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.

1961 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 that 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. Following that, we 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 sixteenth official class;

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

Remember that the group took a vote in “1961”, and we have reverted back to the top five candidates entering the Hall PROVIDING THEY MAKE 50% of the vote.  This will be put to a vote again in “1963”.

This is for the “Modern Era”

*Bold indicates they have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Class of 1961:

This is for the “Senior Era”, *Bold indicates they have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Class of 1961, though no one made the mandatory 50% threshold to advance.

About the 1961 Inductees:

Otto Graham QB-DB, CLE 1946-55: Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1961 on his 1^st Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965.

Otto Graham was the first player that Cleveland Browns owner; Paul Brown, sought when he assembled his team in 1946 to begin play in the All-American Football Conference. Brown was right to convert the Northwestern Tailback to a pro Quarterback in the T-Formation. Graham and the Browns dominated the AAFC, and without question, Graham was the best player in the upstart league. The Browns won every single title in the four-year existence of the AAFC, and Graham was at the forefront of that success. The AAFC would merge with the NFL, and it was expected that those teams would not be successful in the first few years of the unification. They were wrong. The Browns won the 1950 NFL Championship, thus proving the merit of the AAFC; Graham won two more NFL Championships and was, overall, a five-time league leader in Passing Yards. In the ten years he played, there was never a year where he didn’t at least take the Browns to a Division Title.

Marion Motley FB-LB, CLE 1946-55: Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1961 on his 1^st Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968.

While there were African Americans in pro football before Marion Motley, they had been phased out, but after World War II, this was about to change.  Motley tried out for the Cleveland Browns of the new All-American Football Conference, and he made the team and would become oone f the best players in team history. Motley was an excellent rusher who won the AAFC Rushing Title in 1948, and the NFL Rushing Title in 1950, and he was a large part of the Cleveland juggernaut that won all four AAFC Championships and the 1950 NFL Championship.  He was also incredibly valuable as a blocker and helped open up Otto Graham’s passing game.  Motley had 5,827 Yards From Scrimmage, an excellent total for his era.

Pete Pihos E-DE, PHI 1947-55: Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1961 on his 1^st Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1970.

A three-time All-American at Indiana, Pete Pihos played his entire nine-year career with the Philadelphia Eagles, beginning as a two-way end, but eventually specializing in the offence.  Pihos was one of the top receivers in the late 1940s and early 1950s, aiding the Eagles in back-to-back NFL Championships (1948 & 1949), and securing five First Team All-Pro Selections.  In 1953, Pihos began a three-year streak leading the NFL in Receptions, with him also finishing first in Receiving Yards in the bookend seasons.  He would accumulate 5,619 Yards with 61 Touchdowns.

Charley Trippi HB-QB-DB, CRD 1947-55: Inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project in 1961 on his 1^st Ballot.  Inducted into the actual Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968.

Charley Trippi was a coveted player coming out of the University of Georgia, and the New York Yankees of the upstart All-American Football Conference thought they had him locked up.  The Chicago Cardinals, who drafted him first overall, earned his services when Cardinals owner, Charles Bidwell signed him to what was a huge contract at the time, $100,000 over four years.  Trippi was the heart of what would become Chicago’s “Million Dollar Backfield” and as a rookie in 1947, he would lead the Cardinals to an NFL Championship.  Incredibly versatile, Trippi could play any offensive skill position and excelled at rushing, passing and punting.  He played until 1955, finishing his career with the Cardinals and amassing 4,827 Yards From Scrimmage.

1961 SEMI-FINAL RESULTS:

Thank you for all of you who have participated in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project. If you are unaware of what that is, we acted as if the PFHOF had its first class in January 1946.

We have completed the years up to 1960.

For “1961,” a Preliminary Vote with over 100 players whose playing career ended by 1954. We are also following the structure in that players have 20 years of eligibility, and if they do not make it into the Hall, they are relegated to the Senior Pool.

Each voter was asked to select 25 names from the preliminary list, and the top 25 vote-getters were named Semi-Finalists.

A week later, the voters were asked to pick 15 names from the 25 Semi-Finalists, and next week, they will pick five from the remaining 15. We will continue this process weekly until we catch up to the current year.

30 Votes took place, with the top five advancing.

This is for the “Modern Era”

Bold indicates they advanced to the Finals:

This is for the “Senior Era”

*Bold indicates they advanced to the Finals:

We will post the Finalists of the Class of the 1961 Pro Football Hall of Fame Revisited Project next Saturday.

Thank you to all who contributed. If you want to be part of this project, please let us know!

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.

We believe Jim Brown is the greatest Cleveland Brown of all time, but it was Otto Graham who was the first team legend.

Playing for Northwestern, Graham was the Big Ten Player of the Year in 1943, and he was third in Heisman voting. Following his career as a Wildcat, Graham enrolled at Colgate for flight school, and he continued to participate n athletics, mainly basketball.  

Paul Brown was putting together a football team for Cleveland in the new All-American Football Conference, and he looked to Graham to be the centerpiece of his new squad.  In the four years of the AAFC's existence, Graham was arguably the league's best player, as the Quarterback meshed perfectly with Brown's offensive vision.  Cleveland won all four of the AAFC Championships (1946-49), with Graham leading the league in Passing Yards the last three years.  Going into the 1950 Season, the AAFC merged with the NFL, with the Browns being one of the surviving teams.  Few people thought they would repeat their success as an NFL team.  Graham had other ideas.

Graham took Cleveland to an NFL Championship in 1950, and the QB was now five-for-five.  He continued to be one of the top QBs in the first half of the decade, winning two passing titles (1952 & 1953) and earning three UPI MVPs (1951, 1953 & 1955).  Graham again led the Browns to two more titles (1954 & 1955), and he retired after the 1955 Season, having won seven titles in ten years.

Graham entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965, and his number 14 was retired by the team.  He was also part of the inaugural Browns Ring of Honor in 2010.  The NFL also named Graham to the 1950s All-Decade Team and the 75^thand 100^th Anniversary Team.