| He saved touchdowns one series and his quarterback's behind the next. He
ran for long touchdowns and short ones. In the same game. He had sprinter's speed crammed
in a lineman's body. And when he retired, Marion Motley set a standard for a Paul Brown
fullback, one that even Jim Brown couldn't match. Motley, who played with Cleveland
from 1946-53 and died at age 79 on June 27, also set a standard for any player. Even now,
some longtime NFL observers consider him perhaps the best to ever play the game. That's
because Motley could swallow running backs while playing linebacker and pound through
offenses as a runner.
''He is the greatest fullback ever,'' Paul Brown said after a 1946 game in which Motley
rushed for 133 yards and three touchdowns.
His opinion didn't change even after coaching Jim Brown.
''If Jim had worked on his blocking,'' Brown later said, ''he would have been as great
as Motley.''
Sports Illustrated's Paul Zimmerman went a step further. In his book, Thinking Man's
Guide to Pro Football, Zimmerman called Motley, who in 1968 became the first black elected
into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the greatest player ever.
He based his reasoning on Motley's play at linebacker, especially his first two seasons
in the All-America Football Conference when he started at that position. But he continued
to play linebacker in the NFL as well in that era of small rosters.
Philadelphia quickly learned of Motley's defensive prowess. In the Browns' first NFL
game, the Eagles had first and goal at the 6. On first down, they tried a smash up the
middle. Motley stopped them. So the Eagles ran the same play. And Motley stuffed it again.
Philadelphia didn't learn. The Eagles ran the play twice more, getting stopped by Motley
on both occasions. Four plays gained three yards.
When Motley ended his career with Pittsburgh in 1955, it was as a linebacker.
''I've always believed,'' Brown said, ''that Motley could have gone into the Hall of
Fame solely as a linebacker if we had used him only at that position. He was as good as
our great ones.''
Of course, his name was made on offense. There, Motley gained 4,712 yards in eight
seasons and averaged 5.7 yards per carry. In the AAFC, Motley gained 6.2 yards every time
he ran including an 8.23 yards average in 1946. Motley is the last player to lead the NFL
in rushing with 140 or fewer carries, a feat he accomplished in 1950 when he averaged 5.8
yards a pop.
He could run over people and past them. In the Navy, Motley routinely raced the world
record holder in the 440-yard dash, Grover Klemmer. Over 75 yards, Motley was his equal.
''He was pretty big,'' center Frank Gatski said. ''And pretty bad.''
While his yardage total isn't spectacular by modern standards, it was huge at the time.
And it stood out even more considering Motley didn't play pro ball until he was 26.
Brown had known about him for years, dating back to their days as rivals with Motley at
Canton McKinley High School and Brown at Massillon. After that, Motley played at the
University of Nevada, where he also ran track and threw the javelin. He even boxed in
college, losing his only bout in the Reno Golden Gloves.
Football was his calling and Motley wound up playing for Brown at the Great Lakes Naval
Training Center during World War II. But after the war, Motley, married with four kids,
took a job in a mill near his hometown.
When he heard about the new league, Motley wrote Brown for a tryout. Brown said no,
they already had enough backs. However, Bill Willis, the first black to play for the
Browns, reported for a tryout and 10 days later Motley was invited to do the same.
''I think they felt [Willis] needed a roommate,'' Motley often said. ''I don't think
they felt I'd make the team. I'm glad I was able to fool them.''
Brown, though, later said that he knew all along that he wanted these two players. But
he wanted to avoid a media frenzy during training camp because of the racial issue and
waited until the last possible minute to sign them. No matter. Motley only wanted a
chance.
''I knew this was the one big chance in my life to rise above the steel mill existence
and I really wanted to take it,'' Motley said in the book, Great Teams, Great Years:
Cleveland Browns. ''I had no doubt that I could make the team because I had played against
some of the best competition around during the war and I measured up pretty well.''
Brown said, ''No other pro football team was interested in him at the time. That was
their loss. No one ever cared more about his team and whether it won or lost, rather than
how many yards he gained or where he was asked to run.''
Joe Spencer, who played with Motley in 1949, remembered one day counting his pennies
and trying to figure out the cheapest way to get home from practice. Suddenly, Motley, by
this time a star, pulled up and said two words, ''Get in.'' Then every day they rode
together.
But life wasn't always a smooth ride for Motley, who dealt with his share of racism on
and off the field.
''My hands were always bloody,'' Motley said in the book, Iron Men. ''But if either
Willis or myself had been hotheads and gotten into fights and things like that, it would
have put things back 10 years. Sometimes I wanted to just kill some of those guys, and the
officials would just stand right there. They'd see those guys stepping on us and heard
them saying things and just turn their backs. That kind of crap went on for two or three
years until they found out what kind of players we were. They found out that while they
were call us, 'niggers,' I was running for touchdowns and Willis was knocking the [crap]
out of them.''
Motley did his share of knocking as well, especially against the blitz, which endeared
him to Brown, not to mention quarterback Otto Graham. Defenders weren't too thrilled with
this ability, since it meant crashing into the 6-foot-1, 238-pound Motley. The Browns
often let Motley handle defensive ends by himself.
''Motley really built the passing attack for the Browns because of his blocking,''
receiver Dante Lavelli said.
''You rush Graham,'' San Francisco end Gail Bruce said in Iron Men, ''and put on a move
and beat your man and there's Motley waiting for you. Next play, you beat your man with a
different move and there's Motley, waiting again. Pretty soon you say, 'The hell with it.
I'd rather stand on the line and battle the first guy.' ''
Motley's runs are legendary, handed down from generation to generation. They sound
exaggerated. They weren't. The Hall of Fame has one film in which Motley grabs a swing
pass, barrels over players down the sideline, loses his helmet and keeps running.
In a 1950 home game against Pittsburgh, Motley gained 188 yards on 11 carries. On one
long run, Lavelli remembers that, ''Eleven guys had a shot at him and no one brought him
down.''
Tackle Lou Groza understood what the Pittsburgh defenders were going through.
''We were scrimmaging [in 1946] and I tackled Marion head on,'' Groza said. ''Have you
ever gotten hit where you saw a big flash? From that point on, instead of hitting him head
on, I tried to tackle him from the side. He was a load and he was fast.''
The trap became Motley's play, but the draw became his legacy. In one 1946 game, Graham
got in trouble in the backfield after colliding with Motley. The defenders charged at
Graham, so he flipped the ball to Motley, who ran through an open hole for pro football's
first draw play. Brown quickly worked this into his game plan.
''When he got up a head of steam, he was going to run over everybody,'' linebacker Walt
Michaels said. ''He was very tough. The difference between he and Jim Brown, in all
fairness Marion had spent years in the service. Jim had about five years of get up and go
that Marion didn't have. Marion was beat on in the service. There's a difference when
you're going into your 10th year at age 35 and going into your 10th year at age 30 or
31.''
But Motley remained a force late in his career.
Dick ''Night Train'' Lane, a Los Angeles Rams defensive back, said he'll never forget
his first encounter with Motley in 1952.
''He looked like a big tank rolling down on me,'' Lane said. ''But you've got to take
him on. I hit him with my head in his knees and he came down. I saw a few stars, but I
felt good because I tackled Marion Motley.'' |
