The 1950 NFL Championship Game — Browns and Rams

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By Ron Griffitts

Contributing Columnist

On December 24, 1950 in Cleveland Municipal Stadium the Cleveland Browns (11-2) met the Los Angeles Rams (10-3) for the National Football League Championship.

Both teams had to win playoff games to get to the championship game. The Browns defeated the Giants 8-3 and the Rams got past the Bears 24-14.

The Browns were coached by Paul Brown, for whom the team was named and father of present Bengals general manager Mike Brown. He had as his assistants Weeb Ewbank and Blanton Collier, both of whom went on to become successful head coaches in the NFL.

They were led on offense by quarterback Otto Graham who threw for 1943 yards and 14 touchdowns and rushed for 145 yards and 6 touchdowns, fullback Marion Motley (810 yards, 3 TD’s) and halfback Dub Jones (384 yards, 6 TD’s rushing, 458 yards, 5 TD’s receiving). They also had receivers Max Speedie (548 yards, 1 TD) and Dante Lavelli (565 yards, 5 TD’s).

They were led on defense by Tommy James with 9 interceptions, Warren Lahr with 8 and Ken Gorgal with 6. Lou Groza was their place kicker as well as offensive tackle and converted on 13 0f 19 field goals as many players played both on offense and defense.

The Rams were coached by Joe Stydahar and led on offense by quarterbacks Norm Van Brocklin (2061 yards, 18 TD’s) and Bob Waterfield (1540 yards, 11 TD’s), fullback Dick Hoerner (381 yards, 10 TD’s), halfback Glenn Davis (416 yards, 3 TD’s), receivers Elroy Hirsch (687 yards, 7 TD’s), Tom Fears (1116 yards, 7 TD’s) and Glenn Davis (592 yards 4 TD’s).

They were led on defense by Woodley Lewis with 12 interceptions and Tom Keane with 6. Their place kicker was Bob Waterfield who converted 7 of 14 field goal attempts.

With 29, 751 fans in attendance, the Rams got on the scoreboard first with an 82-yard pass play from Bob Waterfield to Glenn Davis. After Waterfield kicked the extra point the Rams led 7-0.

The Browns answered with a 27-yard TD pass from Otto Graham to Dub Jones and with the extra point conversion by Lou Groza, the score was even 7-7.

The Rams scored another first quarter touchdown on a three-yard Dick Hoerner run. Waterfield converted the extra point and it was 14-7 after the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Browns again got on the board with a touchdown pass from Graham to Dante Lavelli. The extra point was not converted the teams went into halftime with the Rams ahead 14-13.

The Browns took their first lead of the game on a 39-yard pass play from Otto Graham to Dante Lavelli and with the extra point by Lou Groza, Cleveland led 20-14.

The Rams, however, scored the next two touchdowns of the game. One was on a Dick Hoerner 1-yard rushing TD and the other was on a fumble recovered by Larry Brink and returned six yards for a score. Bob Waterfield converted both extra points and going into the fourth quarter, the Rams had a 28-20 lead.

But, the Browns responded with a 14-yard Bob Baumgartner reception from Graham to make it 28-27. With only 20 seconds left in the game, Lou Groza kicked a field goal to give the Browns a 30-28 win.

Both Cleveland and Los Angeles were back in the championship game in 1951.

All three of the two teams’ quarterbacks, Otto Graham, Norm Van Brocklin and Bob Waterfield would later be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Statistics for this article were from pro-football-reference.com and Youtube.com.

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