in the 1987 AFC Championship Game against Denver. It's unfair, because fans in Cleveland know better. He was a solid and versatile pro who was a major part of the team's success during that era. In seven years spread over two tours of duty with the Browns, Byner had 3,364 yards and 27 TDs on the ground, to go along with 276 receptions for 2,630 yards and 10 TDs through the air. Teamed with Kevin Mack in the mid-1980s, he was Cleveland's go-to guy on offense. In fact, the irony of "The Fumble" is that Byner had churned out most of the yardage on the potentially game-tying drive that preceded it. That's why the final play was so gut-wrenching; Byner, of all people. Byner will always hold a special place in the hearts of Browns fans, one fumble notwithstanding.
Running for 3,000 yards over six seasons might not sound like much. However, Green was the principal blocker for two Hall-of-Famers and still averaged nearly five yards per carry during his career. Such was the unheralded, but never unappreciated, career of Ernie Green. A two-time Pro Bowl selection, Green was an integral part of the powerful Browns teams of the 1960s. He matched his 3,204 rushing yards with 2,036 receiving—an important weapon for Frank Ryan and Bill Nelsen—who piloted the Browns during Green's tenure. Green scored 15 touchdowns on the ground and 20 more in the air. That's 35 in all, compared to just 11 fumbles over seven seasons. The guy was money in the bank, yet was overshadowed by the greatness of Jim Brown and Leroy Kelly. In Cleveland, they remember Ernie Green.
Drafted by the Browns in the eighth round of the 1958 NFL draft, the University of Illinois product teamed with Jim Brown to give Cleveland a fearsome backfield.
Mitchell amassed 2,297 yards rushing during his four years with the Browns, averaging a remarkable 5.4 yards per carry while adding 16 touchdowns. He also caught 128 passes for 1,462 yards and another 16 TDs. That's more than 3,700 yards to go with 32 touchdowns over four seasons. Not bad for the No. 2 guy in the backfield. Mitchell was moved to receiver after joining Washington in 1962, and went on to round out a Hall-of-Fame career. He later served more than 30 years in the Redskins' front office. Like Lewis, Mitchell would have ranked higher had he played longer in Cleveland, but his appearance on this list is indicative of the talent he displayed during his four seasons with the Browns.
A first-round pick out of Texas in the 1989 draft, Metcalf went on to electrify the Browns offense, and Cleveland's fans, for the next six seasons. He totaled 2,229 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground, and another 2,732 yards and 15 TDs on 297 receptions. It was his versatility as a runner or receiver out of the backfield that cemented his standing as one of the Browns' best all-time backs. Metcalf carved out a solid reputation as an elusive and efficient kick returner as well.
It wasn't always pretty, and in his final year Lewis limped to the end of his career. Nonetheless, the bruising back averaged more than 900 yards a season during his three years in Cleveland. The only other running back in team history to do that was Jim Brown. Lewis scored 13 touchdowns in the orange and brown, and added two more through the air. Remarkably, in three seasons Lewis fumbled only six times. He average 3.9 yards per attempt and at times carried the Browns during some lean quarterbacking years. His time in Cleveland was brief but effective. Had he played longer in the orange and brown, he would have ranked higher, but it's appropriate to include him here.
Ozzie Newsome, nicknamed "The Wizard of Oz", is the Browns all-time leader in receiving yards and perhaps the team's best receiver in history.
Newsome played 13 seasons with Cleveland from 1978 - 1990, a rare example of a player who spent his whole career with the same team in an era where that was no longer par for the course.
Newsome was an All-Pro in 1979 and 1984 and a three time Pro Bowler. His 7,980 reception yards are the most by any Browns player in history, and was the highest total for any tight end in NFL history at the time of Newsome's retirement.
Newsome also had 662 career receptions and 47 career touchdowns. He caught passes in 150 consecutive games (the longest streak in the NFL at the time), and won the Ed Block Courage Award in 1986 for playing through injuries.
Perhaps most impressive, Newsome almost never fumbled. He had just three fumbles in his entire career, and zero after his third year in the league, leaving him with 10 straight seasons without a single one.
Newsome, not just the greatest pass receiver in Browns history but arguably the greatest tight end of all time, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999.
The great Paul Warfield, drafted by the Browns in 1964, may be the franchise's greatest receiver of all time.
Warfield's numbers are impressive: 5,210 career yards, 271 receptions, and 52 touchdowns with the Browns, and and an additional 3,355 yards, 156 receptions, and 33 TDs during a five-year hiatus from the Browns with Miami in the middle of his 13-year career. He also had a 20.1 YPG career average.
What is perhaps more impressive about Warfield than his stats though is how much impact he had on a given game just by being on the field. His presence forced defenses to make adjustments and allowed him to draw double coverage, clearing a path for the legendary Jim Brown's ground game.
Warfield was one of the fastest receivers in the game at the time, was a huge long-ball threat, and also an excellent blocker.
A six-time All-NFL team player and an eight-time Pro Bowl selectee, Warfield was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983.
A favorite target of the great Otto Graham and a disciple of coaching legend Paul Brown, Dante Lavelli had a career that puts him in the running for the greatest Browns receiver of all time.
Lavelli, an end for the Ohio State team before he turned pro (though he only played three games there before leaving to join the U.S. Army), spent his entire 11 year professional career with the Browns from 1946 to 1956.
Known by the illustrative sobriquet "Gluefingers", Lavelli had 6,488 career yards, 386 receptions, and 62 touchdowns.
His best season was his rookie year in 1946, when he had 40 receptions, 843 yards, and an NFL leading 21.1 yards/reception. He went on to be named to the All-AAFC team twice, the All-NFL team twice, and three Pro Bowls.
Lavelli was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1975.
Mac Speedie joined the Browns in 1946, originally as a defensive end. He was quickly converted to left end, and teamed up with fellow end Dante Lavelli to form one of the league's most intimidating receiving duos of the era.
The aptly-named Speedie was a five-time Pro Bowl selectee during his career with the Browns (1946-1952), and racked up 5,602 career yards, an already impressive total which only becomes more so when one considers that he and Lavelli were on the team at the same time.
His best season was in 1947, when he had 67 receptions, 1,146 yards, and six touchdowns. He led the AAFC in receiving yards three times and led the team in receptions during five different seasons.
Speedie was a Hall of Fame finalist in 1970 and 1972, and a senior candidate in 1983, but was never enshrined.
The Browns drafted Ray Renfro in the fourth round of the 1952 draft. He began his career as a punt returner, but would eventually establish himself as a member of the Browns' pantheon of top-notch receivers.
During his career with the Browns from 1952 to 1963, Renfro amassed 5,508 career yards, good for fourth all time in the team's record book.
Renfro's best year came in 1961, when he had 48 receptions, 834 yards, and six touchdowns.
A three-time Pro Bowler, Renfro retired with 50 career touchdowns and 281 receptions with a yards-per-gain average of 19.6. He also boasts four rushing touchdowns and 682 rushing yards in his career.
1962 First Round draft pick Gary Collins racked up 5,299 receiving yards for the Browns from 1962 to 1971.
Though his best season was in 1966 when he had 56 receptions, 946 yards, and 12 touchdowns, Collins' most memorable feat came in the 1964 Championship Game when he pulled down three passes for touchdowns.
Collins holds the team record for career receiving touchdowns (70) and receiving touchdowns in one season (13, 1963).
Perhaps most interesting, Collins was also the team's punter, and a pretty good one to boot (pun intended), averaging a respectable 41.1 yards-per-attempt.
Collins is a member of the Browns Legends, but has never been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, though many argue that he belongs there.
Webster Slaughter was drafted by and spent the first half of his career with the Browns, from 1986 to 1991.
A critical member of the great Browns lineups from the mid-late 1980s, Slaughter caught 305 passes, scored 27 touchdowns, and posted 4,834 yards in his six seasons with the franchise.
Slaughter saw his best season in 1989, posting 65 receptions, 1,236 yards and six touchdowns and starting in the Pro Bowl. His 1,236 yard season was a franchise record until Braylon Edwards broke it with 1,289 yards in 2007.
Former Browns General Manager Ernie Accorsi called Slaughter, who averaged 19 yards per reception during his tenure with the team, "one of the best receivers the Browns ever had".
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Tight end Milt Morin spent his entire ten season career with the Browns, from 1966 to 1975.
A first round draft pick and two-time pro bowler, he was touted by his teammates for being able to function as both a receiving and blocking tight end before that became the standard for the position.
Morin had 4,208 career yards, and had his best season in 1968 with 43 receptions, 792 yards, and five touchdowns.
Morin passed away July 12, 2010 at age 67.
The Cleveland Browns have a rich history dating back to the franchise's establishment in 1946. Among the many great players to have donned the orange and brown are ten receivers who had a profound impact on the success of the team, and in some instances even the game itself. Following are my picks for the top ten Browns receivers in history. I chose not to limit this list strictly to wide receivers because two of the best past catchers in team history were tight ends. Because it is so difficult to compare players from different eras in football, I chose these ten based only in part on their statistics, and mostly based my decisions on what they contributed to the team. Please share your thoughts on any other players who you think deserve to make the list in the comments below!
Dave Logan, WR
10. Dave Logan spent eight of his nine season in the NFL (1976-1983) with the Browns as a wide receiver; boasting the ninth-highest total for receiving yards in Cleveland history with 4,247.
Logan's best season was 1979, when he posted 59 receptions, 982 yards, and seven touchdowns.
Interestingly, in addition to being drafted into the NFL after college, Logan was also drafted for the NBA (Sacramento Kings) and MLB (Cincinnati Reds), joining former MLB great Dave Winfield as the only players ever to be drafted for three major professional sports.
Reggie Rucker, WR
9. Reggie Rucker began his career with the Dallas Cowboys in 1970 and also spent time with two other franchises before joining the Browns in 1975. He spent most of his career in Cleveland (1975-1981) and eventually retired a Brown.
Rucker's best season was with the Browns in 1978, when he had 43 receptions, 893 yards, and eight touchdowns. Rucker had 4,953 yards, 310 receptions, and 32 touchdowns in his seven seasons with the Browns. Rucker, who played alongside other great Browns' pass catchers Dave Logan and Ozzie Newsome, was a popular figure in Cleveland even after his career ended. He briefly did color commentary for the Indians in the early 1980s and is now a local TV analyst for the Browns.
