1948 Cleveland Browns season

Cleveland finished the 1947 season with a 12–1–1 win-loss-tie record and beat the New York Yankees to win its second straight AAFC championship. While the team was successful in those first two years of existence, head coach Paul Brown made numerous roster changes before the 1948 season. He brought in linebacker Alex Agase and defensive tackle Chubby Grigg via a trade with the Chicago Rockets. Frank Gatski took over at the position after Scarry's retirement. Don Greenwood, a halfback who featured in the team's first two seasons, retired after sustaining a serious cheekbone injury in 1947 and accepted a job as head football coach at Cuyahoga Falls High School in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Browns games were televised for the first time in 1948 on 84 stations across the country. Only away games were shown in northeast Ohio; they were presented by Bob Neal and Stan Gee, who had announced Browns games on WGAR-AM radio in 1946 and 1947. The entry of a new ownership group of the Brooklyn Dodgers in the offseason that included Branch Rickey affected the Browns' schedule in 1948. Rickey, an executive for baseball's Brooklyn Dodgers, convinced Brown to schedule a late-season road trip during which Cleveland would play three teams in eight days: the New York Yankees, the Los Angeles Dons and the San Francisco 49ers. The plan was part of an effort to bring more attention to the AAFC and help attendance by sending its most successful team on a cross-country road trip, a strategy that had worked in baseball. ==Roster and coaching staff==

Schedule ==Preseason game summaries==

Cleveland held its training camp at the campus of Bowling Green State University, as it had the previous two years. Two preseason games were scheduled, one against the Buffalo Bills at the Rubber Bowl in Akron, Ohio and a second against the Baltimore Colts at the Glass Bowl in Toledo, Ohio. Week 1: vs. Buffalo Bills • Source: Plain Dealer Cleveland's first preseason game was a victory over the Bills in Akron. The Browns scored three touchdowns in the first quarter, first on an interception return by Cliff Lewis and then on a pair of passes from quarterback Otto Graham to Dean Sensanbaugher and Mac Speedie. Cleveland lost its second preseason game, played against the Baltimore Colts in 100-degree heat in Toledo, Ohio. Browns placekicker Lou Groza opened the scoring with an 18-yard field goal in the first quarter, and a touchdown by fullback Ollie Cline later in the period put the Browns up 10–0. Baltimore responded in the second quarter with a touchdown pass by quarterback Y. A. Tittle to receiver Jake Leicht. Cline ran for another touchdown soon thereafter, however, once more giving the Browns a 10-point lead. Colts receiver Lamar Davis caught a 25-yard touchdown pass at the end of the second quarter. Cleveland led 17–14 at halftime. Neither team scored again until the fourth quarter, when Baltimore's Bus Mertes ran for a 38-yard touchdown and secured the 21–17 win. A number of Cleveland players suffered injuries during the game. Graham hurt his hand, Motley strained his back and end Dante Lavelli suffered a broken leg. Lavelli's injury sidelined him for the first seven games of the regular season. During the game, Baltimore players Hub Bechtol and Lew Mayne, a former Brown, tapped a phone line that went from Cleveland's press box to its sideline. This allowed the Colts to listen in on coaches' conversations and anticipate the Browns' play-calling. ==Regular season==

Week 1: vs. Los Angeles Dons • Source: Pro Football Reference The Browns opened the regular season with a win at home against the Los Angeles Dons. The Dons had beaten the Chicago Rockets in their season opener the week before, but they struggled against the Browns. Cleveland built a 19–0 lead after the first three quarters on touchdowns by Ara Parseghian and Bill Boedeker, a Lou Groza field goal and a safety. The Dons, however, almost pulled off a comeback with just 30 seconds remaining in the game. The scoring began with touchdowns in the first quarter by halfback Bob Cowan and Marion Motley. The teams combined for eight fumbles and four interceptions, and play was stopped several times to break up fights. The Browns did not score in the first half, but came back to win the game in the second. A few minutes later, the Browns evened the score after a pass from Graham set up a short touchdown run by Edgar Jones. While the Dodgers had not won a game all season, they started off strong against Cleveland. Edgar Jones scored the Browns' first touchdown on the team's third offensive play on a 35-yard pass from Graham. Graham then threw two more touchdowns in the second quarter to Bob Cowan and Mac Speedie. A Baltimore turnover on downs early in the game set up the Browns' first score, a short touchdown run by Edgar Jones in the first quarter. The game was eagerly anticipated by both sides: San Francisco had started the season with 10 victories, while the Browns had won their first nine games. The 49ers relied heavily on their offense, which featured quarterback Frankie Albert and end Alyn Beals. The team came into the matchup with the Browns averaging 35.9 points per game. The Browns, meanwhile, were more proficient than the 49ers on defense and in placekicking: the team ranked first in the AAFC in fewest points allowed, and Groza held the league record for the longest field goal. The game began with a San Francisco fumble of Cleveland's opening kickoff that was recovered by Lou Saban. Several plays later, Graham ran 14 yards for a touchdown, giving the Browns their first points. San Francisco responded later in the period with a rushing touchdown by Joe Perry to tie the score. It was the first of three road games the Browns were scheduled to play in a span of eight days. The Browns opened the scoring early in the first quarter with a screen pass from Graham to Motley, who ran 78 yards for a touchdown. The Dons began the scoring in the first quarter with a 75-yard drive engineered by quarterback Glenn Dobbs. While the Browns had won their first 12 games, the rematch against the 49ers was significant because the 49ers held an 11–1 record, their only loss coming against the Browns two weeks earlier. The teams were both in the AAFC's Western Division, and a loss would have put the Browns in a tie with the 49ers for the lead. The teams' combined 23–1 record was the best ever for two professional squads in one game, and as of 2007, has not been surpassed. Graham was initially considered doubtful for the game because of the knee injury he suffered against the Dons, but team trainer Wally Bock cleared him to play. The game began with a 49ers fumble on their first play from scrimmage. The Browns began the game by scoring 31 unanswered points. The first score came on a short Dub Jones run that followed an 80-yard drive in the first quarter. The next score came on a 76-yard drive in the second quarter. After a pair of passes and a 14-yard run by Edgar Jones, Graham completed a long touchdown pass to Lavelli, who sped away from defender Monk Gafford on the right sideline. Graham engineered another long drive just before the end of the first half, completing 18- and 20-yard passes to Speedie. The 90-yard march ended with a short touchdown run by Graham, giving Cleveland a 21–0 advantage at the half. Groza kicked a field goal at the beginning of the third quarter, and a fumble by Gafford on the ensuing kickoff led to a touchdown pass from Graham to Gillom, putting the Browns up by 31 points. With a comfortable lead, Brown took out his starters and substituted third-string players. The Dodgers proceeded to score three touchdowns, two of which came on long passes from Bob Chappuis, but the Browns won the game 31–21. The win left the Browns on top of the standings in the AAFC's Western Division ahead of San Francisco, which had lost only two games, both to the Browns. The perfect regular season record was the first in professional football since 1942, when the National Football League's Chicago Bears won all of their games. Chicago, however, lost the NFL championship that year. ==Final standings==

• Source: Pro Football Reference The Browns won the AAFC's Western Division with their perfect record and faced the Buffalo Bills, the winners of the Eastern Division, in the AAFC championship game. The Bills had tied with the Colts for the lead in the Eastern, forcing a playoff that the Buffalo won on December 12 in Baltimore. The championship game took place in Cleveland in 35-degree weather and was sparsely attended. The Browns were expected to win the game, having beaten the Bills twice in the regular season and possessing a significantly better record than the 7–7 Bills. The scoring began with a late-first-quarter Edgar Jones touchdown run, followed by a fumble return for a touchdown by George Young in the second period that put the Browns ahead 14–0 at halftime. Cleveland scored two more touchdowns in the third quarter on runs by Jones and Motley before Buffalo scored its first points. Aided by a roughing the kicker penalty on the Browns, the Bills capped an 80-yard drive with a short touchdown pass from Jim Still to Al Baldwin. Motley scored two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter, however, and Lou Saban ran back an interception for a third to make the final score 49–7. Motley and Edgar Jones led the Browns offense in the game, accounting for a large share of the team's offensive production. Graham had an uncharacteristically quiet day, passing for just 118 yards on 11 completions. The victory made the Browns the first professional team to win three league championships in a row, following AAFC titles they won in 1946 and 1947. It was also the first time a professional football team finished a full season unbeaten and untied since a championship game was instituted in the NFL in 1933. The Chicago Bears had finished with perfect records in 1934 and 1942, but lost the NFL championship both times. The Browns had won 18 consecutive games stretching to the 1947 season, a professional record that stood until 2004. In the NFL, the Philadelphia Eagles won the championship 7–0 during a blizzard in Philadelphia's Shibe Park. Following the win, Eagles owner Alexis Thompson advocated a championship game between the top teams in the NFL and the AAFC, in part because he was losing money and felt an inter-league championship would draw large crowds. Thompson was also a leading proponent among NFL owners of negotiation with the AAFC over a deal to ease the leagues' competition for talent, which had driven up salaries and was eating into owners' profits. Thompson met with Browns owner Mickey McBride and agreed to a playoff – either one game in Yankee Stadium or a best-of-three series with games in Philadelphia, Cleveland and possibly New York. Thompson's proposal was shot down by other NFL owners, however, and he was given a reprimand by commissioner Bert Bell for suggesting the NFL-AAFC championship. Frustrated with his financial losses and lack of support among the owners, Thompson sold the Eagles shortly after the season ended. ==Season leaders and postseason==

Graham finished the season with the most passing yards in the AAFC and was named the league's Most Valuable Player, sharing the honor with Frankie Albert of the 49ers. Motley led the league in rushing, and Groza scored the most field goals in the league for the second year in a row. Speedie, meanwhile, had the most overall receptions and receptions per game of all receivers in the AAFC and NFL for the second year running. The Associated Press named Graham, Speedie and Motley to the first team of its combined AAFC-NFL All-Pro team, while Lou Rymkus and Bill Willis made the second team. The magazine Sporting News put Motley and Speedie on its first-team All-Pro list and put Graham and Willis on its second team. Cleveland's top players also made All-Pro teams assembled by the New York Daily News, United Press International and the AAFC itself. The Browns' perfect season and third championship victory came during a strong year for Cleveland sports teams. That April, the Cleveland Barons, the city's American Hockey League team, won the Calder Cup championship. The Cleveland Indians, the city's Major League Baseball club, set an all-time season attendance record and won the World Series. The Browns' success was also a major draw for fans: the team led professional football in attendance in 1948 with an average of 45,517 people per game, although that was still 10,000 lower than the year before. The distribution of talent and fortune among AAFC's teams was unbalanced, however, and while the Browns, the 49ers and the Dons were successes at the gate, teams including the Rockets and Colts languished financially. The NFL was also facing major financial trouble – nine of its ten teams lost money that year – and the two leagues' competition for talent led to talks about a merger. Discussions centered around how many AAFC teams the NFL would absorb; most owners favored four teams, but the talks broke down when powerful owners George Preston Marshall of the Washington Redskins and Tim Mara of the New York Giants intervened and suggested only Cleveland and San Francisco should be absorbed. The AAFC continued play in 1949, but was disbanded after that season. The Browns, 49ers and Colts were merged into the NFL starting in 1950. ==Perfect season controversy==

In winning all of their regular season games and the AAFC championship, the Browns recorded the first perfect season in professional football since the advent of NFL championships in 1933. The feat has been duplicated only once since, by the Miami Dolphins in 1972. When the AAFC faltered and dissolved after the 1949 season and the NFL absorbed the Browns, their new league did not recognize AAFC statistics, including the perfect season. The Pro Football Hall of Fame, however, recognizes it as a perfect season. In 2008, United States Senator Sherrod Brown, who represents Ohio in the United States Congress, sent a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell asking the league to recognize AAFC championships and team records including the perfect season. At the time, the New England Patriots were undefeated as they prepared for the Super Bowl against the New York Giants, a game they went on to lose. Dante Lavelli also advocated for the NFL to adopt AAFC records. ==References==