Sport: Praying Professionals

Anyone who says that professional football lacks the old college try will get an argument out of Paul Brown, coach of Cleveland’s pro Browns. He has made it his business to see that his men enjoy the game as much as the paycheck. “The greatest professionals play for pleasure,” he insists. “I have probably the most amateur professional team in captivity.”

In the new All-America Conference, which in one year has gained the respect though not the recognition of its rival 26-year-old National Football League, Brown’s amateur-professional Browns* last season won 12 out of 14 games. This week they edged out the Chicago Rockets, 31-28, have now won 6 out of 7.

No Place for Butch. Paul Brown is unmoved by the ballyhoo that surrounds All-America stars. Says he: “Stars are often figments of sportswriters’ imaginations. I want high-grade, intelligent men. There’s no place on my team for big Butch who talks hard and drinks hard. I like a lean and hungry look.”

To get the type of player he wants, Brown sends his scouts to small colleges. From Nevada, he picked up Negro fullback Marion Motley, who is already being spoken of as a more devastating line-plunger than Army’s “Doc” Blanchard. He collected a great pass-catching end (Mac Speedie) from the University of Utah, a great punter (“Horse” Gillom) from Massillon (Ohio) High School, the best place-kicker in the land (Lou Groza), who never played varsity at any college. The only big-time college hero on his squad is his passer, trigger-armed Otto Graham, late of Northwestern.

Classroom Coach. Paul Brown believes in giving his “lean and hungry” hirelings brief workouts—never more than two hours at a time. Says he: “If a man learns and studies first, practice doesn’t have to be too long. Using the brain saves energy.”

At the start of the season, every player on the Browns is handed a looseleaf notebook with his name lettered on it in gold. Coach Brown expects his players to take down everything he says in “skull practice.” He inspects the notebooks, and even insists that they be neat.

His Browns practice only three times a week, but spend a lot of time in Teacher Brown’s classroom. “I talk to them exactly as I lectured college students [at Ohio State University] and I expect them to respond as students.” An excerpt from the notebook of Quarterback Cliff Lewis: “Defense is mainly desire—the will to get this thing over with is the only thing that can end it. Tackling will win or lose a game. Gang them viciously.”

On the field, Brown’s instructions are quietly delivered. Says he: “Days of ranting and raving are over. This has become a cold, analytical business. You can’t bamboozle a professional or even a college or high-school player with corn. The desire to win you create that way is short-lived. It blows up with the first adversity. You can’t talk a man into doing a job right. He learns only by doing it a hundred times, under exacting supervision.”

Despite the fact that they are hard-boiled pros (getting from $4,000 to $15,000 a season), the players have a team spirit like a prep school squad’s. Led by Team Captain Lou Saban, the Browns huddle in the dressing room before a game and pray that they will do their best and enjoy the competition. They finish with the Lord’s Prayer. It is not on Coach Brown’s orders: he is never present at the praying and does not require it. But, says he, “I’m a God-fearing man.”

-Named after the coach.