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The Best Show in Football
The 1946–1955 Cleveland Browns—Pro Football's Greatest Dynasty
By Andy Piascik
Published by Taylor Trade Publishing
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
Table of Contents
About The Book
For ten years the Cleveland Browns compiled a better record and won more championships than any team in pro football history. In their first game they set an all-time attendance record and consistently drew the largest crowds of the post-World War II era. They dominated an upstart league and then silenced their detractors by doing the same to the NFL. The Browns were led by Paul Brown, a football visionary who changed pro football. Most important among his innovations was the leading role the franchise played in the integration of pro sports. While much of their competition continued with the racial exclusion of the past, the Browns featured some of the greatest black players of all-time, men who were an integral part of the Cleveland dynasty. The Best Show in Football: The 1946-1955 Cleveland Browns, Pro Football's Greatest Dynasty tells the story of those players and that dynasty. Included in that story is the construction of the Browns as well as accounts of the team's many victories. Dozens of interviews bring to life the exploits of Otto Graham, Bill Willis, Marion Motley, Lou Groza, Mac Speedie, Len Ford, Dante Lavelli, Frank Gatski, and so many others. In rich detail, The Best Show in Football demonstrates why Cleveland's dynasty was the greatest ever, greater even than several teams that are usually accorded that honor. The conclusions may be surprising but the evidence is all here. And along the way author Andy Piascik provides a wonderful trip back to football's golden age.
Product Details
- Publisher: Taylor Trade Publishing (October 16, 2010)
- Length: 432 pages
- ISBN13: 9781589796164
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Raves and Reviews
Well-grounded in the boisterous economic optimism of post-'45 America, Piascik's work shows how the Cleveland Browns combined savvy management and marketing, social innovativeness, brilliant coaching, and raw athletic talent to unite an already football-crazed region and create one of the most successful sports organizations in history. Were the '46-'55 Browns the greatest football dynasty ever? Piascik says yes. Let the debate begin.
– Alan H. Levy
Pro football began in Ohio, and Cleveland had a pro football identity long before the 1946 Browns. Nevertheless, it is fair to say that the original Browns made pro football the integral part of the Cleveland sports scene that it remains today. The original Browns had magnificent players. A half dozen players on the very first Browns team went on to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. They were a special group of men. It is fitting that their story be told. Today's fans need to be reminded of the great impact the early Browns team had on pro football and how they influenced the game we all enjoy today.
– Mike Brown, President/Owner of the Cincinnati Bengals, and son of Paul Brown
Piascik's meticulous look at the success of the Browns during their first ten years of existence, and the impact that black players had in making that success possible, should be read by any fan of pro football.
– Charles K. Ross, Author, Outside the Lines: African Americans and the Integration of the National Football League
The Best Show in Football makes a solid case that from 1946 thru 1955, the Cleveland Browns were the greatest team in pro football history and proves beyond any reasonable doubt that they had some of the sport's greatest players and its greatest coach, Paul Brown.
– Rabbi, Author, The Cleveland Browns; co-author with Paul Brown, PB: The Paul Brown Story; and president, Professional Footb, Jack Clary, Author, The Cleveland Browns; co-author with Paul Brown, PB: The Paul Brown Story; and president, Professional Football Researchers Associa
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