Mount Rushmore of Browns halfbacks

Mount Rushmore of Browns halfbacks – Leroy, Greg, Earnest and Ernie

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the 22nd in a series of stories about the Mount Rushmore-worthy players – the best players – in Browns history. Today we look at halfbacks, or running backs.

By STEVE KING

A halfback?

You might be wondering what – or, as it were, who — that is.

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In fact, if you’re on the younger side, then you’re definitely wondering.

A halfback is today’s running back. It’s halfback, as in the smaller, quicker, faster version of fullback. Way back in the day when all teams used two- and even, many times, three-back sets in the backfield, a fullback lined up in the middle of the backfield, with one or two backs on either side, called the left or right halfback.

Pro Football Hall of Famer Leroy Kelly, who played for the team from 1964-73, Ernie Green (1962-68), Kelly’s former running mate for three seasons, Greg Pruitt (1973-81), who was coming to the club just as Kelly was getting ready to leave it, and Earnest Byner (1984-88) are all on the Mount Rushmore of Browns halfbacks, or running backs. The latter three players are Cleveland Browns Legends.

Let’s introduce them:

LEROY KELLY

After returning punts and kickoffs for the first two seasons following the Browns tabbing him in the eighth round, at No. 110 overall, in the 1964 NFL Draft out of Morgan State, he stepped in as the starter in 1966 when Jim Brown retired and was a hit right away, putting together three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, winning the NFL rushing title in the latter two of them. A tremendous player in muddy conditions because of his flat-footed running style, he finished with 7,274 career yards and 74 touchdowns, second only to Brown in both categories in Browns history. He also had 190 receptions for 13 TDs.

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ERNIE GREEN

Despite playing as a complementary back as a starter with first Brown (1963-65) and then with Kelly (1966-68) after arriving in a trade with the Green Bay Packers as a rookie in 1962, Green became one of the top runners in the NFL by taking advantage of every opportunity he was given. He is the Browns’ seventh-leading all-time rusher with 3,204 yards and caught 195 passes for 20 TDs.

GREG PRUITT

No one in Browns history has been as productive as both a runner and receiver than Pruitt. The team’s third draft pick in 1973, coming as a second-rounder, at No. 30 overall, out of Oklahoma, he used his elusiveness to make big play after big play, including in 1973 against the Pittsburgh Steelers when he made a 42-yard catch-and-run that is one of the most electrifying play in Browns history. He is fourth all-time on the team with 5,496 yards and a 4.7 yards-per-carry average, and he stands third with 323 receptions.

EARNEST BYNER

Like Pruitt, he excelled as both a runner and pass-catcher despite coming out of nowhere. He was the Browns’ final draft pick in 1984, being taken in the 10th round, at No. 280 overall, out of East Carolina. Wow. Talk about a high-value pick. He and Kevin Mack became just the third pair of backs to both rush for 1,000 yards in the same season when they did so in 1985. He is sixth all-time on the Browns with 3,364 yards and tied for 10th with 276 receptions. All this is what defines him, not the fumble in the 1987 AFC Championship Game. Without Byner, the Browns would have been so far behind that it wouldn’t have mattered.

NEXT: Utility backs.

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Mount Rushmore of Browns halfbacks