Otto Graham - the Best Quarterback of All-Time

Otto Graham is highly regarded by most of the brightest minds in the history of the NFL. Don Shula calls Graham "a winner in every sense of the word" and long-time Cleveland coach Paul Brown raves "the test of a quarterback is where his team finishes. By that standard, Otto Graham was the best of all-time." In addition to his spectacular playing career, Graham served at the Coast Guard Academy, won a National Basketball League title and was an obvious choice for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965.

In Graham's early years in professional football, he and the Cleveland Browns were a part of the All-American Football Conference. NFL analysts put down their achievements (four straight AAFC titles) because it was considered little competition compared to the NFL in that era. After moving into the NFL in 1950, the Browns quickly silenced many of the critics with their first game of the season against the defending champions, the Philadelphia Eagles. Graham led Cleveland to an impressive 35-10 victory over the Eagles in which he said "we would have played them for nothing, Paul Brown didn't have to lift a finger or say one word to get us ready."

The 1950 season was very successful for Graham and the rest of the Cleveland team. They finished their inaugural season in the NFL with a 12-2 record, beating the Giants 8-3 in the playoffs and ultimately the Rams in the championship game 30-28. The championship game against the Rams was one of the signature moments of Graham's career in the NFL. Otto threw 3 touchdowns in the first 3 quarters, but still trailed 28-20. After another touchdown pass, the Browns still trailed 28-27 and failed to move the ball until 1:48 remained in the game. Graham led one of the great game-winning drives of the era, starting from his own 32-yard line. After running for 14 yards and completing 3 straight passes without using a timeout, the Browns won with a short field goal. Graham finished the game with 22 completions for 298.