Paul Brown, Marion Motley, Cleveland Browns big winners as NFL recognizes AAFC stats, records
PALM BEACH, Fla. — The All-American Football Conference disbanded after the 1949 season. Now, 76 years later, the league Paul Brown's Cleveland Browns dominated will finally gain the recognition it earned from the league that essentially put it out of business.
The NFL's owners approved the report from the Compeition Committee at the annual meetings at The Breakers on Tuesday. That report included a notice that the statistics from the AAFC, including players, coaches and teams, will finally be incorporated into the NFL's official records.
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The league had not officially recognized any of the statistics or accomplishments of the AAFC prior to now. The league was in existence from 1946-49 and produced 17 future Pro Football Hall of Famers, including Paul Brown, Otto Graham, Marion Motley and Y.A. Tittle.
The move is similar to what happened with the American Football League, the AFL, when it merged with the NFL in 1969. The AAFC included three teams that eventually joined the league in 1950: Browns, the original Baltimore Colts and the San Francisco 49ers. The Browns won the 1950 NFL title.
There was a fourth team, the New York Yanks, that was essentially a spin-off of some players who had been part of the AAFC team, the New York Yankees. That team played two seasons in the NFL before being sold to a Dallas-area businessman who turned them into the Dallas Texans for one year before they disbanded and the remains were absorbed by the Colts.
The Browns, under head coach Paul Brown, dominated the AAFC. Cleveland won all four championships, while Brown went 47-4-3 as its head coach.
Paul Brown climbs into top 10 of NFL's all-time winningest coaches
The change will move Brown from 21st-place all-time, where he had 170 career wins with the Browns and Cincinnati Bengals, to seventh place. His career win total will now be recognized at 222, seven behind the Green Bay Packers' Curly Lambeau (229 wins) and 13 ahead of Browns' protege, Chuck Noll, who had 209.
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Cleveland won four NFL championships in the pre-Super Bowl era, three of those under Brown and the fourth, in 1964, under Blanton Collier. Brown will now be credited with seven championships for his official records.
Marion Motley is No. 1 among all NFL running backs for average per carry
Another Browns and Stark County legend also gains a greater recognition: Canton's Motley. Motley will now be fourth on the list of highest career rushing average with 5.7 yards per carry, behind only quarterbacks Michael Vick (7.0), Randall Cunningham (6.4) and Lamar Jackson (6.1). That makes Motley No. 1 among running backs.
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Browns, Paul Brown big winners as NFL recognizes defunct AAFC records
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