1947: Browns Defeat Yankees for Second AAFC Championship

The second Championship game of the All-America Football Conference on December 14, 1947 featured the same two teams as the first, the Cleveland Browns and New York Yankees. The Browns had beaten New York in four of five meetings thus far in the AAFC’s two-year existence, which included the ’46 title game and the first regular season matchup in ’47 in Cleveland. They rallied to overcome a 28-0 deficit and salvage a tie a few weeks earlier in New York.

The powerful Browns, coached by the innovative Paul Brown, had compiled a 12-1-1 record in topping the Western Division once again. QB Otto Graham (pictured above) was named MVP by the league and was the AAFC’s top passer while end Mac Speedie, with 67 catches and 1146 yards, was the preeminent receiver and had an able counterpart in end Dante Lavelli. FB Marion Motley rushed for 889 yards with an impressive 6.1-yard average. The league’s highest-scoring team, Cleveland was equally tough on defense.

New York, under the direction of Head Coach Ray Flaherty, operated a single-wing offense that featured tailback Spec Sanders, the AAFC’s leading rusher (1432 yards) and scorer (19 touchdowns, 114 points). Diminutive and fast HB Buddy Young added another 712 yards on the ground and the line was good on both sides of the ball. The Yankees put together an 11-2-1 record in topping the Eastern Division.  

There were 61,879 fans in attendance at Yankee Stadium on a cold day with the temperature near freezing. The turf was frozen, which seemed to affect the home team more than the visitors from Cleveland, and the teams agreed to wear cleats rather than sneakers.

The Yankees had the first possession and quickly found that Cleveland had made defensive adjustments to prevent a repeat of New York’s 28-point first half performance in the previous meeting. Late in the first quarter, following an exchange of punts, the Browns put together a 67-yard drive that was highlighted by a 51-yard carry by Marion Motley and culminated in a touchdown on a quarterback sneak by Otto Graham, who had also completed five of his first six passes. Lou Groza kicked the extra point.

The Yankees came right back as the game headed into the second quarter. Buddy Young (pictured at left) and Spec Sanders spearheaded an advance that reached the Cleveland five yard line before stalling, primarily as a result of the poor footing, and Harvey Johnson kicked a 12-yard field goal. Cleveland had two more chances to score, but Groza missed two field goals and the score remained 7-3 at halftime.

In the third quarter, DHB Tom Colella intercepted a Sanders pass and returned it to the New York 41. Motley ran for 16 yards, tosses by Graham to HB Edgar “Special Delivery” Jones and HB Lewis Mayne picked up another 19 yards and, three plays later, Jones ran four yards for a TD. Lou Saban, who had booted 10 extra points during the regular season, successfully converted.

As the game headed into the fourth quarter, the Yankees drove to the Cleveland 18, but Young fumbled a lateral and Saban recovered at the 31. Another New York series highlighted by a 22-yard carry by Sanders reached the 23 but was blunted by a penalty for unnecessary roughness that moved the Yankees out of range for a score. Cleveland held on to win by a final score of 14-3.

The Browns had the edge in total yards (284 to 212) and first downs (15 to 13). The Yankees turned the ball over three times, to one suffered by Cleveland. The Browns gained 172 yards on the ground, with 109 generated by FB Marion Motley (pictured below) on 13 carries. Otto Graham completed 14 of 21 passes for 112 yards, giving up no interceptions, and also ran the ball four times for 21 yards and a touchdown. Mac Speedie had four pass receptions for 25 yards and Dante Lavelli gained 37 yards on his three catches.

Suffering from a bad ankle, Spec Sanders was held to just 40 yards on 12 carries and failed to score a touchdown for the first time all season. He also completed 7 of 17 passes for 89 yards and was intercepted once. Buddy Young rushed for 69 yards on 16 attempts and caught two passes for a team-leading 25 yards, but fumbled twice.

“Neither team could play its best on that field,” said Paul Brown. “However, we tried to take advantage of the conditions by creating one-against-one situations on our pass patterns, and this worked pretty well on Otto Graham’s flat tosses.”

“I can’t overemphasize how much that slick footing cost us,” summed up Coach Flaherty for the Yankees.

The Browns went on to an even better season in 1948, compiling a perfect 14-0 record and winning a third AAFC Championship. They met Buffalo, not the Yankees, for the title as New York dropped to 6-8 and a third place finish in the Eastern Division.

1946: Dons Upset Browns with Late FG

The Cleveland Browns had quickly asserted themselves in the first year of the All-America Football Conference, winning their first seven games of the 1946 season and most by lopsided scores. Head Coach Paul Brown’s team was strong on both sides of the ball. But they had finally been tripped up by the San Francisco 49ers and, on November 3 they faced another tough Western Division opponent – although one they had beaten two weeks earlier.

The Los Angeles Dons had solid financing and a well-known name in entertainer Don Ameche as the club president. Head Coach Dudley DeGroot had led the NFL Redskins to the league title game the previous year. There was much veteran talent and the Dons were adept at scoring points, but the defense had shown a tendency to give up too many points in turn. After starting off at 3-0-1, they had lost three straight to come into the game against the Browns at 3-3-1.

There was a crowd of 24,800 at the Memorial Coliseum, which was the largest of the season thus far for Los Angeles. On the first play from scrimmage, HB Chuck Fenenbock (pictured above) ran for a 75-yard touchdown to give the Dons the early lead. Lou Groza got the Browns on the board later in the first quarter with a 25-yard field goal.

In the second quarter, Cleveland went ahead after DB Tom Colella recovered a fumble at the LA 16. The Browns scored four plays later with HB Bill Lund sweeping around right end from five yards out and Groza added the extra point to make the score 10-7.

The Dons drove to another field goal attempt, but the try by Bob Nelson from 26 yards was wide. The Browns scored again when QB Otto Graham passed to end Mac Speedie for a 79-yard touchdown. However, Groza missed the extra point, snapping a string of 22 consecutive successful conversions, and while Cleveland carried a 16-7 lead into halftime, it would have repercussions in the end.

Los Angeles came out strong in the third quarter and drove to the Cleveland 22 before turning the ball over on downs. Shortly thereafter, tackle Bob Reinhard recovered a Cleveland fumble and returned it 43 yards to the Browns’ 14, but again the Dons ran out of downs at the seven.

LA’s defense played inspired football in the second half and the ground game on offense wore Cleveland down. Early in the fourth quarter, the Browns gambled by faking a punt on fourth-and-nine at their own 21. Colella gained just two yards, giving the ball back to LA in excellent field position. Five plays later, end Dale Gentry ran for an eight-yard touchdown. Joe Aguirre kicked the extra point and Cleveland’s lead was narrowed to 16-14.

Another Cleveland fumble set up the winning score for LA. Taking over at the Cleveland 43, the Dons battled for 15 plays to reach the three yard line, from where Aguirre kicked the game-winning 11-yard field goal on fourth down with 20 seconds left to play.

The Browns made a last-gasp effort to pull out the win with Graham completing two passes, but he was sacked on the last play and time ran out. The Dons came away with a stunning 17-16 upset win.

The Dons outgained the Browns by 291 yards to 284 and significantly outperformed them on the ground with 220 yards to just 43. Cleveland had the edge in first downs (13 to 12) and both teams turned the ball over three times. Mac Speedie (pictured at left) had the biggest individual performance, catching 4 passes for 134 yards and the one long TD.

It was the second straight loss for the Browns but they righted the ship in a rematch with the 49ers the next week that they won 14-7, and they didn’t lose again. Cleveland topped the Western Division with a 12-2 record and defeated the New York Yankees for the first AAFC title.

The Dons, meanwhile, ended a three-game losing streak with the upset of the Browns. They won three of their next four contests and finished third in the division at 7-5-2.

1965: Alworth Stars as Chargers Overcome Feisty Broncos

The San Diego Chargers had topped the American Football League’s Western Division in 1963 and ’64, winning the league title in the first year, and were still considered the team to beat in the division as they opened the 1965 season on September 11 at home against the Denver Broncos.

While Head Coach Sid Gillman’s Chargers were a good defensive team, they were best known for their high-powered offense. Fourth-year QB John Hadl had split time with veteran Tobin Rote in ’64 and, with Rote gone, was now the full-time starter – despite any misgivings on Coach Gillman’s part. He had formidable weapons to throw to in All-AFL flanker Lance Alworth (pictured above) plus split end Don Norton and TE Dave Kocurek. There were concerns about the running game, however, as star HB Paul Lowe was coming off an injury-plagued year in 1964 and FB Keith Lincoln, a formidable all-purpose talent, would be sitting out the opening game with an injury.

The Broncos had struggled both on the field and at the gate since the franchise’s inception and were coming off a 2-11-1 record the previous year. Former Cleveland Browns star receiver Mac Speedie was elevated from assistant to head coach during the ’64 season and there had been other significant changes. Brothers Allan and Gerald Phipps went from minority stockholders to majority owners with the promise of keeping the team in Denver, and the fans had responded by buying a record 22,000 season tickets. Two big names were also added to the roster in FB Cookie Gilchrist, who had worn out his welcome in Buffalo, and HB Abner Haynes, obtained from the Chiefs. There were still plenty of holes, especially at quarterback where third-year veteran Mickey Slaughter would be drawing the opening-game start.

There was a crowd of 27,022 in attendance for the Saturday night game at Balboa Stadium. They saw the Broncos take the early lead on a two-yard run by Haynes. While Herb Travenio kicked a 32-yard field goal to get the home team on the board, Denver was ahead by 14-3 at the end of the first quarter following a 33-yard touchdown pass from Slaughter to flanker Bob Scarpitto.

The momentum shifted significantly in the second quarter as the Chargers exploded with 24 points in 12 minutes. FB Gene Foster, subbing for Keith Lincoln, started off the barrage with a two-yard touchdown run. Travenio, who was successful on all of his extra point attempts, added a 25-yard field goal and then Paul Lowe showed he was back in good form with a 41-yard scoring run. Foster added a second TD carry of 17 yards and, while Gary Kroner booted a 37-yard field goal for the visitors, the Chargers held a 27-17 lead at the half.

There was no scoring in the third quarter, but early in the final period the Broncos cut San Diego’s lead to three points after Slaughter threw a screen pass to Gilchrist that the big fullback turned into a 29-yard touchdown.

The Chargers responded by scoring what would prove to be the decisive points of the contest. Lance Alworth, who had been making big catches all night, raced into the end zone to outmaneuver rookie CB Nemiah Wilson for a 38-yard touchdown pass from Hadl. With the successful conversion, it was back to being a 10-point game.

Still, the Broncos had time and with 10 minutes left, they again closed to three points on a five-play, 66-yard drive highlighted by passes to star split end Lionel Taylor and Scarpitto and ending with Slaughter throwing again to Scarpitto for a 13-yard touchdown.

Late in the game, the Broncos threatened but Gilchrist fumbled at the San Diego 40 when hit by DT Ernie Ladd and DE Earl Faison recovered for the Chargers. Hadl threw one last long pass to Alworth, covering 46 yards, and San Diego was then able to run out the clock and win by a score of 34-31.

With a preponderance of big plays on offense, the Chargers outgained the Broncos (459 yards to 330), but Denver led in first downs (21 to 19). San Diego turned the ball over three times, to two suffered by the Broncos, but also came up with four quarterback sacks while Hadl was dumped just once. Kicking also was a factor as Herb Travenio was successful on two of his three field goal attempts but Gary Kroner missed on two of his three tries.

Lance Alworth had a huge performance, catching 7 passes for 211 yards and a touchdown. John Hadl completed 11 of 25 throws for 246 yards with a TD and an interception. Paul Lowe rushed for 124 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries and also completed an option pass to Alworth that covered 42 yards. Gene Foster played commendably in place of Keith Lincoln, running for 49 yards on 11 carries that included two scores and also tossing an option pass for 21 yards.

For the Broncos, Mickey Slaughter was successful on 16 of 27 throws for 214 yards and three touchdowns with none picked off; he also gained 24 yards rushing on four carries. Bob Scarpitto (pictured at right) was his top receiver with 5 catches for 108 yards and two TDs. Cookie Gilchrist ran the ball 17 times for 49 yards and scored on his one 29-yard reception while Abner Haynes contributed 43 yards and a touchdown on 8 carries.

The win signaled another division-winning year for San Diego. The Chargers went 5-0-2 before losing and ended up with a 9-2-3 record. However, they were stunned in the AFL Championship game at Balboa Stadium, losing for the second straight year to the Buffalo Bills by the improbable score of 23-0.

Lance Alworth received All-AFL honors for the third consecutive year as he led the league in receiving yards (1602) and touchdowns (14, tied with Don Maynard of the Jets) while catching 69 passes. Paul Lowe set a new AFL rushing record with 1121 yards on 222 carries (5.0 avg.). John Hadl proved to be a worthy starting quarterback, leading the league in passing yards (2798) and yards per attempt (8.0).

The Broncos struggled once again to finish at 4-10. Cookie Gilchrist was productive, ranking second to Lowe in rushing with 954 yards. Abner Haynes failed to hold onto the starting job at halfback while Mickey Slaughter shared the quarterbacking with John McCormick and Jacky Lee. Bob Scarpitto’s two receiving touchdowns against the Chargers were the first of five overall as he caught 32 passes for 585 yards (18.5 avg.) and also proved to be an able punter.