Customer Reviews

The Best Show in Football: The 1946-1955 Cleveland Browns--Pro Football's Greatest Dynasty

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"The Best Show in Football" is about the first 10 years of the Cleveland Browns franchise, 1946-'55. The Browns played in their league championship in each of those years, winning 7. It is author Piascik's firm conviction that the Browns were the top dynasty in the history of pro football. (The other contenders are the 1940-`46 Bears, the `61-'67 Packers, the '74-'79 Steelers and the '81-'89 San Francisco 49ers). BSF ventures deep into the history of the old All America Football Conference and its' absorption into the National Football League. BSF is a virtual whirl of players, coaches, stadia and a myriad of franchise shifts. Try tracing the roots of the Colts franchise! There is a plethora of recollections from the `40s and `50s adding up to a mini history of pro football in those heady years after WW2. Piascik also offers deep analysis of most aspects of the game-almost to the point of paralysis! A cardinal point of BSF is the integration of the National Football League. The Browns signed Bill Willis and Marion Motley to contracts for the 1946 season and were far more progressive in signing black players than many other teams. The LA Rams and Detroit Lions are offered as examples of teams that were not. BSF is very well researched and documented. Author Piascik contacted 58 former NFL and AAFC players and provides a season by season scorecard of players shifts on the '46-'55 rosters. He has done his homework! Rating BSF is difficult: For hardcore Browns fans-and certainly for Ohio natives-this is a 5 star production. Younger fans and those from other parts of the country may not be so enthusiastic. 4 stars appear to be a fair call. BSF is noteworthy for its portrait of pro football just before its explosion in popularity and its' rise to the favorite sport of this country.

The author re-establishes and brings into clear focus the fact that the 1946-1955 Cleveland Browns had players so talented, so well-schooled and well-drilled, assistant coaches so technically proficient, a club so advanced in its organization, a head coach, Paul Brown, so commanding in his grasp of the game and in team organization, that his appearance and that of his team on the pro football scene were the making of the most significant revolution to hit the sport. Paul Brown and his influence changed everyone's approach to the game, and men such as Weeb Ewbank, Blanton Collier, Chuck Noll, Tom Landry, Vince Lombardi, Don Shula, and Bill Walsh astutely followed the lessons of this great man and made their own significant impact on pro football history. In all cases they gave credit to the man who started it all, much as we--lovers of the game and historians alike--must also do. This book does give Paul Brown the credit he deserves, and thereby becomes a significant contribution to the truth of pro football history.

On one level, this book is full of great football stories. Piascik weaves the fascinating tales of great players like Otto Graham, Marion Motley, and Lou Groza and the coach that helped pull it all together, the legendary Paul Brown. In their first ten years of existence, the Browns won seven league championships, and Piascik makes a strong argument that they were the greatest dynasty in pro football history.

But Piascik also takes the tale to another level, and that is what makes this book such an important addition to the field of football history. Beyond simply recognizing their accomplishments, Piascik delves into the methods and strategies that helped the Browns stand out, not just against the teams of their era but compared to all of the teams in pro football history. Head coach Paul Brown was a great innovator, but what made the biggest difference was his eagerness to use African American players at a time when pro football -- and all other team sports -- had closed their doors. Piascik suggests that it was this move which made the biggest contribution to the Browns dominance. The integration of pro football seems like an inevitable development in retrospect, but in 1946 -- a year before Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier -- it wasn't an easy or popular choice.

Football fans will love this book because of the gripping stories about some of the game's great players. But this book is also a must read for those interested in sports history and social justice.

This book is a model of pro football historical writing. It was a very entertaining read, and it's chock full of facts I didn't know. It will join my reference books on football.

This is an extremely comprehensive history of the Cleveland Browns from 1946-1955. It is also a very well done argument that the Cleveland Browns team of that era is the greatest dynasty of all time.

Despite playing in the All American Football Conference from 1946-1949, a competitor to the National Football League at the time, Piascik makes a great case for the greatness of the Cleveland Browns. They won seven championships in ten years, an unbelievable feat. But four of those championships came as members of the AAFC, which many consider to be an inferior league. The AAFC folded in 1950 but took in some of the old AAFC teams, with the Cleveland Browns being one of them.

The greatness of the Browns' however is evident in that they won the 1950 NFL Championship in their first season in the NFL. They also won it again in 1954 and 1955. It is pretty clear that despite playing in the AAFC they were a great team, and maybe the best of that time period.

Beyond the argument that the Browns are the greatest dynasty of all time this book chronicles the rise of Paul Brown as the taskmaster head coach who sought perfection and greatness from his players. And possibly the greatest quarterback of all time, Otto Graham, was at the helm in these winning years. This book does a fine job of chronicling the team and its players of this era, and also serves as partial history of the AAFC. This by itself makes the book a worthy read for those who like football history.

This is a wonderful book, a real labour of love that pulls no punches.

History and passion are combined into a work that proves how great the Browns really were, and how much of what we have been told over the last 60 years is just pure NFL propoganda.

And I don't even like the Browns!

Meticulously researced and sensitively told, this is as much a story of Post World War II socioeconmic history, as it is a convincing case for an oft and easily overlooked genuine dynasty. Cleveland loyalties aside, it is the most definitive and expository representaton of the All America Football Conference I have come across. All generallizations are very well backed up with inarguable documentation, including attendance figures, which prove that the AAFC was a major league, and appropriately allocate shame where it is due, to the NFL's continuing stubborn non-recogniton of its accompliishments. As far as the perceived lack of appeal to the "ESPN generation," and non-Cleveland loyalists hinted in some other reviews, it even helps them to understand where a number of still in-use innovations (as well as Chuck Noll and Don Shula) came from.

I've read a few other books on the old Cleveland Browns. This one pointed out a couple of things that I didn't know about their formation, the reasons why the old Cleveland Rams moved, etc. The book's coverage of the 1946-1955 seasons was good and brought out some things I didn't know about the old Brownies. To the author's credit he did interview many old Brownies.

That said the book wasn't captivating, which I considerate the bare minimum requirement to earn a 4* or 5* rating. The book is okay if you get a library copy, but don't expect a great read. Basically it's something to read if you don't have anything better to do.