NFL
Legendary Browns QB, Otto Graham was always a winner

By Tom Reed
Akron Beacon Journal

	Otto Graham
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AKRON, Ohio — The most prolific winner in Cleveland sports history is dead.

Hall of Fame quarterback Otto Graham, who led the Browns to a championship game in all 10 seasons he played, died last night of complications from an aneurysm at a Sarasota, Fla., hospital, according to a team release.

Mr. Graham was 82.

In a city that hasn't celebrated a major sports title in 39 years, Mr. Graham made the Browns a consistent winner from 1946 to 1955 and the envy of the football world.

"Automatic Otto," the first player signed by Browns patriarch Paul Brown, guided the franchise to seven championships — four in the All-America Football Conference and three in the NFL.

"Otto Graham was the superstar of the 1950s when the NFL was gaining stability and growing in popularity," NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue said in a statement. "He helped glamorize the sport by winning championships and elevating the role of quarterback as the NFL entered the television era."

Mr. Graham's talents were as numerous as his titles. He was an accomplished musician, a World War II pilot, an outstanding basketball player.

Mr. Graham was an all-American in football and basketball at Northwestern in 1944. Two years later, Mr. Graham was part of a pro football championship with the Browns and a pro basketball championship with the Rochester Royals of the National Basketball League, a forerunner of the NBA.

Mr. Graham was rushed to Sarasota Memorial Hospital yesterday and diagnosed with an aortic dissection, a break in the main artery that carries blood from the heart, his son, Duey Graham, told The Associated Press.

It is the same heart condition that killed actor John Ritter on Sept. 11.

"It is just terrible news. Otto was a just a wonderful man," said Bill Willis, a Graham teammate and Hall of Fame guard. "He is one of the greatest football players of all time. When you think of the Cleveland Browns of that era, you think of Otto Graham."

The Browns of the late 1940s and '50s were a collection of greatness, a club that included future Hall of Famers like Willis, Dante Lavelli, Lou Groza, Frank Gatski and Len Ford.

But it was the supremely confident and fiercely competitive Mr. Graham who served as their leader. He threw four touchdown passes and rallied the Browns to a last-minute victory over the Los Angles Rams in the 1950 NFL Championship Game.

The Waukegan, Ill., native was one of four quarterbacks named to the NFL's 75th anniversary team in 1994, along with Sammy Baugh, Johnny Unitas and Joe Montana.

Mr. Graham, who wore uniform numbers 60 and 14, threw for 23,584 yards and 174 touchdowns in 10 seasons. His No. 14 has been retired by the Browns.

"Otto was one the greatest athletes of all time, and you can argue he was the greatest quarterback in the history of the NFL," Baltimore Ravens owner Art Modell said.

Mr. Graham's highest salary was $25,000 in 1955 when he earned league MVP honors after Brown talked him out of retiring. He was enshrined in the Hall of Fame on the first ballot in 1965.

Following his playing career, Mr. Graham coached at the Coast Guard Academy for seven seasons (1959-1965) on the recommendation of longtime friend George Steinbrenner.

He coached the Washington Redskins for three seasons, but struggled to a 17-22-3 record before being replaced by Vince Lombardi.

He returned to the Coast Guard Academy and remained there until retiring in 1985.

Mr. Graham is survived by his wife Beverly, whom he married in 1945, his sons, Duey and Dave, and his daughter, Sandy, along with 16 grandchildren.

Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company