Cleveland Browns 1964 championship season

The Cleveland Browns won the National Football League championship in 1964, defeating the Baltimore Colts, 27-0, in the title game on Dec. 27. The city of Cleveland has not seen a championship by a major sports team since. Each week this season we profiled a player from that title game as they looked back to a time when Cleveland was No. 1 in professional football. In this final installment, we look back at the entire series and that memorable team. Links to previous stories in the series are below.

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Our series on the men who participated in the 1964 NFL Championship between the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Colts ends today.

We tried to display the moments and capture the essence of this city's last major championship through the lens of the players and even from an opposing coach.

Interviews for the series took The Plain Dealer to several cities -- Detroit, Dayton, Baltimore, and to the "Sweetest Place On Earth" of Hershey, Pa. for interviews with Hall of Famers and one particular wide receiver who should be in the Hall of Fame.

There were memorable conversations, surprising comments and unpleasant physical signs due to the results of playing in the NFL.

Wide receiver Gary Collins caught three touchdown passes in the championship game and was named MVP. Collins, voted to the all 1960s team, is surprisingly not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He may join the comedy hall of fame because of his sense of humor.

"I know what it was like for some of the Yankees who played with Babe Ruth," Collins said. "When someone learns that I played for the Browns, they'll ask if I played with Jim Brown, and if I knew him. People think he was the only guy on the team."

Collins exploded in laughter when I told him about my phone conversation when I told the caller I was on my way to Hershey to interview the MVP of the '64 title game. The caller said he didn't know Jim Brown lived in Hershey.

"That's a good one," said a laughing Collins. "Everyone assumes he won the MVP. I'll have to use that one."

The most challenging part of the series was when I learned how some of the players, now in their late 70s and early 80s, have started to deteriorate physically and mentally.

These men played at time when playing with a concussion was a rite of passage and physical ailments was just part of the game. Life in the NFL has left linebacker Jim Houston with mangled fingers and the inability to completely straighten his left arm. Like many players from that era, Houston has dementia and ALS. He will donate his brain for chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) testing following his death.

The series gave some readers the chance to relive the championship season, while most got a look up close to that celebratory past for the first time. Several fans made comments and wondered what all of the fuss was about in a season played 50 years ago.

The '64 Browns represent more than feel-good nostalgia and black and white film footage. Those Browns are the last example of a championship pedigree. A whole generation of Browns fans have been deprived from winning favor. This generation does not know what a successful team looks like.

Success for today's Browns is finishing 7-9 after averaging about four wins over the past few seasons. These Browns are more in the news about late-night parties and rookies missing meetings. Browns general manager Ray Farmer and Mike Pettine often describe how they want to build a culture based on "Play Like a Brown," and "act like a Brown," and while they wait for that theme to permeate throughout the organization, that credo was natural for the men of '64.

Success in sports is often measured by the physical talent on a particular team. You should beat my team if your players are bigger, faster and stronger. Colts coach Don Shula had that in mind when he faced the Browns for the title game. The Colts had a boat load of future Hall of Famers in quarterback Johnny Unitas, running back Lenny Moore, wide receiver Raymond Berry, tight end John Mackey and offensive lineman Jim Parker on an explosive offense. But the Browns, without any Hall of Famers on defense, shut out the mighty Colts.

The intelligence of the Browns made the difference. Dedication to their craft and study was the X-factor.

Many of the players told me how cornerback Bernie Parrish's analysis and preparation helped the defensive backs to shut down the mighty Unitas. Quarterback Frank Ryan, who earned a PHD in mathematics, was another high intelligence player who helped guide the offense in the route.

Many of the players on the '64 Browns went on to have successful lives in business and or move on to leadership roles in sports and corporate America.

Jim Brown, arguably the greatest running back of all time, was one of the many players on that roster who lived a successful life off the field. And not too many players had a better time on the field than Brown, but he surprised me when he said his illustrious career would have been suspect without a title.

"Without that championship, it would've been like I had a career that was a total failure," Brown said.

Defensive back Ross Fichtner did not have a Hall of Fame career but it did not take away his contribution or how much he values that epic game. Fichtner wears his championship ring in a place reserved for a wedding ring.

"I don't wear my wedding ring, I wear my championship ring," said Fichtner, who has been married to wife Karen for 41 years. "She doesn't mind. If she did, I'd have to put two rings on the same finger."

Brown and Fichtner are an example of how most of the players expressed themselves when it comes to the dedication and contribution to develop a championship team.

Most of the players are surprised the Browns have not won a title since they dominated the Colts, and they are not overly confident it will happen in their lifetime but this season and the direction of the franchise is encouraging.

But until things change for the Browns, the glory of 1964 will remain in the past.

• Read original Plain Dealer story from the NFL Championship game.

• Previous profiles in this series: Ernie Green; Ross Fichtner; Jim Ninowski, Walter Beach, Mike Lucci, Colts RB Tom Matte, Paul Warfield, John Wooten, Dick Schafrath, Colts coach Don Shula, QB Frank Ryan, LB Jim Houston, Paul Wiggin, Jim Brown and Gary Collins.