Readers: Best Browns of all time From the Page 2 mailbag |
Earlier this week, Page 2 listed its choices for the 10 best Browns of all-time. We knew our readers would be able to come up with a few more sweet Brownies so we opened it up to them. We received more than 300 letters on the topic, and here's how the readers ranked their 10 favorite Browns of all time. Be sure to vote in the poll at right to crown the best Brown in history.
1. Charlie Brown (67 letters)
In a world where the sports section is plastered with stories of whining, money-grubbing superstars, Charlie Brown represented the joy we all felt as kids the first time we went to a ball game with our dads or played basketball in the driveway until our moms called us to dinner. Long live sports and long live Charlie Brown. He's the ultimate everybody.
We have all had frustrations in love, as he did with the red-headed girl. We have all had games -- sometime seasons -- where nothing has gone right. Yet, every bad memory is easily washed away by that one heroic feat in our lives. For some, it's a last-second basket, for others it is the fourth quarter TD, or, in Charlie Brown's case, it is a walk-off, game-winning home run to win it all and forget everything else.
I saw this week's list and immediately noticed Jim Brown was in there near the bottom ... I couldn't believe it! Imagine my joy when I read deeper into the article and saw my hero -- Charlie Brown, the ultimate underdog -- there at the top of your list. Charlie Brown transcends sports and mere animation. Charlie Brown is Americana at its finest and there is no better role model than Chuck and his never-say-die attitude. Good grief, Charlie wins in a landslide. His love of sports and his unconditional loyalty and devotion to his teams never wavered, even through decades of futility. Charlie would have made a perfect Philadelphia sports fan. We've had an endless series of Joe Shlabotniks pass through town. More than a few Phillies pitchers have ended up undressed by a line drive through the box. None of us in the Delaware Valley will ever forget the Monday night game when the Eagles lined up for a last-second chip shot field goal that would have beaten the detested Cowboys ... only to have holder Tom Hutton morph into Lucy Van Pelt and muff a perfect snap.
Ohh, but despite it all, we go out to the Vet, year after year, and root passionately for our teams, even though we know in our hearts that C.B. has more career home runs (two) than the Phillies and Eagles have World Championships, combined (one).
2. Jim Brown (32 letters)
Jim was the all-time rushing leader until a guy named Sweetness came onto the scene, and the only reason he broke it so quickly was because Jim retired with some years left in him. If Jim had stayed, he would perhaps still be the all-time rushing leader.
Mark Polishuk Ontario, Calif. This list is completely invalid if Jim Brown doesn't top it. Brown was undoubtedly the best running back of all time. For all those 80-yard runs by Barry Sanders and Gale Sayers, Brown was the only running back in NFL history with a significant amount of carries, to average 5 yards per carry. Imagine knowing you've got a first down in the bag in two plays!
Not only that, Brown may have been the best athlete in modern U.S. sports period. If you know anything about the game of lacrosse, you'll know that probably the best lacrosse player in the modern history of the game was also Jim Brown. A true sports great.
3. Bad, Bad Leroy Brown (28 letters)
Now Leroy's more than trouble
Charlie Brown? He can't hold a candle to Leroy Brown. He would've beaten up Chuck, taken his lunch money, and started dating the little red-headed girl.
4. James Brown (25 letters)
Because of his music. Because of that hair. C'mon, he's "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business," he's "Mr Dynamite,"
"Soul Brother Number One" you gotta give him some credit!
5. Tim Brown (22 letters)
Just look at who he had throwing the ball to him -- Jay Shroeder, Todd Marinovich, Steve Beurlein, Jeff George, Jeff Hostetler, Vince Evans, Billy Joe Hobert, and Rich Gannon (just to name a few). Imagine if he had had one or two steady QBs his entire career. He would probably be even better ... kinda like another Raider. TB is the best Brown without a doubt.
Tim Brown's backup is the greatest player to ever step on a football field. Charlie can't say that.
The coolest Brown of all time is clearly Tim Brown. I don't need to rattle off the numbers. Simply put, he is a model of consistency.
6. Mordecai "Three Fingers" Brown (20 letters)
He had the ugliest curve ball ever -- not even Randy Johnson could make the batters' knees buckle as well as "3 Fingers." He deserves the No. 1 spot just because he played without 40 percent of his pitching hand.
This guy was the man. Legend has it he once called the entire team behind him in and instructed them to sit behind him on the field as he pitched to the opposition because he was so confident they wouldn't even be able to make contact. There's never been a ballsier Brown, that's for sure.
7. Hubie Brown (16 letters)
He was an excellent TV man for TNT for over 10 years, and can give you a real coach's point of view while keeping it simple enough for the fans. Now, we get to see Hubie find some upside in Jason Williams. Too bad The Sports Guy went Hollywood, because he would have to agreed to give Hubie a spot on this list. Without Hubie, this list is a downer.
Now, you're Hubie Brown. You're trying to crack Page 2's Top 10 Brown's of all-time list. You did some dynamite coaching work in the early 1980s, not to mention classic NBA draft broadcasts throughout the '90s. Now you've got the chance, thanks to the nod from Jerry West, to take over a very young team and build it up to its full potential. You know that you're going to make the list because Page 2 readers know you've got upside, nothing but upside.
8. Larry Brown (14 letters)
He led Kansas to a national championship in the late '80s and the Jayhawks have not even come close to winning another one despite having great talent year after year. He also turned around perennial losers such as the Spurs, Pacers, and Sixers. Finally, see if another coach can deal with Allen Iverson and still win games the way Larry Brown does.
9. Jerome Brown (13 letters)
Jerome didn't get all the publicity that Reggie White got, but he was a vital part of that defense which finished the '91 season No. 1 against the run, No. 1 against the pass and No. 1 overall. Not to mention carried an Eagles team to a 10-6 record with Jim McMahon, Brad Goebel, Jeff Kemp and Pat Ryan filling in for an injured Randall Cunningham. I'm having nightmares just thinking about it. Jerome Brown is the best Brown of them all, or at least should be in the top 10. He was the embodiment of the Miami Hurricanes of the mid- to late 80s. He went on to the Eagles and became one of the greatest defensive tackles. If his life hadn't been tragically cut short he probably would be considered the greatest defensive tackle ever.
Plus, he lavished upon us some classic sound bites like, "They got the house, we'll bring the pain," in reference to the now infamous 1990 House of Pain game on Monday night against the Oilers.
10. Lou Brown (10 letters)
Reluctant to take the managerial job of the Indians stating, "Oh I don't know Charlie, I got a guy on the other line about some whitewalls, I'll call ya later." C'mon, he motivated his club using the bait of the scantily clad, cardboard cutout of the relocation-happy, former lounge singer, bequeathed owner Rachel Phelps. Lou is a classic. Forget about the other Browns on this list, my vote goes for good ol' Lou. How can he not be the greatest? He'd rather sell tires than coach the Indians. He took a bunch of has-beens and never-will-bes and turned them into AL pennant winners. We all remember his pregame speech at the beginning of the season ... "Most of the writers have picked us to finish dead last. They seem to think that we'd all be saving them a lot of time if we just went out and shot ourselves." In real life (as opposed to reel life), I think a manager who was honest and straight-forward would be a relief by today's standards.
Movie or not, Lou Brown took a hopeless team and turned them into a champion! He gets my vote. He was brilliant enough to figure out that all Ricky Vaughn needed was a pair of glasses. Plus, he spouted out more classic lines than Yogi Berra ... "You may run like Hayes, but you hit like s#*%"
No list of Browns is complete without him.
Honorable mention
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