DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Some Cleveland Browns Definitely Go to Heaven

Saw this...GREAT Read...and very impressed with the Cleveland Browns Organization...

https://www.cleveland.com/morris/2019/06...lip-morris.html

What happens to former Cleveland Browns when they permanently take off their helmets?

It depends on the player. Here’s the condensed story of Emerson Cole, whose recent death appears to leave only one living Browns player remaining from the 1950 NFL championship team.


The Cleveland Browns had high hopes for Emerson Cole when they selected him late in the 1950 NFL draft. The University of Toledo running back sensation was the first African-American drafted in the Browns’ NFL history (three other African-Americans played with the earlier version of the Browns before the team was absorbed into the NFL). The plan was for Cole to eventually replace the great running back Marion Motley, who would go on to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968.

The grand backfield vision didn’t go according to plan.

Cole reportedly clashed with Paul Brown, the team’s legendary head coach. Although he had a serviceable rookie season backing up Motley, Cole chaffed at Brown’s authoritarian style. Relations didn’t improve between the pair during Cole’s second year. Two years after Cole helped the Browns win the 1950 NFL championship, the team gave him his walking papers.

After a brief stint with the Chicago Bears in 1953, Cole decided to permanently hang up his helmet. He didn’t miss a beat. His life’s work had just begun. He quickly found his true calling in public service.


He went to work as a Lucas County Sheriff’s deputy. Several years later, he resigned the position, became a caseworker and then a manager in the Lucas County Welfare Department. From there he went to work for the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, where he spent most of the next 20 years as a senior level director, investigating claims of housing, employment, and gender discrimination.

Cole retired from the commission in 1986, only to transition into yet another chapter of his life as a community volunteer. For the following three decades, he would continue to burnish a reputation as a noted mentor, civil rights activist, and charitable volunteer in the Greater Toledo area.

It all came to an end last Tuesday, when Cole died at the age of 91 after a brief illness. His passing now appears to leave William “Dub” Jones, 94, as the only living player from the 1950 championship team, which included Otto Graham, Marion Motley, and Lou “The Toe” Groza.

I attended Cole’s funeral at the Warren AME Church in Toledo Monday because his younger brother, Isaac Cole, is a dear friend and a fine example of dignified and youthful senior living.


I also wanted to pay respect and honor Emerson Cole, a man whom I had never met. As a society, we could do more to honor and learn from those who have paved paths and built communities. Seniors are too often treated as disposable afterthoughts.

While the past couple weeks have seen a genuine outpouring of love and respect for the remaining WWII veterans who heroically survived the invasion of Normandy, far too often we ignore trailblazers who quietly walk among us in search of no applause. Often, they depart without so much as a token of appreciation. It’s our collective loss.

Cole, who will soon turn 80, smiled through his grief Monday when I touched his shoulder and told him I loved him. He pointed to his brother’s casket and emoted his happiness with the floral funeral arrangement that the Browns had sent.

“They didn’t forget about him,” said Isaac Cole.

Indeed, the generous spread of orange roses and white lilies stood out as a cheerful and beautiful remembrance from an extended family – the Cleveland Browns.

Emerson Cole was never a great Cleveland Brown. He was simply a great Ohioan.

Nice read, Pete. Thanks for posting.