Otto Graham - Paul Brown's System

Graham ushered in another revolutionary change. Paul Brown inaugurated a system in which the coach decided all plays from the sidelines and used substitutes as messengers to shuttle plays into the huddle before each scrimmage. More ego-driven quarterbacks would have rebelled. Graham was reportedly unhappy with the system, but he never challenged Paul Brown's leadership. Graham sometimes changed Brown's plays, but he recognized Brown's right to determine a game plan. "He was the admiral, the general, the CEO," Graham said of Brown in Sports Illustrated. The sideline pass and draw play were among the many innovations introduced by Graham and the Browns.

Whatever Graham's reservations, the proof was in the pudding—Paul Brown's system worked. With it, Graham and the Browns compiled one of the most remarkable string of winning seasons in professional sports history. Beginning in 1946, the same year the Royals were pro basketball champions, Graham led the Browns to ten championship games—every year of Graham's career. During the AAFC's brief four-year history, the Browns dominated the league with a remarkable record of 52 wins, four losses and three ties, and won the league championship every year. Graham led the league with seventeen touchdown passes in 1946 and twenty-five in 1947; he had a league-leading passing percentage of 60.6 in 1947, and led the AAFC in total yardage in 1947, 1948 and 1949. In 1948 Graham led the Browns to a 15-0 season, finishing up with four road games. Those wins were part of an unbroken string of twenty-nine wins that stretched over three seasons. Graham was named the AAFC Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1947, 1948, and 1949.