The 1948 Cleveland Browns were the first team to go undefeated and win a championship game. The Browns had a 14-0 regular season record, scoring 389 points and giving up 190 and won the title game over the Buffalo Bills by a 49-7 blowout. The Browns were led by Hall of Famers Otto Graham, Marion Motley, Frank Gatski, Dante Lavelli, Lou Groza and Bill Willis. Bill Willis was the first black player in Pro Football since the early 1920s and Horace Gillom was the first black punter in football history.
During an 8 day time period the Browns won three games going from one coast to another with an injured Otto Graham playing. In that 8 day stretch the Browns beat NY 34-21, Los Angeles 31-14 and San Francisc0 (finished 12-2, losing only to the Browns) 31-28 after being down.
The Browns after entering the NFL in 1950 won 6 straight conference titles and 3 NFL titles.
The players for the Browns were: with partial play result numbers.
QB-OTTO GRAHAM (5) with 52% complete for 25 TDs, 15 Int. and rushing for a 6.3 avg. Otto at time played safety with 1 Interception. 6-1-190 lb. Passing with one 2, three 3s, two 4s. one 5 and one 6.
FB-MARION MOTLEY (5) with a league leading 964 yards on a 6.1 avg. with 13 catches. At times played LB and Middleguard 6-1-220 lb. Three Ks, five 15s and three 16s.
HB-EDGAR JONES (3) rushed for 400 yards and a 4.0 avg. with 14 receptions. 5-10-195 lb. Three 15s, three 16s and four 17s.
HB-BILL BOEDECKER (3) rushed for 254 yards and a 3.3 avg. with 13 receptions. Also played safety and defensive halfback (CB) 5-11-190 lb. One 3, two 15s, one 16 and four 17s.
WR/TE-MAC SPEEDIE (5) caught 58 passes for 816 yards. 6-3-200 lb. A receiver.
WR-DANTE LAVELLI (4) caught 25 passes for 463 yards and missed half the season with an injury, otherwise a sure 5 rating. 6-0-190. B receiver.
C-FRANK GATSKI (4) also played MG at times. 6-3-220 lb.
G-ANGELO GAUDIO (3) also played LB at times. 5-10-215 lb.
G-ED ULINSKI (4) played LB at times 5-11-200 lb.
T-LOU GROZA (3) played DT at times. kicked 51 XP and 8 FG. 6-3-215.
T-LOU RYMKUS (4)also played DT (4) 6-4-230
The league leading defense had:
FS-TOM COLELLA (4) with 2 Int. Also played HB on offense (3) rushing for 60 yards. 6-0-187
SS-CLIFF LEWIS (5) with 9 Int. also playing backup QB. 5-11-165.
CBs-TOMMY JAMES (5) with 4 Int. 5-10-180 and ARA PARSEGHIAN (3) also HB on offense with 135 yards rushing and a 4.2 avg. (later a Notre Dame coach) 5-10-195
MG-Bill Willis (5) great speed and quickness. 6-2-210
LBs-LOU SABAN (5) very fast with 5 Int., was so good on AAFC all pro team was given the center slot even though he never played the position. 6-0-198. WELDON HUMBLE (4) had 1 interception and was at times used as a guard for the messenger to Otto Graham. 6-1-215.
DTs-CHUBBY GRIGG (4) received in a trade and was a mountain to move and very quicj for his size. 6-2-280. CHET ADAMS (4) was another tough player to move out. 6-3-230.
DEs-JOHN YONAKOR (4) had 1 Int., caught 5 passes and used his tallness to stop passes. 6-5-218. GEORGE YOUNG (4) tough as nails 6-3-210.
Dave, I absolutely love your contributions. Thank you very much!
I am enjoying writing them, there will be more to come if I stay healthy.
Dave- I have a set of the 1948 Browns and the ratings are a bit different (at least on offense), should this post revise those ratings?
Yes do so because there were a few changes to the formula. I had to upgrade the college teams also for myself.
Any significant changes to the PRN? Especially for QB and RB’s? Are the cards with the stats on them and DU in the lower right corner the latest? I can send you a PDF if you’d like.
Passing numbers for Graham are: one-1, one-2, three-3s, 2-4s, 1-5, 1-6, 1-7, 1-8, 1-9, 1-10, 1-11, 2-12s, 1-14, 6-17s, 1-22, 1-25, 1-19, 3-18s, 1-31, 1-16, 1-35,1-36, 1-34, 1-26, 1-27, Running numbers are: 8-15s, 3-16s and a 31 replacing a 21. Motley running numbers: 3-Ks, second column 7-2s and regular APBA K column for runners, 5-15s, 3-16s, 5-17s, 4-18s, 2-19s, 1-21, 1-22, 3-25s, 1-26, 1-14, 1-32, 1-28, 2-29s, 1-20, 1-36, 1-35, The rest are pretty much the same except for replacing a 21 or 22 with a 32 for all runners except Cowan, use a 31. Lavelli was changed to a B receiver. Gillom is also a B receiver.