1974 Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project Class.

Here we are!  Again!!

If you have been following our Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project, you know we have asked the rhetorical question: What if the PFHOF began in January 1946?

After soliciting and obtaining a passionate group of football fans and historians, we sent out a ballot for a Preliminary Vote, in which we asked each voter to give us 25 names as their semi-finalists and 5 in the Senior Pool. We then asked the group to vote for their 15 Finalists in the Modern Era and 3 in the Senior Category. The final stage was to vote for their five Modern Era inductee and one Senior inductee.

This is the result of the 30th official class; 

Below are the final results of this project based on 31 votes.

Remember that the group took a vote in “1970”, and we have reverted to the top five candidates entering the Hall, PROVIDING THEY MAKE 50% of the vote.  This will be put to a vote again in “1976”.

This is for the “Modern Era”

*Bold indicates they have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Class of 1974:

This is for the “Senior Era”, 

*Bold indicates they have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Class of 1974.

This is for the “Coaches/Contributors”, 

*Bold indicates they have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Class of 1974.

About the 1974 Inductees:

Lou Groza T-C-DT-K, CLE 1946-59 & 1961-67: Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1974 on his 2^nd Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1974.

An original Cleveland Brown, Lou Groza was recruited by Paul Brown, primarily to act as the Browns’ Place Kicker.  Groza led the AAFC in Points in his rookie year, and after two seasons, Groza also helped out on Cleveland’s Offensive Line, and he would perform a dual-role for the next twelve seasons.

The Browns won the first four AAFC Championships, and Groza helped them win the 1950, 1954, and 1955 NFL Titles.  Groza evolved into an above-average Left Tackle, but his kicking talents were ahead of its time.  "The Toe" was one of the first Kickers who could regularly get it through the uprights in further distances.  Before Groza, Field Goals beyond 40 Yards were rarely attempted, but a new dynamic was added to the game with Groza as a weapon.  He would be named a First Team All-Pro four years in a row (1952-55) with nine Pro Bowl appearances.  Back issues compounded, and he retired after the 1959 Season, though he returned as a pure kicker from 1961 to 1967.

Bobby Mitchell, FL-HB-WR, CLE 1958-61 & WAS 1962-68: Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1974 on his 1st Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983.

The Washington Redskins owner, George Preston Marshall, did not want to integrate his team, but the team was forced to do so by the National Football League.  In 1961, under pressure from the NFL and the Federal Government, Marshall drafted Ernie Davis, the first ever African American Heisman winner.

Fearful of what he might have had to pay Davis, Marshall traded him to Cleveland for Bobby Mitchell and Leroy Jackson, who would become the first two black players on the Redskins.  Mitchell had been playing at Halfback for four years with the Browns, was moved to Flanker, and he would lead the NFL in Receiving Yards in his first two seasons in Washington, with his third year seeing him top the leaderboard in Receiving Touchdowns.  Named a First Team All-Pro in 1962, Mitchell was also a Pro Bowler in 1962, 1963, and 1964. 

Mitchell had three more good years but declined in 1968 and retired shortly after.  With the Redskins, he would have 6,930 Yards From Scrimmage with 51 TDs.  

After his playing career ended, Mitchell became an executive with Washington for decades to come and was at one time the team’s Assistant General Manager. 

Mike McCormack, T-DG-DT, NYY 1951 & CLE 1954-62.  Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1974 on his 7th Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1984.

Mike McCormack played for the New York Yanks as a rookie, but he would leave them to serve his country in the Korean War.  When he returned, the Yanks had folded, and the Baltimore Colts were created to replace them.  McCormack signed with the Colts, but Cleveland Browns Head Coach, Paul Brown, remembered the Lineman and traded for him before he played for the Colts.

McCormack started at Middle Guard and then Right Tackle, helping Cleveland win the NFL Championship in both 1954 and 1955.  The Browns were a very competitive team for McCormack's duration (until 1962), and he was named to five Pro Bowls and three Second Team All-Pros.  Brown had referred to McCormack as the best Lineman that he ever coached, and that is as high praise as you can get.  The Browns agreed and named him to their Ring of Honor in 2010.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the top 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists and consistently look to update them when necessary and based on necessity. As such, we are delighted to present our post-2023 revision of our top 50 Cleveland Browns.

As for all of our top 50 players in football, we look at the following:

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National Football League.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles that are not reflected in a stat sheet.

Last year, the Browns returned to the playoffs but could not get past their first game.  There were no new entries and two elevations in our Top 50.

As always, we present our top five, which saw no changes:

1. Jim Brown
2. Otto Graham
3. Joe Thomas
4. Lou Groza
5. Ozzie Newsome

You can find the entire list here.

Reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Myles Garrett rocketed to #12 from #32.

Left Tackle Joel Bitonio, on a six-year Pro Bowl streak, climbed to #18 from #24. 

Notably, Running Back Nick Chubb remains at #44.

We thank you for your continued support of our lists on Notinhalloffame.com.

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we here at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists out and we always consistently look to update them when we can and based on necessity. As such, we are very happy to present our post 2022 revision of our top 50 Cleveland Browns.

As for all of our top 50 players in football we look at the following:

1. Advanced Statistics.

2. Traditional statistics and how they finished in the National Football League.

3. Playoff accomplishments.

4. Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles not reflected in a stat sheet.

Last year, the Browns were a trendy pick to make it to the Super Bowl, but not only did that not happen, they failed to make the playoffs. This did not impact a new entrant occurring as well as two significant elevations from occurring.

As always, we present our top five, which had no changes.

1. Jim Brown

2. Otto Graham

3. Joe Thomas

4. Lou Groza

5. Ozzie Newsomb

You can find the entire list here.

Joel Bitonio, who has starred on the Browns O-Line for the past half-decade, rocketed to #24 from #38.

Defensive End, Myles Garrett advances to #32 from 44.

Running Back, Nick Chubb, makes his first appearance at #44.

We welcome your input and comments and as always, we thank you for your support.

An original Cleveland Brown, Lou Groza was recruited by Paul Brown, primarily to act as the Browns’ Place Kicker.  Groza led the AAFC in Points in his rookie year, and after two seasons, Groza also helped out on Cleveland’s Offensive Line, and he would perform a dual-role for the next twelve seasons.

The Browns won the first four AAFC Championships, and Groza helped them win the 1950, 1954, and 1955 NFL Titles.  Groza evolved into an above-average Left Tackle, but his kicking talents were ahead of its time.  "The Toe" was one of the first Kickers who could regularly get it through the uprights in further distances.  Before Groza, Field Goals beyond 40 Yards were rarely attempted, but a new dynamic was added to the game with Groza as a weapon.  He would be named a First Team All-Pro four years in a row (1952-55) with nine Pro Bowl appearances.  Back issues compounded, and he retired after the 1959 Season.

Groza came out of retirement in 1961, rejoining Cleveland but only as their Kicker.  For the fourth and fifth time, Groza led the NFL in Field Goal Percentage and helped the Browns win the 1964 Championship, making him the only player to win seven titles with Cleveland.  He retired for good after the 1967 Season.

Graham entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1974, and his number 76 is one of five retired by the team.  He was also part of the inaugural Browns Ring of Honor in 2010.  Groza is also a member of the 1950s All-Decade Team.