Otto Graham

In 1950 the AAFC folded and the Browns, along with the Baltimore Colts and the San Francisco 49ers, joined the National Football League. Intent on putting the upstart AAFC champs in their place, the NFL scheduled the Browns to play their first game against the two-time world champion Philadelphia Eagles. Graham's first pass of the game went for a touchdown. By the time the clock had run out, the Browns had handed the Eagles a 35-10 upset defeat. Graham later called that game the highlight of his entire career. When the 1950 season ended, the upstart Browns were NFL champions, having defeated the Los Angeles Rams 30-28. That same season Graham was named the NFL MVP.

Cleveland unfortunately lost the NFL championship games the three subsequent years, 1951 through 1953. Although he was named the NFL's MVP in 1953, Graham held himself personally responsible for the championship defeats. "Emotionally, I was so far down in the dumps those three years," he told Larry Schwartz of ESPN.com. "I was the quarterback. I was the leader. It was all my fault." After losing the 1953 title game 17-16 to the Detroit Lions, he led the Browns to a crushing victory over Detroit the following year, winning the championship game 56-10. Wanting to leave the game at the top of his form, Graham planned to retire after the 1954 season. The Browns lured him back for one last year with a $25,000 contract in 1955, making him the highest paid player in the game. Far from resting on his laurels in 1955, Graham turned in one of his finest years on the gridiron. He completed 98 of 185 passes for a total of 1,721 total yards and fifteen touchdowns. Cleveland led the NFL with a 9-2-1 record and beat the Rams for the championship. Graham won his second NFL MVP in 1955 too, capping off a fine season and an extraordinary career in pro football. He retired at the close of the 1955 season at the age of thirty-three.

With the Browns, Graham passed for a total 23,584 yards and 174 touchdowns. One of his most remarkable achievements is that in his ten years with the team, Graham did not miss a single game. Injury rarely saw him leave games. In one 1954 contest, he was elbowed so hard it opened a cut that required thirteen stitches, administered on the sidelines. During halftime, a Graham's helmet was rigged with a clear plastic bar to protect his face. "That's my real claim to fame right there," Graham told the Associated Press's Fred Goodall. "I was the first guy who ever wore a face mask—college, high school or pro." The injury didn't interfere with Graham's performance. He came back and played one of the best second halves of his career, hitting around ten of twelve passes.