The STRANGEST QUARTERBACK MOVE in Cleveland Browns HISTORY | 1968 Browns

[@bdautch20]

Frank Ryan had a PhD in applied mathematics, considered to be one of the toughest doctorates you can get. Incredibly intelligent guy.

[@GetRidOfCivilAssetForfeiture]

He even wrote the first software for electronic voting in Congress.

[@denisceballos9745]

Yeah, they called him Dr. Frank Ryan because he was a PhD. Good team leader - had Jim Brown in the backfield and still threw a lot of TDs. Finished his career with Vince Lombardi in Washington.

[@jamesage24]

I've determined JG9 has an additional catch phrase: "In other words..."

[@DolFan316]

Congratulations, you have earned official status as an OJG9 Fanboi. 👏👏👏 Not many people on the planet can or will achieve this tremendous honor.

[@jamesage24]

@@DolFan316 Thank you kind sir. 🏆

[@Daniel-cu8zt]

Collier was 79-38-1 from 1963 to 1970. Never had a losing season, guided the Browns to the last NFL championship. The guy should be in Canton.

[@DolFan316]

Considering who's been voted in the past few years, absolutely.

[@lsmftymf]

What doesn't help Collier's induction chances is that he coached in the shadow of Paul Brown and his contemporaries included Vince Lombardi, Tom Landry, Don Shula and Hank Stram. What does help is Collier is comparable to Weeb Ewbank who is a HOF inductee.

[@vince065us]

Facts.

[@karlcooper7016]

Collier was also an underrated coach he proceeded the great Paul Brown and won a championship.

[@DolFan316]

I think you mean he succeeded Brown. Preceded means coming before, not after.

[@karlcooper7016]

@@DolFan316 Yea you are righto sport.

[@porterwake3898]

Paul Brown was probably still trying to run wing T.

[@reidcraig3739]

I give props for the Patrick Star reference

[@MillionaireWizard]

This unofficial Jaguar Gator 9 historian will remind everyone about the time when the Denver Broncos swapped Quarterbacks on every single play during a 1992 game against the Dallas Cowboys.

[@benjaminfeige7986]

And they played without a true QB in a 2020 game against the Saints!

[@TheMrSuge]

Frank Ryan was the Browns only starter from 1963 to 1967. In those 5 years in the middle of the decade he actually led NFL QB's in TD passes. He threw more TD passes than Jurgensen. More than Unitas. More than Tarkenton, More than Don Meredith. More than Brodie, Gabriel or Johnson. Way more than Bart Starr. He even threw more TD passes than Namath did over in the pass happy AFL. So he led the NFL in TD passes during a time period that was considered a bit of a golden era for QB's. That, with his excellent winning pct. and the fact he won a championship says he deserves HOF consideration. He's very underrated. Ryan was not afraid to run. He scrambled a good deal. Over the course of those 5 years he basically took a lot of physical punishment and eventually he just wore down. If I recall, he played with all sorts of injuries in '67, and it affected his performance, and in '68 it was obvious that he was not the same player, physically. Also, there is a theory amongst Browns media and fans that he had to be replaced because his skill set didn't fit the offense anymore. They'd drafted Milt Morin, a very good TE, with their first round pick in 1966, moved their then TE, Johnny Brewer, to linebacker to make room for him, then watched as Ryan rarely threw him the ball, preferring to throw to his wideouts and running backs instead (Ryan threw a GREAT deep ball; of course he had Paul Warfield and Gary Collins running underneath it !!!). Nelsen, as I recall, would throw to the TE, a lot, and that's what the coaches wanted to see. It certainly made the offense click. I remember announcers at the time describing Nelsen as a QB that employed a "short passing game" while Ryan, in contrast, was more of a "vertical offense" guy.

[@karlcooper7016]

Nelson had bad knees but you couldn't tell by his play.

[@DolFan316]

For a decade from '63-72 the Browns actually had the 3rd best winning percentage out of teams in the NFL and AFL. Only the Colts and Raiders were better.

[@DolFan316]

Ryan still has the 3rd most career TD passes in Browns history. Think about that for a minute or three.

[@leorickt.9604]

Its been a rough few decades

[@Fireyninjadog]

Switching qbs at 3am. Gone wrong-Jaystation

[@astrostar49]

Seems like no one ever speaks of Frank Ryan as one of the better passers of his era. And he was a champion. Weird.

[@bajikimran2304]

Frank Ryan never started another NFL game. His last game was a mop up role in a blowout loss to Dallas in 1970 as a member of the Redskins. Nelson had a couple of decent years in Cleveland, but retired because of bad knees and he had lost his starting job to Mike Phipps. If you want to do a good analysis video, breakdown the disastrous trade of Paul Warfield to Miami in 1970. Before the 1970 draft, the Browns sent star receiver Paul Warfield to Miami for their first pick in the 1970 draft (#3 overall). At #1, the Steelers took Terry Bradshaw, at #2 the Packers selected Mike McCoy, acquiring the pick in a trade with the Bears. The Browns at #3, selected big arm Purdue quarterback Mike Phipps. The Browns finally had their big arm QB. The problem was, with Warfield gone, Phipps had no one to throw to and was constantly trying to make plays that were not there. As a result Phipps became a pass interception looking for a place to happen. He lost his starting job by 1974 and was traded to the Bears, where he finished his career, mostly in a backup role. In a 119 game NFL career, he threw 55 touchdown passes and 108 interceptions. While the Browns traded a Hall of fame receiver to acquire Phipps, they unbelievably got one back when they traded him to Chicago for their first round pick in 1978. The player they drafted? Ozzie Newsome.

[@CTubeMan]

This unofficial Official Jaguar Gator 9 historian will remind everyone you made a video about multiple Browns players getting arrested early one morning in 2001. Chadwick White, your move.

[@denisceballos9745]

Blanton Collier was a good coach. In addition to making the successful transition from Frank Ryan (13) to Bill Nelsen (16), he put Leroy Kelly (44) in to replace Jimmy Brown (32), who quit the team suddenly and went to Hollywood. That worked out pretty well for Cleveland too.

[@24gmj2010]

Yes it did!

[@lsmftymf]

A hearing ailment forced him to retire as head coach. He stayed in the organization as a scout working the Southeastern Conference.

[@zachnoe5545]

That’s how I operate too. My most productive thoughts come at night

[@mayduck1]

It was strange how Ryan slipped quickly from being a top notch QB in 1964-65 to losing a playoff in Dallas 52-14 in 1967 and in 1968 was so bad that he had to be benched and was it true that he hurt his arm in a Pro Bowl game and was not the same since. Blanton Collier was a great coach but also a classy guy and since he knew what a great job Ryan had done in the past I believe he was ready to switch to Nelson before he went to bed but really wanted to stick with Ryan but it was clear that Ryan had peaked and if the Browns wanted to make the playoffs in 1968 a change needed to be made but Ryan had helped Collier win the 1964 NFL Championship so it must have been emotionally tough for Collier to bench Ryan and that led to his sleepless night.

[@porterwake3898]

I don't believe Collier did it because of a bad dream. There were more reasons. Collier could see Ryan was struggling and Nelson was outperforming him in practice.

[@gluserty]

In ranking Browns QB's, I'd go Otto Graham, Frank Ryan, Bernie Kosar, Brian Sipe.

[@erickennedy8534]

How about Mayfield

[@benjaminfeige7986]

@@erickennedy8534 Or Tim Couch!

[@gluserty]

@@erickennedy8534 You can make him the fifth guy if you'd like; I still think Mayfield is good, and even though I like Vinny Testaverde a lot, Mayfield played with the team a little longer and put up better numbers.

[@DolFan316]

@@gluserty What the Browns did to Mayfield is criminal and they should be charged with...something. Yes, I'm serious.

[@gluserty]

@@DolFan316 It's a very weird thing with no one coming off particularly well. Along with this, the Browns have moved on from a couple of Mayfield's targets, so that Browns passing game is being rebuilt.

[@daleburrer1546]

Trivia Question. Who was the starting QB for the Browns in the very first Monday Night Football ever? It was Bill Nelson.

[@rjsweda]

i love your stories taking place in 1960s. could you dig up some from 1950s, i love older football. plus, requsting joe kapp videos, mainly his time in boston & the controversial ending of his career. peace amigo.

[@orbyfan]

In addition to the what-ifs mentioned after the 13:20 mark, what if George Shaw hadn't gotten hurt in Baltimore in 1956?

[@DolFan316]

The one thing I took out of this video was that NFL coaches actually get sleep 😲 Who knew???

[@CTubeMan]

Did he sleep at home or the office?

[@karlcooper7016]

Sometimes its the fault of the OLine not the quarterback or his declining skills a great Oline can sometimes cover a multitude of sins.

[@johncate9541]

Joe Gibbs in his first stint with Washington could win games with any quarterback. And it was all because of the great O-line her had.

[@karlcooper7016]

@@johncate9541 He had not her but yea we agree on this point.

[@RetroYuuki]

This is nice stuff

[@karlcooper7016]

Ryan didn't throw the ball he flicked it.

[@sandyboggs8099]

Sidearm

[@karlcooper7016]

Bill Nelson was underrated kinda like Darryl Lemonica.

[@miketemple7686]

Nah, there seems to be a bit of dramatics sewed into this one. My guess is the QB change had been on Coach Collier’s mind for a while, that’s probably why he couldn’t sleep. Good night sleep or not, this switch was going to happen.

[@DolFan316]

Bad night of sleep my ass. This was '68, Collier had just dropped acid for the first time and had a bad trip.

[@darrellmayberry7784]

funny as Blanton Collier looks like your typical Dead Head.

[@Rantman9]

I've asked before, with no response, wasn't it Steve DeBerg that declined to start a game then was thrust into it, throw for over 300 & winning the game

[@Rantman9]

@Musical Box I recall the reply he gave to the reporters following the game was "don't try picking my brain, there's nothing there" (classic quote from an always classy team player! Every QB that replaced him either made the HoF or had a long career thanks to him. Ppl forget that he came out of retirement to lead the Falcons to the playoffs)

[@frothierwaif3290]

So he got sacked a lot basically? And couldn't throw the ball😅😅

[@porterwake3898]

A joke that the Browns haven't had a good QB since the 80s. Ryan, Sipe, and Kosar are still the greatest Browns QBs ever. I guess it could be worse....the Jets haven't had shit since the 60s.

[@tigercap100]

Love your vids. But I don't think it's that crazy at all

[@dantheman5745]

Was thinking the exact same thing. Most coaches agonize over such a consequential decision. Stressful decisions cause many people to lose sleep.

[@sawyerprincl4102]

Why are you always depressed

[@DolFan316]

Benching Dalton for Finley and Bortles for Kessler sure worked out well. Oh wait...

[@mcray0309]

Ayo the u in the word "quarterback" isnt underlined

[@OfficialJaguarGator9]

The font I use for thumbnails, for whatever reason, doesn’t underline the letter U. Not sure why

[@TmoneybagsWalker]

Nah fam, Bernie number 2

[@bjmartin1215]

Blanton Collier would have made the change anyway, whether he got a good night's sleep or not. The lack of sleep was just a byproduct of him thinking about making a change. 🤎 🤍 🧡 ..... To God be the Glory.