Big Ted. The man is a bear. Or at least he was. He was also a 49er, Bronco, Bill, Patriot, and Raider. Listed at 365 pounds, he’s now the heftiest Cleveland Brown on record.
He’ll also be the only Cleveland Brown older than me, and for that, I love him already. He’ll be 38 when the season starts, even older than Don Strock during his last heroic hurrah of 1988, or Clay Matthews when the Belichick/Modell monster sent him packing after 16 seasons here. Feel free to prove me wrong, but it looks like Ted Washington is set to become not only the heaviest Brown ever, but also the oldest defensive player in its history. Only G Gene Hickerson and two kickers, Lou Groza and Mark Moseley, will have seniority over Ted at the outset of his Browns career.
He clearly is an unusual man. For another thing, he bucks the historical trend of Browns and Raiders. My rapid research found 28 men who have played for both teams. Of them, 18 played for Cleveland first, while just nine joined the Browns after their time as Raiders. The former group includes such luminaries as Eric Turner, Greg Pruitt, Lyle Alzado, and another fine nose tackle, Bob Golic. The only real plum from the Oakland-to-Cleveland contingent was LB Gerald Irons.
Now, the astute reader may have noted that 18 plus nine is one short of 28. Well, that leaves ample room for the only player whose Raider service was both preceded and succeeded by stops as a Brown. That man, interestingly, was another gargantuan defensive tackle, the aptly-named Jerry Ball.
Washington trumps him in weight, ability, and in the majesty of his name. Whereas Ball’s name and frame combined for an obvious joke, Theodore Washington shares not one but both of his names with men memorialized with their 60-foot heads carved on Mount Rushmore.
That’s right, Browns D-lineman. Rushmore. I’m liking this signing more and more. Ted Washington: the Browns’ Pounding Father.
