The MOMENT That SAVED Lou Groza's CAREER | 1964 Browns

[@dougclark7077]

One of the biggest thrills I ever had was meeting Lou Groza some years ago. He had come to our city to sign copies of his book at a gift shop, and he graciously agreed to pose for a photo with me. My mother took the photo and I had it enlarged to an 8X10. A very kind man. I will always remember him fondly.

[@tedkijeski339]

I love seeing those 5-10-yard field goal attempts from when they had the goal posts in the end zone, when the challenge was lifting the ball high enough to clear the crossbar at such a short distance.

[@tygrkhat4087]

In the book The First Fifty Years, a celebration of the the NFL's 50th Anniversary in 1969; an all-time team was picked and one player was chosen to represent each position. Lou Groza was the kicker.

[@squealingsalamander6546]

I mean how many good kickers were there before the 70s

[@CTubeMan]

You said it’s fun to see Lou Groza kick. It’s also fun to see the man in the brown suit, Abraham Abraham, catching his field goals.

[@jg53fuzzy89]

Goddamn son, this was your best storytelling yet man. Outstanding

[@lukeheaton5336]

Check out the leg whip by the wing man @7:37.

[@davidabney7700]

Lou was an all time favorite licker of mine. When the chips were down,Lou would deliver. When I think of the 1960's Cleveland Browns, there are four great players of that Browns team that always come to mind. That would be the all time greatest running back in history Jim Brown, Quarterback Frank Ryan, running back Leroy Kelly, and place kicker Lou. "the toe" Groza. These wonderful players played in a day and time when football was played by men that loved the game, were patriotic, were loyal to their team, and played under the smash mouth rules of pre-1980's NFL. I loved Pro Football then, dropped it in the late 80's when rule changes happened, when players started holding out for more money, teams started betraying their original cities, and by the time kneeling in disrespect of our sacred flag came around, I was long gone as an NFL fan.It had turned into something I did not like! Many old NFL fans like myself, disappeared from game day, just younger, I don't give a damn, fans replaced us. Not all, but way too many in the stands, that disrespect of our flag does not bother them. Rome is falling!

[@robertlevine2827]

I don't know what year this was, but when Jim Thorpe was 50 years old, the halftime show at the NFL Championship Game was Thorpe attempting to drop-kick ten 50-yard field goals. He made nine of them.

[@eugenedenbrook322]

Greatest athlete of his time, maybe ever. Honoured by the King of Norway at the Olympics, only to come home and be stripped of his Olympic medals 😐

[@robertlevine2827]

@@eugenedenbrook322 Sweden--it was in Stockholm. But I hear you.

[@Daniel-cu8zt]

My dads favorite Browns player. Such great footage. His greatness is undoubted.

[@kyle1910]

Tommy Davis's FG percentage was worse than a passer's who spiked the ball into the ground every single play

[@mattpaul5441]

I'm a die hard browns fan. And always put him on the browns mount Rushmore and everyone is always like who is that. My dad actually met him and have a pic of him and my dad in my mancave

[@beast1160]

Legend!!!!!

[@nasetvideos]

Fascinating story and really well done. Lou Groza was before my time, so this was a really interesting history lesson for me on the NFL. Tremendous video footage and story-telling on your part.

[@emanulecasillas9349]

I know you'd be the guy to find this story, but someone said that there was a game where Gary Kubiak was the backup for Denver, and he wasn't active for a game, and was going to church on Sunday. But as he was leaving he got a call from the Broncos as they needed him to replace an injured John Elway, idk if it happened, but it would be an interesting story.

[@charlesbland1073]

A straight on kicker...wow!

[@paulwessel7000]

he was a friend of my dad and I had the honor to meet him when I was a kid. What a great guy with a smile bigger than any I've ever seen

[@mrmoose6619]

Definitely on my Browns Mt. Rushmore, Lou Groza defined the kicking position. I can't imagine kicking in that era. Fields had to be wildly inconsistent... even in the 80's they were. No turf... multi purpose fields, poor conditions later in the year. Besides this being a relatively unknown story... just awesome.

[@tygrkhat4087]

And he kicked in Cleveland, where the field in old Municipal Stadium was of average condition, at best.

[@StAugustine6]

Can we talk about how weird it is to see PATs snapped from the 1-yard line when the goalposts are on the goal line? That's the stat I want to see. Because if someone was less than 100% on PATs (blocked kicks exempted, of course), there's no way they should have had a job.

[@flyinelvis69]

In those day there were few pure kickers. Most kickers were also position players. Some teams went through their roster 3 or 4 times through the year for kickers.

[@Daniel-cu8zt]

Read a book called When all the world was browns town by Terry Pluto.. it's about the 1964 season. Groza was the man.

[@rjsweda]

love the old footage & great info :)

[@kyle1910]

I'm assuming Van Raaphorst was also a straight-ahead kicker. It should also be noted that Groza's successor, Don Cockroft, also had a long tenure with the Browns, also a straight-ahead kicker, though his tenure wasn't nearly as long as Groza's. Cockroft's last game was the Red Right 88 game.

[@NillyNilly546]

One of the few kickers to be in canton, what an icon, it is crazy how even if he retired, the legacy sticks but him fighting back for his job made it even more sweeter.

[@orbyfan]

The Browns not only drafted a kicker when they already had the league's best, but two years earlier, they drafted Ernie Davis when they still had Jim Brown.

[@johnleeson6946]

The Browns traded Bobby Mitchell to get the rights to Ernie Davis. Davis was brought in to compliment Brown, not to replace him. Cleveland wanted a backfield like the Packers had with Paul Hornung and Jim Taylor... Who you gonna block? Who's getting the ball? Who's gonna score on you?!!!

[@robertwilloughby8050]

@@johnleeson6946 Quite right, sir, in fact, wasn't it on Jim Brown's own recommendation that they drafted Ernie Davis? Ok, it was slightly reluctant on Brown's part, (he thought he could do it all - and he was mostly right, of course!) but recommend Davis he did, and fairly graciously too.

[@camoss3724]

@@johnleeson6946 The Redskins actually drafted Davis No. 1, but he was almost immediately traded to Cleveland for Mitchell. The Redskins were the last NFL team to integrate, and Davis made it known he did not want to play for them. In fact, the city of Washington, D.C., which owned what is now known as RFK Stadium, threatened to revoke the team's lease if it did not draft a black player.

[@johnleeson6946]

@@camoss3724 Ahhh, didn't catch that from watching the movie, "The Express", which details Davis' story. I thought they traded the pick before the draft. "District of Columbia Stadium" until Bobby K. was assassinated.

[@kevinmadden1645]

​@@johnleeson6946'Complement' , not ' Compliment'. Grammar! 6:58

[@bdautch20]

Seeing kicks from inside the 5 yard line when the uprights were on the goal line will never not jolt me.

[@DrSkull1939]

Van Raaphorst died last year in October. He had a son to play for the Falcons but he was probably a number 3

[@suds5214]

I was talking a fellow in Florida who said that his father competed with Groza for the kicking spot initially and was offered the spot by Paul Brown but decided on the military just after WWII.

[@DJAnthrocide]

Looks like he kicked w/out a tee, as well. Very impressive. And more intriguing than today, where kickers are over 90% and there's little drama...

[@Shawshanc]

Lou Groza did kick-offs too and it seemed like he usually made the tackle as well. Anybody else done that lately 😊

[@erwidobi7812]

About 8:00 for title Kinda slimy to make a new rookie start at the 40. He doesn't even know where the locker room is yet.

[@karlcooper8460]

Ironically Tom Dempsey was also a two-way player he played linebacker in highschool.

[@kkwok9]

Football was so much tougher than it is today. These men were tougher, meaner, stronger...not like todays entitled athlete/criminals

[@eddiekulp1241]

You only show Groza doing 8 yard field goals. What the hell

[@westwind03]

The "Toe!"

[@billfeld5883]

Watched him as a kid

[@vdubproductions2646]

Browns to Groza: We’re drafting your replacement Groza to Browns: Oh yeah, watch this. (Hits 2 field goals from 40+ yards out) Dick Van Raaphorst: Oh shit I’m screwed

[@KakashiInWinter]

My Dad would talk about the distinctive THUMP sound of Groza hitting the ball. BTW, although it's probably hyperbole, if this Van Raphorst guy was "broken mentally" after two kicks, he's probably not the guy you want kicking for your team anyway...

[@jimhyland256]

Lou Groza was NFL MVP in 1953.

[@Glide9441]

Most rings in NFL history (I think)

[@scottconner7930]

57 Years Ago

[@denisceballos9745]

Lou Groza wasn’t the only placekicker/position-player in that era. Paul Hornung, Lou Michaels, Bobby Layne, and, of course Pat Summerall were all two-way players. But none as accurate as The Toe (76).

[@stevendalbor9495]

Let's not forget George Blanda. He scored a ton of points on FGs. Until well within my lifetime, Blanda could throw a TD pass, then kick the extra point, like a player in the 1920s. The Toe was great, though. One year he hit 23 of 26 I believe...

[@cdjhyoung]

Add to that list Linebacker Wayne Walker of the Lions (back when they weren't a national joke).

[@Davepool-hs7vr]

Do a video on the day when the Browns fans were throwing beer bottles during a game against Jacksonville.

[@karlcooper8460]

At first glance he looked like Tom Dempsey.

[@hughcapetien]

Interesting story on Groza and his only competitor Dick Van Raaphorst. Living in Dallas from the 50's to the mid to late 60's had the good fortune to watch Lou Groza come to the Cotton Bowl from 1960 to 1967 to play the Cowboys. Groza was the best kicker in the game at the time. Was keenly aware of the draft in 1964 when the Cowboys drafted Mel Renfro out of Oregon St. It just so happened that same year that an obscure kicker out of Cornell U. named Pete Gogolak was signed by the Buffalo Bills after that draft. Gogolak was a far better kicker than Van Raaphorst with that unusual side winder kick. Its a wonder why the Browns did not draft the soccer style kicker over Van Raaphorst? Gogolak no doubt would have dislodged Groza as the team's place kicker. Gogolak's FG range was beyond 50 yards.

[@eugenedenbrook322]

So who gave the thumbs down? Van Raaphorst, or Don Shula (got spanked by Groza's Browns in the title game)?

[@jeffs3752]

It's hilarious how much kicking standards have changed. Lou Groza made 55% of his field goals and made the hall of fame. These days, anything less than 80% gets you cut. He was a good tackle, but kicking was so bad then that he's "The Toe".

[@echobase1648]

Why does the narrator sound like he's in a well?

[@matthewbrotman2907]

Groza played in NFL championship games 16 years apart, 1950 and 1965. Only Tom Brady can beat that.

[@graftonhale6392]

I remember watching him kick back in the early 60's. He was Mr. Automatic! And I also remember him picking up a muffed placement and heaving the football down the field for an attempted forward pass!

[@deansch6089]

Who are "Roger" and "Danny?"

[@frankym69]

2 out of 3 isn't good at all. Lol. Atleast that's not how I was raised. If I told my mom I'm 9 and 2 in the octagon, she'd ask what happened in those 2 and berate me out of love. Good content though.

[@eagebeazthawk290]

Hi