National Football Foundation

Originally considered too small for the football team, Paul Brown’s determination as a pole-vaulter at Massillon High School earned him a spot as the quarterback on the team as a junior and senior. Brown posted a record of 15-3, and he enrolled at Ohio State in hopes of walking on to the football team, but did not make it past the tryout phase. Brown transferred to Miami (Ohio), and earned the starting job there. Brown was named to the All-Ohio small-college second team by the Associated Press at the end of 1928. In two seasons at Miami, Brown guided the team to a 14–3 record. He considered studying history on a Rhodes Scholarship, but instead took a coaching job at Severn School, a private prep school in Maryland.

Brown began his coaching career at Severn in 1931 before becoming the head football coach at his alma mater, Massillon. His high school teams lost only 10 games in 11 seasons. He was then hired at Ohio State University and coached the school to its first national football championship in 1942. After World War II, he became head coach of the Cleveland Browns, who won four AAFC championships before joining the NFL in 1950. Brown coached Cleveland to three NFL championships in 1950, 1954 and 1955, but was fired in January 1963 amid a power struggle with team owner Art Modell. Brown co-founded and was the first coach of the Cincinnati Bengals in 1968. He retired from coaching in 1975 but remained the Bengals' team president until his death in 1991. The Bengals named their home stadium Paul Brown Stadium in his honor, and he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967.

Brown is credited with a number of American football innovations. He was the first coach to use game film to scout opponents, hire a full-time staff of assistants and test players on their knowledge of a playbook. He invented the modern face mask, the taxi squad and the draw play. He also played a role in breaking professional football's color barrier, bringing some of the first African-Americans to play pro football in the modern era onto his teams. He died on Aug. 5, 1991, at the age of 82.