The NFL Championship game on December 26, 1955 featured
the defending-champion Cleveland Browns against the Los Angeles Rams. The
Browns were a perennial powerhouse under Head Coach Paul Brown, having won all
four titles in the All-America Football Conference and then appearing in five
straight NFL Championship contests after joining the NFL in 1950, winning two.
The quarterback throughout the remarkable run was Otto Graham (pictured at right), who had
announced his retirement following the previous year’s title win but agreed to
come back when the club was foundering in the preseason. Cleveland went 9-2-1
to again top the Eastern Conference.
The Rams, under first-year Head Coach Sid Gillman,
finished a half-game in front of the Bears in the Western Conference at 8-3-1.
They were largely a veteran club best known for offensive prowess. QB Norm Van
Brocklin was a formidable passer and still had savvy veteran ends Tom Fears and
Crazylegs Hirsch as targets. Rookie HB Ron Waller joined with veteran FB Tank
Younger to pace the ground attack and the defense was anchored by All-Pros in
DE Andy Robustelli and HB Will Sherman.
There were 87,695 fans under a gray sky at the Los
Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Browns missed out on a first quarter touchdown
when DHB Ed Hughes wrestled a pass away from HB Ray Renfro for an interception.
Both clubs parried until Cleveland, capitalizing on an interception by safety
Ken Konz, finally got on the board with two minutes remaining in the opening
period on a 26-yard field goal by Lou Groza.
The Browns got another big defensive play in the second
quarter when DHB Don Paul (pictured at left) returned an interception 65 yards for a touchdown,
with only the slow-footed Van Brocklin between him and the goal line. However,
on LA’s next possession HB Skeet Quinlan scored on a spectacular long pass
after beating DHB Warren Lahr. The play brought the home crowd alive and, at
least briefly, kept the contest competitive with the Browns leading by 10-7.
But just before the half the Browns scored again when Graham connected with end
Dante Lavelli for a 50-yard TD. It was 17-7 at the midway point and Cleveland
would not look back.
In the third quarter, Konz returned a punt 24 yards to
set up a five-play, 46-yard drive that ended with Graham rolling out around end
and running 15 yards for a touchdown. Shortly thereafter, LB Sam Palumbo
intercepted a Van Brocklin pass to give the Browns the ball in LA territory and
they drove 36 yards to a one-yard scoring carry by Graham. Cleveland had a
commanding 31-7 lead.
Early in the fourth quarter, Renfro caught a pass from
Graham for a 35-yard touchdown to cap the scoring for the Browns. Thoroughly
overwhelmed, the Rams finally scored again with three minutes remaining in the
fourth quarter on a four-yard run by Ron Waller, long after the contest had
been decided. With a little time remaining, George Ratterman came in at
quarterback for Cleveland and Graham received a standing ovation from what was
left of the crowd as he trotted off the field. The Browns were once again NFL
Champions by a score of 38-14.
While both teams had 17 first downs apiece, the Browns
had the edge in total yards (371 to 259). More significantly, LA turned the
ball over seven times (all by interceptions), to three by Cleveland. And while
the Rams were unable to capitalize on their takeaways, the Browns generated 24
points from theirs, including the one long interception return for a score.
Otto Graham completed 14 of 25 passes for 209 yards with
two touchdowns and three interceptions, and also ran the ball 9 times for 21
yards and two TDs. FB Ed Modzelewski (pictured at right) led the Browns with 61 yards on 13 carries
as well as 5 pass receptions for 34 yards. Dante Lavelli gained 95 yards on his
three catches that included a touchdown.
For the Rams, Norm Van Brocklin was successful on 11 of
25 throws for 166 yards and a TD but also was intercepted six times (Bill Wade
relieved him and tossed another interception). Skeet Quinlan caught 5 passes
for 116 yards and the one long touchdown. FB Dan Towler led the club in rushing
with 64 yards on 14 carries and Ron Waller contributed 48 yards and a TD on 11
attempts.
It was a near-perfect sendoff for Otto Graham, who made
clear that he was retiring for good this time. He left having piloted the
Browns to ten straight title games – four in the AAFC and six in the NFL – with
seven wins in that string. While his career passing totals pale in comparison
to those accumulated in modern offenses, his pro statistics include 23,584
passing yards and 174 touchdowns against 135 interceptions. Of that, 13,499 yards,
88 TDs, and 81 interceptions came in the NFL. He led the NFL in completion
percentage in each of his last three seasons and twice led in passing yards.
Graham’s career average yards-per-attempt of 8.6 is still the best in NFL
history. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965.
Graham’s value to the Browns was further underlined in
1956 when, without him in the lineup, they suffered the first losing season in
franchise history (5-7). They bounced back to top the Eastern Conference in ’57.
As for the Rams, they dropped all the way to the bottom
of the Western Conference with a 4-8 record in 1956 and did not return to the
postseason until 1967. Norm Van Brocklin’s poor performance in the ’55 title
game became one of the points of contention between the talented but irascible
quarterback and Coach Gillman, ultimately leading to his departure from the
team following the ’57 season.
