66: Blanton Collier-NFL

Blanton Collier was the last coach to lead the Cleveland Browns to an NFL Championship; and he did so in 1964. Amazingly, if you ask most Browns fans who the last coach was to lead the team to a Championship most will say Paul Brown. Of course, Brown, for whom the team is named, was at the helm for a combined seven AAFC and NFL Championships. But his last title with Cleveland came in 1955. Sure, he led the Browns to a championship appearance in 1956, but that was the end of Paul Brown’s championship run. He was let go after the 1962 season and in stepped Blanton Collier who had the tall task of replacing a legend and rebuilding a championship pedigree. It didn’t take long. After the Browns had gone 7-6-1 in Paul Brown’s last year, Collier immediately restored Cleveland’s winning ways by leading the team to a 2nd Place finish in the Eastern Conference with a 10-4 mark. In 1964, Collier and the Browns went 10-3-1 and shutdown the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in the championship game 27-0. In all, Collier served as the head coach of the Browns for eight years, his worst season was his last when Cleveland went 7-7. But from 1964 through 1969, Cleveland was a threat to win the NFL Championship every year as Blanton Collier had the team rolling on all cylinders despite dealing with a major disability, management’s interference that led to the retirement of Jim Brown, and the fact that he was continually compared to his legendary predecessor. Despite Collier’s success, so few Cleveland fans recall the championship years of Blanton Collier and most would have trouble naming the coach of the last Browns team to win a championship. Roger Gordon who has written several books on the Browns, Indians and Cavaliers, including the recently released, “Blanton’s Browns” returns to Sports’ Forgotten Heroes for an in-depth discussion on a coach whom all players loved. Links: Sports' Forgotten Heroes website Sports' Forgotten Heroes Patreon Page Sports' Forgotten Heroes twitter © 2019 Sports' Forgotten Heroes