#TBT: Cleveland Browns open 1955 season with a loss
By Thomas Moore
Sep 21, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns helmet on the field before a game against the Baltimore Ravens at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ron Schwane-USA TODAY Sports
The Cleveland Browns were facing a dilemma heading into the 1955 NFL season, one that would be very familiar to fans even now, 60 years later.
Following the 1954 NFL Championship Game in which he threw for three touchdowns and ran for three more in a 56-10 beating of Detroit, Otto Graham decided to retire from the game. His legacy was set after winning six titles in nine years and Graham wanted to go out on top.
Head coach Paul Brown had been planning for the day that Graham would no longer be his quarterback, but was struggling, naturally, to replace the game’s best quarterback.
In 1952, Brown used a first-round draft pick on Boston University’s Harry Agganis, known as “The Golden Greek.” While the Browns were offering a $25,000 signing bonus, Agganis was also drawing interest from the Boston Red Sox, who wanted the local icon to play first base for his hometown team. Agganis’ love of Boston led him to turn down the Browns and sign with the Red Sox instead.
“We have a lot to do. Our defense was poor but I thought George Ratterman did a pretty fair job.” – Head coach Paul Brown after losing to the College All-Stars
Cleveland tried again in 1954, selecting Stanford’s Bobby Garrett with the first overall selection of that year’s draft. But things got complicated from there as Garrett never played a down for the Browns.
An Army ROTC student at Stanford, Garrett was not sure if or when he would be called to active duty in the Korean War. It wasn’t until after the NFL Draft that Brown reportedly found out that Garrett would have to serve two years in the military before he could start his professional football career.
Not wanting to wait for Garrett, the Browns traded him — before training camp had even started — to Green Bay. Garrett appeared in nine games for the Packers, completing 15-of-30 passes for 143 yards and an interception.
He then spent two years in the military before the Packers traded him in August of 1957 – back to Cleveland. The Browns sent six players to Green Bay – quarterback Babe Parilli, end Carlton Massey, halfbacks John Petitbon and Billy Kinard, tackle John Macerelli and center Sam Palumbo – for Garrett and linebacker Roger Zatkoff.
According to an article on Stanford’s website, the return to Cleveland finished off any chance of Garrett having an NFL career because Brown could not deal with the fact that Garrett had a speech impediment — he stuttered.
The criticism became so relentless that, during a preseason trip to the West Coast, Garrett walked into a coaches meeting and told Brown that he was heading home for good.
So heading into the 1955 season with no Graham, Brown turned to George Ratterman to lead the defending champions. The Browns also had Johnny Borton, a 13th-round draft pick out of Ohio State (just another in a never-ending line of Buckeye quarterbacks who failed at the NFL level).
In those days, the defending NFL champions faced a team of college all stars in an exhibition game. The Browns lost that day (see video highlights below) as Ratterman completed just nine of his 18 pass attempts, with two interceptions, and the Browns had just 325 yards of offense.
“We have a lot to do,” Brown said after the game. “Our defense was poor but I thought George Ratterman did a pretty fair job. They got us. That’s the only thing to say. We were outplayed and soundly defeated. They had a great bunch of running backs and fine coaching, and earned everything they got.”
While Brown publicly supported Ratterman, he privately knew the club was in trouble without Graham lining up behind center. Following the loss to the college all stars, Brown had dinner with Graham and, helped by a $25,000 salary offer, persuaded Graham to return to the Browns for another season.
The Browns opened the season at home against Washington and Graham played like someone who had planned to spend the fall in a hammock on Sunday afternoons, rather than an NFL field.
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Graham was just three-of-nine for 30 yards before being benched at halftime with the Browns losing, 13-3. He would later call it the worst performance of his Hall of Fame career.
Ratterman replaced Graham in the second half and, despite leading the Browns to a pair of third-quarter touchdowns, could not rally the Browns. A key play in the game was a fourth-quarter fumble by Ratterman that the Redskins recovered on Cleveland’s 25-yard line. Four plays after the fumble, Washington quarterback Eddie LeBaron scored on a 13-yard run to ice the 27-17 win for the Redskins.
In his Plain Dealer game story, beat writer Chuck Heaton wrote that:
"Now the pressure really is on Cleveland with San Francisco, one of the western sector powers, the next foe Sunday on the West Coast and Philadelphia, winner of the exhibition season crown, coming into the stadium the following week.“The little man (LeBaron) beat us personally,” Brown said as the dejected Browns dressed. “We played and tried hard. I have no complaints on that score.”It was with Otto Graham at the helm that the Browns fell behind in the first half. Graham sat out the last two periods. The offense couldn’t click with the quarterback, who came out of retirement about three weeks back, having a miserable time with his throwing. In fact, just before the intermission, the Browns appeared thoroughly confused and uncertain.Shortly after the Browns once more had closed the gap to three points on a Ratterman-to-Ray Renfro touchdown pass of 8 yards in the same third quarter, Washington got the break that put the game out of reach.With the final quarter moving on, Cleveland had the ball on its own 34 following a LeBaron punt and appeared capable of pulling out the victory. However, end Gene Brito, back after a season in Canada, crashed through unmolested to rack up Ratterman and grab the ball.That chance on the Cleveland 25 was all LeBaron needed, and he took just four plays for the final touchdown, going the last 13 himself on a zig-zag run. He went almost from sideline to sideline before darting into the end zone."
The loss dropped the Browns to 0-1 for the second consecutive season (and it only feels like they haven’t won a home opener since), but Graham’s poor performance stiffened his resolve to ensure his comeback season would not be in vain.