Browns Town 1964
By Terry Pluto

The Introduction says it all:

"They were Cleveland's last champions.

They were a team of men in the truest sense of the words, men who didn't expect to be coddled, men who didn't believe the world should genuflect at the mere mention of their names.

They had the greatest running back in the history of football, and a coach who wore a hearing aid. Their quarterback had a Ph.D. in math. They had a defensive end who was a preacher, and a halfback who became a millionaire.

These were the 1964 Cleveland Browns."

Terry Pluto is an outstanding sports writer and his comprehensive and entertaining look at the magical 1964 season is up to his usual high quality.

Football fans, and especially Cleveland Browns fans, will have a great time reliving that season starting with Training Camp at Hiram College all the way through the championship.

The game and the players were different then and Pluto gives us a taste of what it was like before the huge contracts, free agency and dances after making a sack.

The names from that team will make any fan eager to read their stories -

• Jim Brown,
• Gene Hickerson,
• Ross Fichtner,
• Paul Warfield,
• Bill Glass,
• Paul Wiggin,
• Frank Ryan,
• Gary Collins,
• Bernie Parrish,
• Jim Kanicki,
• Galen Fiss,
• Dick Schafrath,
• Lou Groza,
• Dick Modzelewski
• and many more.

Pluto also gives some pre-64 background on the Browns - Paul Brown, Blanton Collier and of course, the villainous Art Modell.

The 1964 season is a great memory to re-live. Who would have thought after the final gun sounded that it would be Cleveland's last championship?