The last quarterback to win a championship with the Browns, Frank Ryan, dies at the age of 87.
On New Year’s Day, the last quarterback to lead the Browns to an NFL championship departed from this life.
That would be Frank Ryan, who in the 1964 NFL Championship Game led the Browns to a 27-0 win against the Baltimore Colts. With quarterback Johnny Unitas leading the Browns to victory against the much-fancied Colts, Ryan completed three touchdown passes, all to Gary Collins.
Beyond his 13 years in the NFL, Ryan had an incredible career. He was a math professor at Yale, Case Western, and Rice Universities. He was pursuing his math doctorate at Rice University at the same time he was guiding the Browns to the 1964 championship. Yes, balancing graduate-level arithmetic coursework with a football game.
Ryan spent 1962–68 playing with the Browns. As a starter for Cleveland, he had a 52–22 record with 134 touchdown passes and 88 interceptions. A three-time Pro Bowler, he
Ryan worked for the US House of Representatives for seven years after his 1970 NFL retirement. He oversaw the creation of the U.S. Congress’s first computerized voting system. Afterwards, Ryan led Yale’s sports department for ten years.
He was well aware of the risks associated with sports injuries and the condition known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). He thought it contributed to the onset of his Alzheimer’s.
Ryan has given the Boston University CTE Center a donation of his brain. After 65 years of marriage, Frank and Joan parted ways.
Frank was asked to sign hundreds of autographs by admirers from all around the nation, regardless of their age or background, throughout his lifetime. He valued his fans greatly. Until his physical limitations prevented him from fulfilling signature requests, he saved every fan letter he got. Frank passed away surrounded by his huge and devoted family.
