The Greatest Quarterback of All Time

It was September 28, 1952. It was the 1950s in a golden decade of professional sports. WWII veteran “Automatic” Otto Graham was the quarterback of the Cleveland Browns and they were playing their first game of the NFL season. Graham was also known as Otto the Great.

The Browns opponent that day was defending champion Los Angeles Rams, who platooned two hall-of-fame QBs (Bob Waterfield and Norm Van Brocklin). The Rams had beaten the Browns 24-17 in the previous season’s NFL championship game. This was prior to the Super Bowl era.

But this time the Browns crushed the Rams 37-7. The Browns then went through the rest of their schedule, winning 8 games total and losing 4. Their 8-4 record was the best in the American division. In those days, the NFL had two divisions and winners played in the NFL Championship game.

Automatic Otto Graham had a pretty good season. He tied for the NFL lead in touchdown passes with 20 (with Jim Finks who later became a hall-of-fame NFL executive). He also ran for 4 touchdowns and had only 4 fumbles. Otto the Great led the league in passing yards by a huge margin (2816 in 12 games, 2nd place was 2307 yards). He also led in completed passes.

Graham was third in passing yards per attempt with 7.7. He was 5th in passer rating and pass completion percentage. He had the 6th lowest intercepted pass rate.

Graham was named 1st team all-pro by the UPI and New York Daily News. He was named 2nd team all-pro by the Associated Press. No MVP award was named that year, for some unknown reason. Graham would have one been one of the top candidates.

In the championship game the Browns lost 17-7 to the Detroit Lions, who were led by hall-of-fame QB Bobby Layne. This was Graham’s 7th season as a professional, out of 10 he would play.

Otto the Great finished his career by winning 7 championships and five MVPs. [Note – Graham also won a championship in professional basketball in the league that preceded the NBA]

Graham is the only QB in history to average over 9 yards per pass attempt. He was the first QB to rush for 50 touchdowns. His career win/loss record, including playoffs is an incredible 114 wins, 20 losses, and 4 ties, by far the best in history. Graham played in ten championship games in ten seasons!

But what’s most mind-boggling is that 1952 was the worst season of Otto Graham’s career! Remarkable!

(By comparison, Tom Brady played 13 seasons where he didn’t win either an MVP or a championship.)