I’ve always had a fondness for the little guy (if you saw me you’d know why), and Samuel Davis Mills, Jr., was one of those lionhearted overachievers.

He arrived at the Browns training camp in 1981 as an undrafted rookie from a small program in New Jersey (much as the even shorter Dino Hall did two years previous). The Browns were coming off their Kardiac Kids season, and hopes were high for a Super Bowl breakthrough. The defense was the weak link, and it would continue as such, eventually necessitating big draft pick investments in Chip Banks and Tom Cousineau.

So who beat him out that summer? It wasn’t Charlie Hall, who was cut after starting 131 straight games. It wasn’t Cliff Odom, a third-round pick just a year earlier. And it wasn’t Bill Cowher, who had knee surgery and missed the season.

The linebackers on the opening day roster for coach Sam Rutigliano and defensive coordinator Marty Schottenheimer (himself a former pro LB) were veteran Dick Ambrose; former first-round picks Clay Matthews, Robert L. Jackson, and Don Goode (by way of San Diego); converted tight end Curtis Weathers; former Cowboys backup Bruce Huther; and one other guy.

That other guy, it so happened, was also a bit undersized, being listed at just 210 pounds. He wore #51, the number Mills would eventually wear during his All-Pro career elsewhere. He too was a rookie, born four months to the day before Mills. Yes, Eddie Johnson would also prove to be an inspiration, not only as an excellent player, but through his struggle with cancer, which, tragically, has now claimed both of these men way too soon.