Brownie the Elf on helmets? - Browns Daily Dose

BROWNIE THE ELF ON HELMETS? SOME BROWNS UNIFORM STORIES

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There are some interesting, and little-known, stories about Browns uniforms and changes to them, potential and otherwise, through the years.

Here are a few:

*The first Browns team in 1946 had shadow numbers on both its brown and orange uniforms. The shadowing of the numbers on some jerseys was the only thing – THE only thing – I liked about the uniforms the last four years. The shadowing from 1946 was more pronounced and, not surprisingly, looked a lot better.

Tell the @browns what we want. RT for this design ! pic.twitter.com/KTta5q15iS
— Bring Brownie back (@Cleveland_elf) April 18, 2020

*The late, great Leo Murphy, who served as Browns trainer from 1950-88 and in fact was the team’s first real trainer, told a story exclusively to me, when I was covering the Browns for the Medina County Gazette, about the time that head coach/General Manager Paul Brown entertained thoughts about making a change to the helmet.

The Browns wore all white helmets, with no markings at all, for their first six seasons from 1946-51. Then in 1952, they went to orange helmets. In the ensuing offseason, in spring 1953, Brown called Murphy into his office and assigned him a task.

“I want you to put Brownie the Elf on the helmet so I can see what it looks like,” Brown said.

That may seem like an unusual job to give to a trainer, but keep in mind that in those days, with teams having much, much smaller support staffs, Murphy and longtime Browns equipment manager Morrie Kono helped each other out. The most famous example of that collaboration came later in 1953, at halftime of a home game against the San Francisco 49ers, when Murphy and Kono hurriedly worked together to construct the first face mask in history to be attached to quarterback Otto Graham’s helmet so he could play the second half. Graham had suffered a broken nose when 49ers linebacker Hardy Brown, nicknamed “The Dirtiest Man in Football,” delivered a shoulder into his face along the Cleveland sideline.

But back to Murphy and the Brownie the Elf on helmets idea. It took Murphy several days to painstakingly stencil Brownie on a helmet. Upon finally finishing it, Murphy took it into Brown’s office and proudly set it onto his desk, only to have the coach take one quick look at it and say, “I don’t like it. Get it out of here.” Murphy was almost speechless. “All that work for nothing,” he muttered.

He still had the helmet 40 years later at his house near Medina when I interviewed him. He swore me to secrecy, being afraid that if someone were aware it was there, they might would break in and steal. After he passed away a year and a half ago, I imagine the helmet was presented to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. That was Murphy’s hope and expectation when I interviewed him.

*And finally, the second-worst mistake in Browns uniform history – after the nightmarish crime former club President Alec Scheiner perpetrated when he orchestrated the re-design in 2015 – came in 1984. The Browns that year switched out of the uniform, highlighted by the orange pants, that they wore from 1975-83, including in the popular Kardiac Kids era, and went to a more classic look – but not nearly classic enough. The striping on the sleeve was different (thicker), the socks were different (no stripes) and the numbers were different (outlined).

When the new uniforms were unveiled in the opening preseason game (against the Pittsburgh Steelers at home), the Browns came out in brown jerseys with orange numbers. Gib Shanley, who was in the last of his 24 seasons as the Browns radio play-by-play announcer, complained bitterly – and extensively — on the air that the orange-brown contrast on the jersey numbers made them impossible to read from his booth on the roof of old Cleveland Stadium. Shanley and then Browns owner Art Modell were close. He had Modell’s ear. The owner greatly trusted his opinion. Not surprisingly, after Modell and Shanley talked, the orange numbers never saw the light of day again.

For 1985, the Browns, in a uniform re-design spearheaded by General Manager Ernie Accorsi, went back to their true classic look they had had from 1946-74. It stayed that way until Scheiner got his hands on the uniform. Thankfully, they’ve been changed back to that classic look, hopefully to stay for good.

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Brownie the Elf on helmets was written by Steve King

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