Return to Glory

Kirkus' Review The history of the National Football League's Cleveland Browns, this is a humorless, personality-analyzing account of the team from its birth in 1946 to the present. Levy has none of the sports reporter's usual cynical objectivity; he takes the game dead seriously. The Browns have by far the finest record in the NFL, but they suffered an eclipse for four straight years, '59-'63, while experiencing tactical arteriosclerosis. This was attributed to the Olympian frigidity of coaching genius Paul Brown. Brown pretty much invented the widely used styles of hyparmodern football, in which he assessed the strengths of each player down to the finest situations and called each play like a Russian chessmaster. In 1946, when many of the Browns were returning veterans and pro football was not such bit money, the team members would take his orders willingly. Big money later left the new players somewhat pampered. Brown was fired in 63 and the team has since recovered the NFL championship title. The study of plays here is quite good.