It is a well-known fact that most expansion teams run on local flavors. Whether they come from the local high school or starred in the local collegiate program, all that the infant team cares about is getting rumps in the seats in hopes that they can attract an audience and reap the financial benefits for the afternoon. The 1946 Cleveland Browns came ready to entertain, featuring seven players from the Ohio State University as well as a handful of others that had called Cleveland and its surrounding area's "home" while growing up. These are their stories.
Bill Willis
Bill Willis was born on October 5, 1921. Originally from Georgia, his family moved to Columbus, Ohio when he was young and when his father died a year later, he was raised by his grandfather and mother. Inspired by his older brother's exploits on the gridiron, Willis joined the football team at Columbus East High School before starring at Ohio State to the point of where the school retired both of his jersey numbers, 0 and 99. While there, the middle guard on defense and right guard on offense gained the admiration of the Buckeye's head coach, Paul Brown. Together, they helped Ohio State win its first national championship in 1942.
Upon graduation, Bill Willis took the head coaching job at Kentucky State, running the program for a year before Paul Brown called, inquiring about his availability. There was a new football league opening up in 1946 and Brown had a hunch that Willis would make an excellent middle guard for his new team, the Cleveland Browns. Of course, Willis jumped at the opportunity and proved Brown to be prophetic.
Upon his hiring, he became the first African American player to sign with the Browns. Ten days later, Marion Motley became the second. Over his eight years as a professional football player, Willis was named first-team All-Pro six times while helping the Browns win all four AAFC championships along with the 1950 NFL championship, establishing the Browns as one of the most revered dynasties in league history.
After retiring as a player in 1953, Bill Willis spent his time serving the youth of Ohio, eventually rising from Assistant Recreation Commissioner all the way to Chairman of Ohio Youth Commission. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1971, the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977 and passed away on November 27, 2007.
Dante Lavelli
Dante Lavelli was born on February 23, 2023 in Hudson Ohio. After winning the national championship with Paul Brown and the Ohio State Buckeyes in 1942, Lavelli signed with Cleveland in 1946 and immediately earned the nickname "Gluefingers". In his first season alone, he caught 40 passes for 843 yards and eight touchdowns, incredible numbers for the era. He was even better the following year, scoring nine touchdowns for the AAFC champs.
Still, his greatest contributions to the team was in the postseason. As a rookie, he helped the team win the AAFC title by catching six passes for 87 yards and the winning touchdown in a 14-9 triumph over the New York Yanks. He was sensational in the 1950 NFL Championship Game, catching 11 passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns in the Browns stunning 30-28 victory over the highflying Rams.
After retiring from the game in 1956, Dante Lavelli stuck around Cleveland, running an appliance business for a while, a furniture store in nearby Rocky River shortly after. Eventually, his bust wound up in Canton, his memory forever enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Shortly after his death in January 2009, the Akron Community Foundation set up the Dante Lavelli Scholarship Fund to help Hudson High School athletes pay for college.
Lin Houston
Lin Houston was born on January 11, 1921` in Carbondale, Illinois. After moving to Massillon as a boy, he played for Paul Brown in high school, college and the pro's, winning championships wherever he went. After an All-American 1942 campaign, he joined the Army the following year and didn't play at all his senior year. By the time he was discharged, the AAFC had just opened for business and Paul Brown was looking for a backup right guard.
He quickly shed the "backup" distinction when Bill Willis fell ill and soon grew comfortable constantly running onto the field as one of Paul Brown's famed "messenger guards". Throughout his career, he was known for his durability and flawless technique as Paul Brown would routinely use him as an example in training camp. After retiring from the Browns in 1954, Lin Houston worked for the Sharon Steele Products Company until his retirement. He died on September 9, 1995.
Lou Groza
Lou Groza was born on January 25, 1924 in Martins Ferry, Ohio. He starred at the nearby high school in basketball and baseball, but his passion was kicking field goals in football, a technique that his older brother had taught him. After playing on the freshman team at Ohio State in 1942, Groza signed with the Army where he served as a surgical technician in the Pacific Theatre. While overseas, Paul Brown sent him a contract for his new team in Cleveland.
What followed was one of the most remarkable careers in NFL history. Lou Groza witnessed the Browns go to 10 straight league championship games and was right in the thick of it as both a tackle as well as a kicker as they won seven of those wars. After briefly retiring in 1960, he returned just as Paul Brown was forced out and the Browns made one last push for another championship in 1964.
Lou Groza retired for good in 1967, having won four AAFC championships, four NFL championships, and earning four first-team All-Pro's as well as nine Pro Bowl invites. His legacy is permanently enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and it is sure to last long after his death on November 29, 2000.
Gene Fekete
Gene Fekete was born on August 31, 1922 in Sugar Creek, Ohio. Inspired by his Hungarian immigrant parents' tenacity in the face of the Great Depression, Fekete starred in basketball, track and football at Findlay High School, garnering the attention of Ohio State. He was a quick study as a sophomore fullback, scoring two touchdowns in his first game in a win over Fort Knox. Later in the year, he rumbled for a school record 89-yard touchdown in a win over the Pitt Panthers.
After winning the national championship and earning third-team All-America honors, Gene Fekete worked in the Army recruitment center in Manhattan for the duration of the war. Despite his absence, he was still invited to the College All-Star Game where fate intervened, tearing a ligament in his knee after a handoff from future teammate Otto Graham during a practice.
It took a year to recover and when he showed up to the Browns first training camp, he clearly wasn't the same explosive fullback that he had once been. He played just six professional games, rushing 26 times for 106 yards and a touchdown. After again tearing up his knee, Gene Fekete decided to get on with his life's work. With a Master's in Physical Education from Ohio State University in hand, he became a teacher for the Columbus Public Schools. He passed away on April 28, 2011, perhaps one of the biggest "what if's" in the Browns' storied history.
Jim Daniell
Jim Daniell was born on April 10, 1918 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He starred on the gridiron at both Mt. Lebanon High School and the Kiski School and was an All-American at the Ohio State University in 1941. The explosive two-way tackle was drafted in the 12th round of the 1942 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears but elected to work at his father's company, the Alloy Manufacturing Company instead.
After enlisting in the Navy for World War II, Jim Daniell was on not one, but two destroyers that sunk. After braving the Battle of Okinawa, Lieutenant Jim Daniell was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and a Presidential Unit Citation. After seeing his life flash before his eyes more than a few times, Daniell signed on with the Bears in 1945 and even earning second-team All-Pro honors. But at the end of the season, he knew that there was a tremendous opportunity in Cleveland and signed with the Browns for 1946.
He was everything that Paul Brown could have hoped he could be as he quickly earned the team's respect as one of their first captains. He and the team played well all season long, but on the eve of the 1946 AAFC Championship Game, disaster struck. Driving with several teammates behind a police car, Daniell gave the officers a honk, at once bristling the men in uniform and starting a scuffle between them and several members of the Cleveland Browns.
Seeing that Daniell was the only captain involved, Paul Brown cut him from the roster. It was the team's only loss that weekend. Brown still owned his rights that offseason and traded him to the Chicago Rockets. But embarrassed with how things turned out, Jim Daniell called it a career and went back to Mount Lebanon where he spent his remaining days coaching high school football and working as a steel executive. He was voted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1977 and died on December 13, 1983.
George Cheroke
George Cheroke was born on January 2, 1921 in Jenners, Pennsylvania. He and his family moved to Shady Side, Ohio when he was young and he starred at the local high school where he earned the attention of the Ohio State University. He was a sophomore guard on the 1941 team and enlisted in the Army Air Force at the onset of World War II.
After the war, he signed with the Browns, despite still having two years left of college eligibility. He played every game of that first season, but Paul Brown still wanted more. That offseason, he traded Cheroke and four others for the Colts' guard Weldon Humble. Seeing a bleak future in the game, Cheroke elected to reenlist in the Army. He spent the next 20 years in the military and worked for Beckman Instrument Company in California upon his retirement. He died on October 19, 1986.
Chet Adams
Chet Adams was born in Cleveland on October 24, 1915 and starred at nearby Cleveland South High School. After standing out as a two-way tackle at Ohio State, Adams was taken in the 12th round of the 1939 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Rams.
He played well in Cleveland, earning All-Star honors as a guard in 1941 and 1942 before moving on to Green Bay where he played for a year. Adams joined the Browns in 1946 and stayed in Cleveland through 1948, winning three straight AAFC titles. After brief, one-year stints with the Buffalo Bills and the New York Yanks, Chet Adams retired in 1950. He died in his hometown on October 27, 1990.
Bob Kolesar
Bob Kolesar was born in Cleveland on April 5, 1921. After starring at John Adams High School, the young guard earned the distinction of playing alongside the University of Michigan's "Seven Oak Posts". Featuring the likes of Julius Kranks, Al Wistart, Meral Pregulman and Elmer Madar, the seven linemen earned the moniker due to the Wolverine's lack of substitutions over the course of the games.
Although he was drafted by the Lions in 1943, Kolesar never played, instead enlisting in the Army to fight for his country. Upon his discharge in 1946, he signed with the Browns where he played the last year of his football life. After winning the 1946 AAFC championship, Bob Kolesar retired from the game and went to med school at the University of Michigan. He spent his remaining working years operating his own private practice in Saginaw. bob Kolesar died on January 13, 2004.
Cliff Lewis
Cliff Lewis was born in Cleveland on March 22, 1923. After leading Lakewood High School to the back to back shares of the Lake Erie League title in football and the 1941 state title game in basketball, Lewis transferred to Staunton Military Academy for his senior year. Despite the late transition, the quarterback proved resilient, scoring 14 touchdowns that year. It was the kind of performance that would catch the attention of both Duke's basketball and football teams.
Before his senior year, Lewis enlisted in the Navy, playing for the Fleet City Bluejackets and winning a national service championship in 1945. Although the Rams drafted him in 1946, he was ruled ineligible because he had too much eligibility left in the college ranks. While the NFL was not an option at the moment, the new AAFC had no such restrictions and he happily signed with the Cleveland Browns.
It was Cliff Lewis, not Otto Graham, that was the Browns' first starting quarterback. He even threw the first touchdown in the franchise's storied history, a 19-yard strike to Mac Speedie in the first quarter of Cleveland's 44-0 route of the Miami Seahawks. His brilliance fizzled thereafter as it quickly became clear that Otto Graham was Paul Brown's starter all along. After all, they did have history together, both serving at the Great Lakes Naval Academy during the war, building a chemistry that Cliff Lewis simply didn't have with Paul Brown at the time. After three games (and three victories), Lewis was benched in favor of Graham.
But all was not lost for the young ballplayer. While his quarterbacking days were effectively over, he turned out to be a terrific defensive back. picking off five passes as a rookie and topping off with nine in 1948. By the time he retired in 1951, he had nabbed 30 interceptions. Every one of his professional football seasons was with the Browns and he retired with four AAFC championships and an NFL title.
He kept his nose in the game while in retirement by serving as a color commentator for the Browns. Later on, he served as the vice president of insurance administration for the New York Yankees after George Steinbrenner bought the team in 1973. Cliff Lewis died in Tampa, Florida on July 25, 2002.
Bill Lund
Bill Lund was born in Akron on October 27, 1924. Although he enlisted in the Navy during World War II, he was allowed to stay at Case Western University under the V-12 rule to continue his studies in engineering. In the spring of 1944, he won the long jump in the AAU track championship in New York City. Later that fall, he was moved from halfback to fullback and by the end of the year he was not only Case Western's leading rusher, but also its leading passer and kicker too. Indeed, a man of many talents.
Although he was drafted by the Rams in 1945, he never played for the team as he was still serving in the Navy in San Diego. By the time the Browns contacted him, the war was over and so was his service. Despite his many talents, Lund only played two years of professional football, rushing for two touchdowns and catching three more. Although Paul Brown traded him to the Rockets in 1948, he never played for them, electing to pursue a career in engineering. He was confident that he could accomplish a lot in that field, as he had spent his offseasons working at Thompson Products.
He worked at Hummet Corp. in New Jersey as well as Sherwood Refractory in Cleveland before co-founding Concorde Casting, an aerospace components manufacturer where he would remain the rest of his working days. Bill Lund died on September 27, 2008.
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