Second in a series that ranks the best Browns players at each position. See this post for the series introduction.
1. Otto Graham (1946-1955) — The first, the best. 105-17-4 record, plus 9-3 post-season. Ten seasons, ten title games. Rushed for 44 TDs, more than Fran Tarkenton, John Elway, or Steve Young. Also returned 23 punts, averaging 11 yards, and made seven interceptions on defense. A true leader who set an enviable standard as a quarterback, teammate, and man. (Pictured below wearing the face mask designed by Paul Brown.)
2. Bernie Kosar (1985-93) — An extremely accurate sidearm passer, as intelligent as he was unorthodox. Especially beloved as a hometown product who wanted to play for the Browns. Holds NFL record of 308 consecutive passes without an interception. After just two playoff games in 12 years, the Browns made post-season appearances in each of Kosar’s first five seasons. At age 23, threw for 489 yards in the classic playoff win over the Jets in 1987.
3. Frank Ryan (1962-68) — Three-time Pro Bowler. The only man other than Graham to quarterback the Browns to the league championship. Relied more on savvy and grit than physical gifts. Not the gaudiest stats, but under Ryan, a Ph.D. in math, the Browns always figured to have a winning record.
4. Brian Sipe (1973-83) — Another personal favorite (until he bolted for Donald Trump’s USFL team), this undersized 13th-round draft pick eventually replaced an underachieving first-rounder, Mike Phipps, and became the Browns’ all-time leader in completions, yards, and TD passes. In his prime, Sipe led a fantastic offense, throwing for 3,500-plus yards four times. Named NFL MVP for the magical Kardiac Kids season of 1980, when he led numerous thrilling comeback wins while throwing for 4,132 yards and 30 TDs.
5. Milt Plum (1957-61) — His 110.4 pass rating for 1960 stood as an NFL record for 29 years, and it’s still third all-time. How do you get a rating that high? It helps to throw for 21 TDs with only 5 INTs. With Jim Brown in the backfield and targets like Ray Renfro and Bobby Mitchell, Plum had two Pro Bowl seasons, keeping future Hall of Famer Len Dawson on the bench. But when Plum criticized Coach Brown to the press, off to Detroit he went in a six-player deal that brought DE Bill Glass to town. Plum’s career had already reached its peak ripeness.
6. Bill Nelsen (1968-72) — Picked up from Steelers and took over for Ryan, leading a potent Browns offense for two seasons in which they beat Dallas in the playoffs but failed to win a Super Bowl berth in the NFL title game. During an eight-game win streak in 1968, the Browns averaged 36 points per game. Outdueled Joe Namath in the first Monday Night Football game. Sadly, the Browns traded away his Hall of Fame receiver, Paul Warfield, for the first-round pick used to draft his eventual successor, Phipps, in 1970.
7. Tim Couch (1999-2003) — Though he failed to validate being the first overall pick of the reborn franchise, The Deuce had a few coups: pair of Hail Mary wins, a pair of Titanic combacks over Tennessee, a sweep of the defending Super Bowl champion Ravens in 2001. Franchise leader in career completion percentage. Ill-served by two coaching regimes and plagued by injuries, Couch proved maddeningly inconsistent. Still, he deserves credit for being a game competitor during some trying times and squeaking the team into the playoffs in the thrilling 2002 season.
8. Vinny Testaverde (1993-95) — After six years in Tampa Bay, displaced hometown hero and college teammate Bernie Kosar in 1993, the first year his TDs outnumbered his INTs. Behind center for the Browns’ only playoff win in the last 14 years.
9. George Ratterman (1952-56) — I’m too young to remember him, but by all accounts, he added levity to squads ruled by the dour Paul Brown, and he was an exciting, all-or-nothing kind of quarterback. One of the best non-Browns in the AAFC, Ratterman later performed quite well in his limited chances as Graham’s understudy (61% completion rate, 14 TDs versus 8 INTs). Upon Otto’s retirement, the Cincinnati native and Notre Damer finally took the helm in 1956. He went 14-for-17 passing (82%) to beat the Steelers, but a knee injury early that year ended his career. His colorful life later included a stint as a county sheriff in Kentucky.
10. Don Strock (1988) — Another whimsical choice perhaps, as he only played in five games, but his brief time in Cleveland was memorable indeed. Retired after 14 years in Miami, the 38-year-old career back-up answered the Browns’ call during a bizarre season in which injuries knocked Bernie Kosar, Mike Pagel, and Gary Danielson out of action. Strock darn near beat his old team one Monday night, throwing two fourth-quarter TDs in relief of Kosar to tie the game, until Dan Marino worked his last-minute magic. The next week, with the playoffs on the line in a snowy season finale, the Browns were down 16 points to the Oilers in the third quarter. Strock rallied the team to an improbable 28-23 win, throwing for 326 yards. The teams had a rematch the next week in the wild-card game, but this time Strock’s right wrist forced him to the sidelines, and the Browns fell a point short.
Sorry, not quite: Jim Ninowski, Paul McDonald, Mike Phipps, Kelly Holcomb.
Never before have the Browns brought in a quarterback with the NFL credentials of three-time Pro Bowler Jeff Garcia. There were surely other veterans with serious experience as starters — Testaverde, Ninowski, Mike Pagel, Mike Tomczak, Gary Danielson, Ty Detmer, and Super Bowl XXVI MVP Mark Rypien among them — but Garcia has a unique opportunity (and a very fat contract) to bring a new style of play to a franchise whose QBs have typically been smart and gutsy, but not much of a threat to leave the pocket.
At age 34, how much upside does Garcia offer? It would be disappointing if he didn’t end up at least seventh on this list by the end of his time as a Brown. But while he’s no threat to knock Graham from his pedestal as the epitome of a Browns quarterback, I’m not going to limit his potential any further than that. If Garcia can help bring the Lombardi trophy to Cleveland, he’ll rapidly earn a cherished and lofty place in Browns history, and he’ll miraculously cure much of the heartbreak that has been the sorry lot of we fans who have rooted for his predecessors.
