Paul Brown fired as Browns coach by Art Modell 60 years ago
Long before the Browns became known for firing their head coach every few years, they executed the most significant shake-up at the position in franchise history by ousting the man for whom the team is named.
The 60th anniversary of former Browns owner Art Modell removing the iconic Paul Brown as head coach and general manager falls on this Black Monday, a nervous time for many NFL staffs coming off season finales.
From a modern-day perspective, a twist lies in Modell firing Brown three and a half weeks after the 1962 season had ended, and the dismissal was doled out on a Wednesday — Jan. 9, 1963 — though Modell told the Beacon Journal back then he had made up his mind two days earlier — on a Monday.
Brown died on Aug. 5, 1991, at the age of 82. Modell died on Sept. 6, 2012, at 87.
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Their football divorce was one for the ages and changed the landscape of the sport forever because it led to Brown spearheading the formation of the Cincinnati Bengals, who started playing in 1968 and joined the NFL in 1970 when the league merged with the AFL.
“[Cleveland’s] franchise and Paul Brown were so closely connected to the Northeast Ohio community, [with Brown] having been at Massillon and Ohio State and the Cleveland Browns, and they had great success,” Pro Football Hall of Fame historian Joe Horrigan said last week by phone. “I think all of that tied together made it much more personal.
“Sometimes a very popular coach for a team is fired, but he doesn’t have the connection that Paul Brown had with the greater community, if you will. When Tom Landry was fired in Dallas, maybe it was the only other one comparable to me because he was so beloved.”
In a story published on Jan. 15, 1963, Beacon Journal reporters Loren Tibbals and Jack Patterson set a scene in which they persuaded Modell in his Lakewood apartment to explain why he fired Brown. Modell had been vague in the initial wave of announcements and comments a week earlier, merely stating he did what was best for the team.
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What former Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell told the Beacon Journal about his decision to fire Paul Brown
Finally, Modell offered more to Tibbals and Patterson, both of whom were reporting the story while a newspaper strike in Cleveland affected the coverage.
“There were maybe 25 reasons why I fired Paul Brown,” Modell told them, “ … but only two were really important.
“First of all, in my considered opinion, I don’t believe the maximum potential of the ball club was being realized.
“Secondly, it was reliably reported to me that, for various reasons, no less than seven key players — and these weren’t rookies, believe me — weren’t coming back next year under the same conditions.
“This was the beginning of the end for the Browns. … It was the start of the complete collapse of our club.”
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As Tibbals and Patterson tried to pry relevant answers from Modell, they cited reports of what legendary Browns running back Jim Brown had conveyed to sports writers covering the Pro Bowl on the West Coast about the firing of his coach.
Jim Brown told Melvin Durslag of the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, “I can truthfully say I was close to the situation and I feel Modell had good reason doing what he did.” Jim Brown added the team would experience improved morale as a result of Paul Brown’s departure.
“Football players,” Jim Brown said, “don’t like to be treated as inferiors.”
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Tibbals and Patterson reported Modell opened up when they asked whether Jim Brown’s feelings were his own or reflective of the entire team.
Modell broke his silence, saying player dissatisfaction with Paul Brown “presented a crisis.”
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Ten years ago, Bengals owner Mike Brown addressed many aspects of his father’s firing, including Modell pointing to a threat from disgruntled players, in a Columbus Dispatch story written by Todd Jones.
“That was essentially a power struggle,” Mike Brown told Jones. “My father controlled the franchise contractually through his stature in town. Art Modell wanted to control the franchise in every way. As long as my father was there, he couldn’t.
“It was a big fight. It was a long time ago. Anymore, nobody cares, probably. I’ll always care.”
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