1959: Joe Foss Named Commissioner of AFL

The last week of November 1959 was a tumultuous one for the fledgling American Football League as it prepared to take the field for the 1960 season. The first draft of college talent was held on the 23rd, in order to get a head start against the established NFL. However, as the AFL owners met in Minneapolis, newspapers reported that the ownership group of the franchise slated to play in that city had been successfully wooed by the older league to become an expansion franchise for 1961. While the defection of the Minnesota franchise to the NFL didn’t become official until January of 1960 (it was replaced by Oakland), it was hardly the type of publicity that the new league was looking for.

On November 30, it was announced that Joe Foss would be the AFL’s commissioner. There had been other names floated in the preceding months, most significantly Frank Leahy, the former Notre Dame coach, and Fritz Crisler, former coach and current athletic director at Michigan. Bert Bell, the NFL commissioner, had even been sounded out in the hopes that he would extend his reach over both leagues and thus avoid warfare between the two. Bell politely turned the AFL’s overture down, and it became a moot point when he died in October.

Foss, ironically enough, had first been sounded out by one of the Minneapolis group whom he encountered while staying at the same hotel during a league organizational meeting. Unlike the other candidates for the job, he had no background in football. However, he was a well-known figure with an impressive personal history: a World War II fighter pilot who shot down 26 enemy aircraft in four months and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, and later a two-term Governor of South Dakota. A quintessential self-made man, he had a reputation for honesty, candor, and leadership that made up for his lack of previous involvement in the game.

Foss gave the AFL credibility, and proved to be an able administrator. He successfully concluded an all-important $36,000,000 television deal with NBC in 1964 and, when New York Titans owner Harry Wismer (a frequent Foss antagonist) was nearing bankruptcy, found a buyer for the team (a group headed by Sonny Werblin, who later also became a Foss antagonist).

While Foss was given a five-year contract extension following the 1961 season, he took his share of criticism and occasionally battled with each of the AFL’s owners. He invalidated a secret draft conducted in November of 1961, and on occasion fined owners and reviewed transactions (a deal with San Diego sending DE Earl Faison and DT Ernie Ladd to Houston was invalidated due to unspecified tampering by Oilers owner Bud Adams, who needless to say was infuriated). His frequent travels on behalf of the league often made him difficult to communicate with. And he took heat when an apparent deal to put an expansion team in Atlanta for the 1966 season was undercut by the NFL.

Foss resigned shortly before the merger agreement with the NFL was resolved in 1966 – he had advocated merging, but also didn’t want to see the league lose its identity.

In summing up, as well as explaining the timing of his resignation, Foss told Sports Illustrated, “Some owners became irritated because I would never be frightened or directed. I wouldn't call the owners and report to them all the time just to gain Brownie points…I guess I could have done a lot better job as commissioner as far as the owners and public are now concerned if I had stayed in my office and done public relations work. But that is not in my nature…It's time for me to take a rougher and bigger job. I was getting tired of looking at placid waters. Now that the league is prospering, I'm ready to move on. My mission is accomplished."

Al Davis, the head coach and general manager of the Oakland Raiders, succeeded Foss as commissioner. His reign was short – the merger was announced a few months later – and he returned to the Raiders as Managing General Partner.

Foss went on to host two syndicated television shows for outdoorsmen and was later president of the National Rifle Association. He didn’t return to the world of pro football, but his steady leadership in the AFL’s early days played a part in that league’s eventual success.

1987: Cunningham & Eagles Withstand Patriots Comeback to Win in Overtime

Quarterback Tom Ramsey didn’t have much of an NFL career, lasting just four seasons as a backup for the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts after coming over from the USFL. Injuries to Steve Grogan and Tony Eason put Ramsey in the starting lineup for three games in 1987, and in one, at Sullivan Stadium against the visiting Philadelphia Eagles on November 29, 1987, he passed for just over 400 yards and rallied the team to force overtime.

The Patriots stood at 5-5 while the Eagles were 4-6 coming into the contest. Philadelphia took a 17-7 lead in the first half, thanks to a Paul McFadden field goal, a 61-yard pass play from QB Randall Cunningham to WR Mike Quick, and a one-yard Cunningham bootleg.

While ex-Eagle Tony Franklin kicked a 21-yard field goal to narrow the score in the second quarter, the Eagles extended their lead to 24-10 in the third quarter with a one-yard run by FB Anthony Toney. Early in the fourth quarter it seemed as though Philadelphia would cruise to an easy win when Cunningham hit Quick for another score, this one covering 29 yards.

But Ramsey rallied the Patriots in the fourth quarter, completing 15 of 24 passes for 157 yards in the final period. He threw touchdown passes of 13 yards to WR Stanley Morgan and three yards to TE Willie Scott to narrow the margin to 31-24. With 1:05 remaining, Ramsey tied the game with a one-yard rush. New England got the ball back and nearly won the game in regulation, but a fumbled hold on an attempted field goal caused Franklin to miss from just 31 yards out to send the game into overtime.

Both teams missed field goals in the OT period, first the Patriots with Franklin’s 46-yard attempt falling short and then McFadden failed after the Eagles drove to the New England 22 yard line. The game finally turned on a forced fumble by Eagles FS Terry Hoage (who had an outstanding overall performance) on Patriots FB Mosi Tatupu that was recovered by LB Garry Cobb at the New England 39. Four plays later, McFadden redeemed himself by kicking the game-winning 38-yard field goal with 2:44 left to play.

Overall in defeat, Ramsey completed 34 of 53 passes for 402 yards and three touchdowns, against two interceptions. Considering that he threw for just 898 yards and 6 TDs for the season (and for that matter, 1285 yards and 7 scores in his NFL career), it was an amazing performance. He became just the fourth quarterback in team history to reach the 400-yard passing mark in a game.

RB Tony Collins caught 11 passes for 100 yards with a TD to lead the Patriots pass receivers, while the unfortunate Tatupu was the top ground gainer with 58 yards on 14 carries.

For the Eagles, Cunningham passed 31 times, completing 18, for 314 yards with the two scoring throws and one picked off. WR Quick, the recipient of the two TD passes, had 5 pass receptions for 121 yards. TE John Spagnola also caught 5 passes, for 58 yards. FB Toney, usually better known for his blocking than ball carrying, led all rushers with a career-high 123 yards on 24 carries with the one TD.

It was a breakout year for Randall Cunningham, who passed for 2786 yards and 23 touchdowns, and also ran for 505 yards. Mike Quick went to the Pro Bowl for the fifth consecutive season, catching 46 passes for 790 yards with 11 TDs.

The Eagles, a team on the rise under second-year Head Coach Buddy Ryan, ended the strike-shortened season with a 7-8 record (they were 7-5 in non-replacement player games), tied for third in the NFC East. New England, which used five quarterbacks during the season, concluded at 8-7 and tied for second in the AFC East.

1929: Ernie Nevers Scores 40 Points vs. Bears

Perhaps no player has ever so dominated a game as fullback Ernie Nevers did on November 28, 1929 when he scored all 40 points for the Chicago Cardinals in a Thanksgiving Day matchup at Comiskey Park against the usually more successful crosstown rivals, the Chicago Bears.

Nevers was an outstanding all-around athlete (he also played baseball and basketball professionally, although not nearly as successfully) who played his college football under legendary coach Pop Warner at Stanford and entered the NFL in 1926. After two years with the Duluth Eskimos, he was forced to sit out the 1928 season with an injury and then joined the Cardinals. In this era of smaller rosters and less specialization, the 210-pound, 26-year-old star was not only the starting fullback, but the placekicker, punter, and a linebacker as well.

The weather for the game against the Bears was bitterly cold, causing the field to be frozen and footing less than ideal. Six minutes into the first quarter, Nevers scored his first touchdown on a 20-yard run, but was wide on the PAT attempt. He plunged five yards for another before the opening quarter was done, and this time was successful on the extra point. Nevers scored another seven points with a six-yard TD and successful PAT in the second quarter to give the Cardinals a 20-0 lead.

The second half was more of the same: three Nevers touchdown runs followed by two successful Nevers extra points; another 20-point half. When it was over, the Cardinals had beaten the Bears soundly, 40-6. Nevers pulled himself out of the game with about five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and received a tremendous ovation from the crowd.

The six touchdowns remain the single-game record, since tied by Dub Jones of the Browns in 1951 and Gale Sayers of the Bears in 1965. However, Nevers remains the only player to score all six by rushing, and his 40 points are still the most ever accumulated by a player in a game; it is the oldest NFL record still unbroken.

Nevers had also scored all of the Cardinals’ points in the previous week’s game against the Dayton Triangles, a 19-0 win, so while it doesn’t show up in the record books, he actually scored 59 consecutive points for his team.

As it was, the Cardinals finished with a 6-6-1 record for fourth place in the twelve-team NFL. Ernie Nevers played a total of five years, taking a great physical toll – he was not an elusive outside dasher like his contemporary, Red Grange, but a straight-ahead inside runner who was also a rugged linebacker on defense. However, he was a first team All-NFL selection in all five seasons and, in 1963, became a charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

1966: Redskins Defeat Giants 72-41 in Highest Scoring NFL Game

The New York Giants team that played the Washington Redskins at DC Stadium on November 27, 1966 was far below the caliber of the Giants teams that had won three consecutive Eastern Conference titles from 1961-63. For that matter, it was far less impressive than the squad that finished 7-7 in 1965.

The Giants, under Head Coach Allie Sherman, stood at 1-8-1 coming into the game, with the only win having come over the Redskins at Yankee Stadium five weeks earlier. Washington was 5-6 after having lost the last three contests under first year Head Coach Otto Graham, the Hall of Fame quarterback.

What transpired was a thoroughly wild game, filled with turnovers and big plays. The final score was 72-41, the highest total in NFL history at 113 points. Redskins HB A.D. Whitfield had three touchdowns on the day, leading all players, including a 63-yard run in the first quarter plus a one-yard run and five-yard pass reception from QB Sonny Jurgensen that started the scoring onslaught. Rookie safety Brig Owens scored two TDs for Washington, on a 62-yard fumble recovery in the second quarter and 60-yard interception return in the fourth quarter. Split end Charley Taylor also added two TDs to the Redskins total, on passes covering 32 and 74 yards from Jurgensen. The special teams contributed a touchdown as DB Rickie Harris ran a punt back 52 yards in the fourth quarter.

31-year-old flanker Bobby Mitchell, who hadn’t played running back since leaving Cleveland for Washington after the 1961 season, got in on the action when Coach Graham told him to play halfback (against his wishes). The second time he carried the ball, he ran 45 yards for a score.

The team statistics were surprisingly even. In fact, the Giants outgained the Redskins (389 total yards to 341) and had more first downs (25-16). Washington led 34-14 at the half, and yet had -5 net passing yards (at that point Jurgensen had completed just four of nine passes for a mere five yards). But turnovers continually put the Giants in a hole. They turned the ball over six times, five of them by interceptions, with the fumble recovery and one of the interceptions by Owens (he had three) directly leading to scores and three of the pickoffs giving the offense good field position for short scoring drives.

All in all, Jurgensen recovered from the poor first half to put up respectable numbers, if rather ordinary (for him), completing 10 of 16 passes for 145 yards with three TDs and no interceptions (backup Dick Shiner had his lone pass picked off). Whitfield, not surprisingly, was the top rusher with 74 yards on just six carries. Mitchell was second with 54 yards on his two rushes. The eccentric HB Joe Don Looney had the most carries, 10, and gained 46 yards, including a nine-yard score. Charley Taylor accounted for most of the pass receiving offense, with six catches for 124 yards and the two TDs.

As for the Giants, Gary Wood and Tom Kennedy split the quarterback duties. Kennedy completed 13 of 21 passes for 165 yards with a TD and three interceptions, while Wood was successful on 7 of 12 passes for 146 yards with two touchdowns and two picked off. Wood’s two TD passes provided the big plays for New York; they covered 41 yards to HB Joe Morrison and 50 yards to the speedy split end, Homer Jones. Three Giants had over 80 yards receiving – Morrison, with 98 on four catches; Jones, who had 85 yards on a team-leading 6 receptions; and TE Aaron Thomas, who accumulated 82 yards on 4 catches including a touchdown.

Washington placekicker Charlie Gogolak (pictured) tied a record with nine extra points (he missed one), while his brother Pete, kicking for the Giants, added another five. He also topped off the scoring with a controversial 29-yard field goal with the Redskins leading 69-41 with seven seconds left in the game.

The Giants surrendered the ball on their own 23 yard line after QB Kennedy threw the ball away on a fourth down pass, having lost track of the downs (not that it mattered at that point). LB Sam Huff, the Redskins defensive captain, shouted for the field goal team to go in (guard Vince Promuto also claimed to have done likewise). Huff still harbored bad feelings toward the Giants for the trade that sent him to Washington after the 1963 season, while Promuto, a native New Yorker who had been with the Redskins since 1960, had endured too many games early in his career when the Giants, in their contending years, had run up big scores. It was payback time, and there were Washington players who wanted to exact every bit of revenge that they could. Regardless of who called for the coup-de-grace field goal, it allowed the Redskins to pass the 70 points scored by the Rams in a 1950 game and lay claim to the highest total in a regular season contest.

It was the ultimate humiliation for the Giants, who were on the way to the bottom of the Eastern Conference in ’66, finishing with a franchise-worst 1-12-1 record. Washington concluded the season at 7-7, putting them in fifth place in the East.

While this was not one of his better passing days, Sonny Jurgensen ended up leading the NFL in passing attempts (436) and completions (254) as well as yards (3209). Charley Taylor led the league in pass receptions for the first of two consecutive years with 72. Charlie Gogolak went over the 100-yard scoring mark, ranking third in the NFL with 105 points and 22 field goals. Homer Jones of the Giants had an outstanding season for a terrible team, catching 48 passes for 1044 yards (an average gain of 21.8) with 8 TDs.

1925: Red Grange Debuts With Bears

The degree to which halfback Harold “Red” Grange enhanced the stature of the young NFL can be debated, but there is no question that he had been a huge college talent at the University of Illinois, with his speed and outstanding open field running ability, and was a major drawing card when he went professional with the Chicago Bears. Pro football was still largely a Midwestern small-town phenomenon in the mid-20s and it was by no means assured that top college players would turn professional, nor was it encouraged – Grange’s coach at Illinois, Bob Zuppke, warned him away from it.

But through the efforts of his agent, C.C. “Cash & Carry” Pyle, and the Chicago Bears, who weren’t yet restrained by the need to wait for a draft of college talent, Grange went from college to pro player quite literally in the same weekend. On a Saturday, he played his final college game against Ohio State in Columbus, gaining 235 total yards and intercepting a pass on the final play to preserve a 14-9 Illinois win. The next day he was sitting on the Chicago Bears’ bench, having signed a contract that guaranteed him $3000 a game (a staggering amount for the time – per game salaries typically ranged from around $50 to $400) against a cut of the gate receipts.

Grange didn’t play in that first game, but he did play five days later at Wrigley Field on Thanksgiving Day, November 26, 1925 against the crosstown rival Chicago Cardinals. 36,000 fans were on hand for his debut, the largest crowd up to that time to witness a pro football game.

Grange didn’t do much in his first appearance; Paddy Driscoll, the halfback who also handled the punting for the Cardinals, did an admirable job of kicking away from the player known as the Galloping Ghost. He gained 36 yards rushing in all and failed to complete any of his six passes, although he did make an interception deep in his own territory, and the Bears and Cardinals deadlocked in a scoreless tie. As Driscoll put it afterward, “Kicking to Grange is like grooving one to Babe Ruth. It was a question which of us would look bad – Grange or Driscoll. I decided it would not be Paddy.”

The Bears played one more scheduled game, a 14-13 win over the Columbus Tigers in front of 28,000 on a snowy day, with Grange accumulating 140 total yards and throwing a 37-yard touchdown pass to HB Laurie Walquist. They finished with a 9-5-3 record, in seventh place in the 20-team NFL. But they weren’t quite done yet.

Grange and the Bears headed out on the first of two grueling barnstorming tours in which they played eight games in 12 days, starting in St. Louis on December 3 against a team called the Donnelly Stars and ending back in Chicago on December 13 against the New York Giants. The schedule was brutal, especially since the squad numbered just 18 players and they (other than Grange) had already put in a full season. Turnout ranged from 5000 in St. Louis (Bears 39, Donnelly Stars 6), Washington (Bears 19, Washington All-Stars 0), and Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh All-Stars 24, Bears 0) to 65,000 at the Polo Grounds in New York (Bears 19, New York Giants 7).

The Galloping Ghost started strong, scoring four TDs and running for 86 yards against the Donnelly Stars and putting on a solid all-purpose performance before the large crowd in New York with 53 yards on 11 carries, 23 yards on a pass reception, and a 35-yard interception return for a score. However, wear and tear had an effect, especially a lingering arm injury suffered against the Giants. Grange was booed for subpar performance while playing hurt in the next three games and didn’t play at all in the final two (9000 tickets were turned in for refunds in Detroit as a result). While some of the games were mismatches, others were brutal affairs against teams gunning for the Bears in general and Grange in particular. The Bears staggered through with a 4-4 record.

A second tour ran from December 25 in Coral Gables, Florida (against the Coral Gables Collegians, who held the Bears to a 7-0 win) until January 31, 1926 in Seattle (an easy 34-0 victory for the Bears over the Washington All-Stars). The Bears went 8-1 and drew the largest crowd in Los Angeles (75,000) for a 17-7 win over the Los Angeles Tigers. The pace was more reasonable, Grange stayed healthy and, while not up to the standards of his spectacular college performances, played well.

The Bears certainly squeezed all the money and publicity they could get out of the star halfback, but Grange and Pyle sought to squeeze back for 1926 – they demanded a one-third ownership of the franchise. George Halas, the co-owner, head coach, and still an active player, refused, and Grange not only left the Bears but, with Pyle, started a rival league. It was the first to be called the American Football League, with Grange playing for the New York franchise, and it folded after a year. The Galloping Ghost would eventually return to the Bears in 1929, after a knee injury had robbed him of his elusiveness as a runner, and he stayed until 1934, more noted by this point for his play in the defensive backfield. But in 1925, he certainly kept pro football in the headlines and spurred interest across the country.

1993: Dolphins Top Cowboys Thanks to Leon Lett’s Miscue

The weather was hardly conducive to football on Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1993 as the Dallas Cowboys (7-3) hosted the Miami Dolphins (8-2) at Texas Stadium. The temperature was below freezing (well below when factoring in the wind chill) and a wintery mix of precipitation caused the field to be covered with a layer of snow. Needless to say, footing was unsure at best.

The Dolphins scored first on a 77-yard run by FB Keith Byars to take a 7-0 lead. Rookie WR Kevin Williams responded for the Cowboys with two second quarter touchdowns, first on a four-yard pass from QB Troy Aikman to culminate a 12-play, 74-yard possession and then with a 64-yard punt return just before halftime.

Dolphins placekicker Pete Stoyanovich narrowed the Dallas lead to 14-13 with a pair of field goals in the second half. Cowboys safety James Washington forced a fumble by Miami RB Terry Kirby on his own 30 yard line with just over four minutes to play, but Dallas was unable to capitalize when a field goal that would have provided a four-point cushion was missed.

However, when Dallas DE Jimmie Jones blocked a 41-yard field goal attempt by Stoyanovich in the final seconds of the game, it appeared that the Cowboys would prevail. But as the ball skidded down the field, Dallas DT Leon Lett attempted to recover it at the seven yard line and failed; Dolphins C Jeff Dellenbach fell on it at the one. Miami had possession; had Lett not touched the ball, it would have gone over to the Cowboys. The Dolphins made the most of the reprieve and Stoyanovich kicked a 19-yard field goal on the next play to give Miami a 16-14 win.

Byars was the star on offense for Miami, gaining 77 yards on six rushes and catching 7 passes for 80 yards. Kirby also caught 7 passes, for 76 yards, while WR Mark Ingram had the most receiving yards for the victors with 85 on three receptions. QB Steve DeBerg completed 24 of 41 passes for 287 yards; while two of them were intercepted, his performance under the conditions was solid.

On a day that was difficult for the passing game, Troy Aikman completed 28 of 43 passes for Dallas, accumulating 181 yards with a TD and an interception. RB Emmitt Smith was slowed by a thigh injury and gained just 51 yards on 16 carries; he split time with Lincoln Coleman, who led the team with 57 yards on 10 rushes. FB Darryl Johnston was the top receiver with 11 catches for 75 yards; Smith caught another 9 out of the backfield for 46 yards.

Afterward Dallas Head Coach Jimmy Johnson said “This was a very disappointing loss. In fact, I don't know whether I've ever had a loss that hurts like this one right now…The play by Lett, it was a mistake and we all make 'em and it's part of the game. There were hundreds of mistakes made in the ball game before that. It just so happens that that came at the end and it will be remembered as the one that cost us the ball game."

Lett’s miscue may have provided the Dolphins with a fortuitous win and the Cowboys a jarring loss, but the fortunes of the teams diverged from there. While the loss was the second in a row for Dallas, the Cowboys didn’t lose again as they finished atop the NFC East with a 12-4 record and went on to defeat Buffalo in the Super Bowl for the second consecutive year. Miami came out of the game with the league’s best record at 9-2, but lost the remaining five games to finish at 9-7, in second place in the AFC East and out of the playoffs.

As for Leon Lett himself, the error against the Dolphins, combined with his return of a fumble recovery for an apparent touchdown in the previous year’s Super Bowl, only to slow up, prematurely begin his celebration, and as a result have Bills WR Don Beebe knock the ball out of his hand for a touchback, made him the subject of a great deal of ridicule. However, he remained with the Cowboys for another seven seasons and was selected to the Pro Bowl twice, certainly making up for the early mistakes.

1957: Rookie Jim Brown Rushes for 237 Yards vs. Rams

Cleveland Browns Head Coach Paul Brown had gone into the 1957 draft with the hope of picking Purdue quarterback Len Dawson. Without retired star QB Otto Graham, the Browns went 5-7 in 1956 - the first losing season in team history. Getting a replacement seemed a priority.

However, the Pittsburgh Steelers snagged Dawson with the fifth pick in the first round, and with the sixth Brown chose Jim Brown, the star running back from Syracuse, instead (who else was chosen ahead of Brown? In order: Paul Hornung, Notre Dame QB, by Green Bay; Jon Arnett, halfback from USC, a local star by the LA Rams; John Brodie, Stanford QB, by the 49ers; and Ron Kramer, end from Michigan, also by the Packers). It didn’t take Paul Brown long to realize that he had something special in Jim Brown - after the rookie ran 40 yards for a touchdown against Pittsburgh in the second preseason game, Coach Brown called him over and said simply, “you’re my fullback”.

Jim Brown’s emergence during his rookie season was steady. After eight games, he had run the ball 130 times for 532 yards (4.1-yard average) and four touchdowns. His first hundred-yard rushing day had come three weeks before against Washington. In the ninth game, on November 24, he gave his first significant evidence of greatness.

The Browns were 6-1-1 as they faced the Los Angeles Rams (4-4) at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium. Brown scored his first TD of the day, a 69-yard run, in the second quarter to stake the Browns to a 14-7 lead. The Rams pulled ahead and were leading in the third quarter by 28-17 after DT Art Hauser recovered a Cleveland fumble and ran it 29 yards for a score.

It was virtually all Browns after that, however, and Jim Brown scored on three more short touchdown runs to give him four on the day. More significantly, he set a new NFL record with 237 yards on 31 carries as the Browns defeated the Rams, 45-31.

Cleveland closed out the season at 9-2-1, handily returning to the top of the Eastern Conference standings although losing decisively to Detroit in the NFL Championship game. The Rams were 6-6 on the year, finishing fourth in the Western Conference.

Jim Brown led the league in rushing with 942 yards on 202 attempts for a healthy 4.7-yard average gain and nine touchdowns (he also had a TD on a pass reception) – while the big game against the Rams put him out of reach, the runner-up, Rick Casares of the Bears, was 242 yards behind with an even 700 yards. Brown was selected as not only NFL Rookie of the Year, but as MVP by the Associated Press and The Sporting News as well. It was only a sneak preview of sorts; he established a whole new set of rushing standards while leading the league in eight of his nine seasons.

His performance was certainly the key to the team’s success in ’57 – Paul Brown’s solution to the quarterback dilemma was to use nondescript veteran Tommy O’Connell, who statistically was the best passer in the NFL that year but only threw the ball 110 times before an injury finished his regular season two weeks after the Rams game (he returned for the championship contest); rookie Milt Plum filled in and inherited the starting job in 1958.

As a footnote, Len Dawson’s road to the Hall of Fame would be less direct than Jim Brown’s. He threw just 17 passes in three seasons in Pittsburgh before Paul Brown finally acquired him for the Browns. Stuck behind Plum, he appeared to be a flop when he tossed 28 passes in two years and was granted his release so he could join the Dallas Texans of the AFL in 1962; there he was re-united with his former backfield coach at Purdue, Hank Stram. The rest, as the saying goes, is history.