Paul Brown and the Birth of the Cincinnati Bengals.

      
     When I was a kid, growing up in Berea Ohio, a suburb of football-crazy Cleveland, Blanton Collier was Coach of the Browns.  But I got interested in reading about football, and read about the incredible Browns teams of the 1940s and 1950s, how Coach Paul Brown started the team in the All-America Conference and won all four championships that that league ever head, then came to the NFL and continued to win Championships.  At the same time, the players seemed to be always quality individuals, like Lou Groza who lived in our town and was universally loved.  I remember asking my Dad, "Dad, what happened to Coach Paul Brown?"  The stunning, incomprehensible reply was, "Art Modell fired him, son."
        That didn't make sense to me.  How could this fantastic Coach who won so many games and produced so many outstanding players have been fired?  Surely there was some mistake?
      The firing of Paul Brown rocked not only by little world, but the Ohio football universe. This was an event that rocked Ohio football for decades.  Paul Brown was not just a Coach, but one of the greatest of all time.  His Browns didn't even start in the NFL, nor the AFL, but the now-defunct All-America Conference, which existed from 1946 to 1949. The Browns won all four championships during the league's existence, going 47-4-3. Many observers thought that Paul Brown was a coaching genius, and his team was the equal of any in the NFL. Of course the majority of sportswriters pooh-poohed that idea, smugly agreeing that the caliber of the rival league was in no way comparable to the NFL.  This belief went out the window after the Browns won their first game in the NFL, versus the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles.   They won the NFL Championship that year also.

Brown's teams won 3 NFL Championships and finished first in their conference 10 straight years and 12 times out of 13.  He was every bit the equal of Bill Belichick. He had many of the same personal characteristics too, including a desire for total control of football operations, and a stern, demanding personality that put off many players. 

Later, I came to understand that it wasn't just about football.  There were very complex, serious financial issues.  The previous owners of the Browns, had an understanding with Coach Brown that he would have an increasing ownership role of the franchise.  Not everything was in writing, and thus it is hard to say how much obligation Modell and the team had to its only Coach.  Even today we may not know the full story, but in order for Modell to get out from under that commitment, he felt that he needed to fire Brown.

     That is not the first time a Coach has been fired, nor would it be the last.  But coaching wasn't just a job for Brown--any one of several teams would surely have hired him at top dollar--but it was the loss of HIS team, and probably millions of dollars.  In any case Paul Brown took it very hard, and never forgave Modell.  

     For a few years Paul Brown stayed away from the game, and became almost a recluse.  But gradually, Brown decided to rebuild.  Rather than taking a ready-made job in the NFL, he would become Coach and Owner of an expansion team in Cincinnati Bengals.  He would re-do what he had done in Cleveland.   Hence the Cincinnati Bengals were born.

    Growing up in Cleveland, nobody that I know of was upset that there was a new Ohio team in the AFL team.  It was more like, hey great!  Our former Coach has a new team!  Twice as much football for us!

    The Bengals were built with some of the same characteristics as his old Browns teams, with quality individuals.  The talent level was not there, but the 1968 Bengals were still a hard nosed running team, with fullback Paul Robinson gaining 1000 yards.  

The 1968 Bengals featured uniforms that were very similar to the Cleveland Browns, and perhaps not surprisingly featured a 1000 yard runner in Paul Robinson, as well as a premier tight end in Bob Trumpy.  

     Brown's team evolved quickly.  The 1969 team featured an outstanding quarterback in Greg Cook, who played his college ball at the University of Cincinnati, who at that time played under the radar in the Missouri Valley Conference.  By all accounts, Cook was an emerging superstar when as a rookie he led the league  in yards per attempt and yards per completion.  However, he suffered a severe shoulder injury and tried to play through it, which ended his career.  He tried bravely to come back, but was able to throw only three more passes after his rookie season.  There is no way to know for sure how great he might have become, but for one year, rookie Greg Cook was right up there with the likes of Namath and Lamonica.   

Greg Cook is the greatest quarterback you never heard of, playing one year with the Bengals after a sensational career at the University of Cincinnati. 

Despite his look of consternation at the criticism he is receiving from Coach Brown, young Sam Wyche would eventually become Coach of the Bengals and lead the team to the Super Bowl against the 49ers and their Coach, former Bengal Assistant Bill Walsh.

     The merger of the two leagues led to three teams coming to the AFC:  the Browns, Steelers and Colts would play in the new AFC.  As a result, the Bengals and the Browns were in the same division.  The Bengals, of course hated the Browns, and even in exhibition games tried to win at all costs.  To compensate for losing their star quarterback,  Offensive Coordinator Bill Walsh devised a short passing game with Virgil Carter and Sam Wyche at quarterback, which was the forerunner of the West Coast Offense.     The next year, another unknown quarterback, Ken Anderson from tiny Augustana College, would appear on the scene. Eventually, in 1981, Anderson and the Bengals would make it to the Super Bowl, only to be thwarted by their former Offensive Coordinator and the San Francisco 49ers.  

Bill Walsh was possibly not considered to be quite tough enough to succeed Brown as Coach of the Bengals, but he did all right with the 49ers and a kid named Montana.  

   One of the things I didn't like about the merger of the two leagues is that it forced fans to choose between the Browns and the Bengals.  Browns fans have had our ups and downs with Art Modell for firing Brown.  It didn't bother us a bit to see our old Coach restart his career in Cincinnati.  We could understand why Paul Brown hated Modell and his former team, but we didn't hate the Bengals, at least not at first.   Brown had done nothing wrong but get fired by Modell.
     Sometimes I used to get into disputes about whether it was fair game to be a Browns fan, but to have a dislike for the owner.   My friend Morris and I used to argue about that.  I was still upset at Modell for firing both Marty Schottenheimer and Paul Brown as well as many other sins (trading Hall of Famer Paul Warfield for Mike Phipps comes to mind).  Morris used to say that I was not a true Browns fan for not supporting Mr. Modell.  Well, one fateful day in 1995, that little debate was ended. Morris,almost in tears, admitted I was right about Modell.  Paul Brown's team was moving to Baltimore.