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Top 5 Cleveland Browns draft classes in the SB era

By Casey Kinnamon

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - OCTOBER 28: Tight End Ozzie Newsome #82 of the Cleveland Browns dives to make a catch against the San Francisco 49ers during an NFL football game October 28, 1990 at Candlestick park in San Francisco, California. Newsome played for the Browns from 1978-90. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - OCTOBER 28: Tight End Ozzie Newsome #82 of the Cleveland Browns dives to make a catch against the San Francisco 49ers during an NFL football game October 28, 1990 at Candlestick park in San Francisco, California. Newsome played for the Browns from 1978-90. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /
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CLEVELAND, OH – SEPTEMBER 1981: Quarterback Brian Sipe #17 of the Cleveland Browns going back to pass during a game against the Houston Oilers on September 10, 1981 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Ronald C. Modra/Getty Images) /

Draft Class No. 2: 1972

The Browns 1972 draft was a Jekyll and Hyde affair. The Browns hit with their very first pick when they selected Thom Darden with the 18th overall pick of the first round. Darden, a play-making safety out of the University of Michigan, would go on to play nine seasons in Cleveland.

Even after sitting out the 1975 season due to a knee injury, Darden bounced back to have the best seasons of his career. Darden is still the Browns all-time leader in interceptions with 45 and interception return yards with 820. He would later be inducted into the Browns Legends Program in 2016.

The Browns would go on to make 12 more selections before taking the next player on this list in the 13th round: Brian Sipe. The six-foot-one, 196lb gunslinger out of San Diego State would go to rewrite the Browns record books.

Sipe would not become the Browns full-time starter at quarterback until 1976. But from that point until Sipe’s final year in 1983, there was never any doubt who was the leader of the team. Week in and week out, Sipe poured his heart out on the football field and inspired the entire city of Cleveland.

His best season as a pro came in the fabled year of 1980 when Sipe led ‘the Kardiac Kids’ to the playoffs and was awarded the NFL MVP for his efforts. Sipe is the franchise leader in both completions (1944) and yards (23,713). His 57 wins as a starter tie him with the great Otto Graham for the most in franchise history. Sipe was inducted into the Browns Legends Program in 2002.

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