The story of when Paul Brown attempted to purchase the Philadelphia Eagles

The longtime Browns head coach & GM was suddenly without a team

When Art Modell acquired the Cleveland Browns in 1961, he was ecstatic that his new purchase included whom he considered the best head coach in the NFL: Paul Brown.

His acquisition of the Browns was also viewed as buying the New York Yankees because Cleveland was one of the greatest NFL clubs to ever play the game and at the time was considered a dynasty. The Browns had already won seven pro football championships including three in the NFL. At one time, they had played in 10 consecutive league championship games.

Modell would become the third ownership group to control the Browns. Under each regime, Coach Brown had free range to do as he saw fit in support of the franchise. He had a small ownership percentage but acted like he was the sole owner in every aspect. At all owner’s meetings, it was Coach Brown who appeared, discussed league matters, made suggestions, was placed on various committees, and voted.

When Modell bought the team, he had different ideas. He envisioned Coach Brown coaching the club and dealing with players, while Modell would take care of promotions, league business, and other team matters. You know, owner stuff. Coach Brown had never had an owner tell him what to do, or how to do it. Now suddenly, this guy from New York breezes in and everything changes.

Over just two years, the tension escalated between the two men. Coach Brown was very blunt with the owner and bucked his ideas which were designed to take away his power and freedom to make decisions.

One month after the final game of the 1962 season, Modell asked Coach Brown to come down to the team offices for a meeting. In that setting, Modell told Coach Brown he was no longer the head coach but would stay on as a Vice President.

Modell stated, “Paul, I’m going to make a change. I’m going to go in a different direction. I hope you understand, I think we have to part company. I’m going to ask you to step down as coach and general manager, and you are to be reassigned.”¹

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The firing occurred during a newspaper strike, which many considered to be a planned maneuver by Modell to allow the owner to take as little heat as possible. Browns fans loved Coach Brown. He was known as the best coach in the league, and of course, they respected his ability to build competitive teams that had won seven championships.

It just so happened that Modell had signed Coach Brown to an 8-year contract. With six years remaining, he wasn’t going anywhere. The VP position was one that everyone – including Coach Brown – questioned as to what his job duties would become or his usefulness would be determined to the franchise since he was no longer the boss but continued to receive an $82,500-a-year salary, an extremely handsome payday for a coach during this time.

The last thing Coach Brown wanted was to become a figurehead. After all, he was the best coach in the NFL – just, without a team to coach any longer.

In an interview with the New York Times, Coach Brown stated, “I’m on the shelf now, a Vice President in charge of I-don’t-know-what.”²

He had controlled every characteristic of the Browns. If new office chairs were needed, it was Coach Brown who read the pamphlets, studied what type of wheels each had, researched the seating fabric for durability, negotiated the price of each chair, and authorized the purchase order.

And that was just an office chair much less dealing with player contracts, owner’s meetings, the league itself, and the business of football. This was just an example of how he had his finger on every aspect of the franchise.

And now?

After Coach Brown spent two weeks vacationing in Florida, news circulated that the Philadelphia Eagles were for sale. Shortly thereafter, hints emerged that Paul Brown was most likely the main suitor.

The Eagles were owned by “The Happy Hundred.” This was a group of 100 investors officially known as “Eagles Sports, Inc.” who had all put in $3,000 each to buy the franchise in 1949 which ensured it remained in Philadelphia. The group was headed by trucking magnate James P. Clark and Frank McNamee, the regional director of the War Assets Administration.

The team won the 1948 NFL Championship and then was put up for sale by owner Alexis Thompson who had stated he had lost $32,000 in the title season.³

By 1963, there were 65 of the original Happy Hundred still living. Clark, the main investor, who now owned 20% of the team, passed away. It was then that the Happy Hundred convened and decided to sell the franchise on April 19, 1963.

Despite the 65 stockholders, the reality was that the club was run by only a few. And those were not able to make good decisions on draft picks and contract demands. Since the American Football League began play in 1960, the younger league had dominated the annual college draft, something the NFL underestimated their rivals on.

A majority of Eagles draft picks signed with the AFL which left the team without a solid foundation to build on.

Their first pick in the 1960 draft, running back Ron Burton out of Northwestern, signed with the AFL Boston Patriots. Their third-round selection, OG Curt Merz, inked a contract with the AFL Dallas Texans instead. Fullback Art Baker, their first-round pick in 1961 signed with the AFL Buffalo Bills. Second-round choice Pat Holmes in the 1962 NFL draft choose the AFL Houston Oilers instead. It came to a head in 1962 when only seven of 20 draft picks signed with Philly.

Eagles’ management was unable – or unwilling – to fork out money for higher contracts and attempt to out-bid AFL clubs for young, incoming talent. So, after winning only three games in 1962 plus Clark’s untimely death, it was decided that a sale of the franchise was best.

However, there were three conditions for the potential buyer: 1) the price must be at least $4 million, 2) the likely buyer must be acceptable and approved by the NFL owners, and 3) the franchise must remain in Philadelphia.

Enter Paul Brown

Coach Brown’s name surfaced almost immediately, although there were reports that six different prospects had inquired about the sale. One such group was reportedly Robert and Ted Kennedy.⁴

The issue brought up about Coach Brown was that he was still under contract with the Browns and would have to settle this matter according to NFL bylaws an owner could not possess a stake in multiple franchises. However, the fact was clear: if the transaction went through, Paul Brown would become the owner, general manager, and head coach.⁵

Modell came out publicly in an article by the Associated Press that he would support Coach Brown and would “not stand in [Brown’s] way if he wants to buy the Eagles.” Of course, for Modell, if Coach Brown was involved with the ownership of another franchise, this would mean the elimination of his hefty annual contract. No other coach in the league was being paid that much.

NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle stated that he was available to assist Modell and Coach Brown hammer out a contract resolution if needed and had several informal discussions with both men. The last thing the NFL wanted was for Coach Brown to leave the league completely. He had already been offered a coaching job for $50,000 annually with the Titans of New York⁶ in the upstart AFL. The NFL realized that Coach Brown was an asset they did not want to see become involved elsewhere.

The league viewed keeping Coach Brown in the mix would be a great service to professional football because he was one of the game’s giants and his active presence would provide a bold, exclamatory stroke on the canvas.

If Coach Brown did consider making a bid to purchase the Eagles, that franchise was healthy as far as their finances were despite going 3-10-1. They set a franchise attendance record of 422,096 fans that season and sold out six of seven home games. Just two seasons earlier Philadelphia went 10-2-0 and won the NFL Championship Game making it two NFL titles for the franchise.

During this season, they had a total income of almost $2 million which included $39,000 from regional television revenue and $856,000 from home game gate receipts. Salaries to trainers, scouts, and coaches were about $100,000 while player salaries exceeded $550,000. In addition, bonuses tallied just over $50,000. The two years prior, the team only made an average of $250,000 a year.

McNamee stated that he and Coach Brown had talked over the telephone about the Eagles sale⁷ but no financial issues were discussed.

It was reported that the Happy Hundred had many feelers but only two bids for the Eagles: one from Coach Brown for $4.5 million and the other from Herbert Barness, a real estate tycoon, for $4.5 million.⁸ This was one day after the team was announced for sale. Barness told the Eagles stockholders that being a local man he would ensure the franchise would not land in the hands of “outsiders” – meaning Coach Brown.

In a poll conducted by season ticket holders via the Philadelphia Inquirer, about 52% objected to Coach Brown taking over the Eagles⁹ while 30% said yes and the remainder were not sure. The reason given was that fans wanted local management inside of an outsider taking over despite Coach Brown’s track record as a successful coach and manager. They also stated they had read repeatedly that Coach Brown had some trouble getting along with his players.

However, Philadelphia Daily News sports columnist Larry Merchant wrote an article exclaiming the benefits of Coach Brown coming in and taking over operations.

In his regular column, he penned, “The issue of home ownership vs. ‘absentee’ or out-of-town ownership will be discussed because local groups are said to be bidding for the Eagles, too. Voices may be raised against Brown on this basis. Fears surfacing by this argument hijacking the team are groundless, to say nothing of ridiculous.¹⁰

Merchant went on to state that Coach Brown had a record of success and stability. “One vote here for Paul Brown” he concluded his column.

Who bought the Eagles?

Paul Brown was much more than just another good football coach. He was an organizational genius and an outstanding judge of football flesh.

On May 4, 1963, it was announced in the Cleveland Plain-Dealer that Coach Brown was no longer interested in buying the Eagles.¹¹

Plain-Dealer sports columnist Chuck Heaton wrote a story after hearing about the busted deal from a source that he trusted. It did not give a reason why Coach Brown pulled out of the bidding for Philadelphia, only that he had decided to remain as the VP of the Browns. In the article, it noted that Coach Brown had lined up other investors but none were identified.

Apparently, Coach Brown came within agonizing hours of making a deal for the Eagles which would have granted him a grueling climb back into the NFL.

Any mention that Coach Brown could be hired by the Eagles in any capacity was also eliminated. He had told close friends that he had no intention of getting in that situation again, meaning most likely any return to pro football would be in some degree of an ownership capacity.

For the record, Brown never went to Philadelphia during this time to meet with anyone from the Eagles.

He never toured Franklin Field which he was very familiar with during his time as head coach of the Browns having played there once a year. The last time Coach Brown stepped onto the grounds of this stadium was September 30, 1962, in Week 3 when the Eagles destroyed his Browns 35-7 in front of 60,671 patrons.

In the end, the Eagles were sold to Jerry Wolman for $5,505,500, a record sale for an NFL club at the time. After all the conversations about selling the franchise to a local group, Wolman was a Washington DC contractor¹² who built apartments and office buildings.

The report stated that the 36-year-old Wolman had agreed to keep the team in Philly. He outbid other groups from Garden State Race Track owner Eugene Morl, Credit Corp Executive Jack Wolgin, and Baltimore Home Builders owners James and Joseph Keelty. Wolman grew up two hours Northwest of Philly in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, and was an avid Eagles fan growing up.

After the sale, the remaining shares for the Happy Hundred were paid $60,500 a share.

In 1969, Leonard Tose paid $16.155 million for the Eagles. The franchise was sold again in 1985 to Norman Braman for $65 million and to Jeffrey Luri in 1994 for $185 million. Under Luri’s ownership, Philadelphia has captured two Super Bowls and has an estimated value of $6.6 billion.¹³

The Eagles came to life way back in 1033 from the remnants of the Franklin Yellow Jackets just when the Pennsylvania Blue Laws were being amended to allow sports contests to compete on Sundays. The cost of admission into the NFL was $3,500 paid by Lud Wray and Bert Bell, who would eventually become NFL commissioner from 1946-1959.

Beginning in 1965, Coach Brown began to look into whether a pro football team in either Seattle, New Orleans, Cincinnati, or Columbus, Ohio would be feasible and decided Cincinnati was the better city because it was larger and already had the baseball Reds. After meetings with Ohio Governor Jim Rhodes, Mayor Walton Bachrach, plus a hundred local businessmen, it was decided to pitch the AFL about placing their next expansion club in Cincinnati.

The NFL and AFL had already announced plans to merge so when Coach Brown approached his friend Rozelle, the NFL commissioner gave his blessing since a team in Cincinnati would become part of the established league in three years anyway.

On September 26, 1967, Governor Rhodes had a press conference at the Sheraton Hotel¹⁴ to announce the AFL’s newest member: the Cincinnati Bengals. Coach Brown would become the primary owner, General Manager, and head coach. His new team’s first game would be the day after his 60^th birthday.

Notes:

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1. Michael MacCambridge, America’s Game, Random House, 2004
2. “Paul Brown: ‘I’m Vice President In Charge of Don’t-Know-What’”, New York Times, January 11, 1963
3. “Eagles Sold to Syndicate Led by Clark,” Tuscaloosa News, January 16, 1949
4. Bob O’Donnell, Pro Football Chronicle, Macmillan Books, 1990
5. Ralph Bernstein, “Eagles Sale Seen Soon To Paul Brown Syndicate,” The Morning Call, April 6, 1963
6. “Titans Are Trying To Sign Paul Brown,” Record-Journal, April 6, 1963
7. “Eagles Receive Half-Dozen Offers But Paul Brown Still No. 1 Man,” The Mercury, April 30, 1963
8. Russ Green, “Paul Brown Makes Bid For Philadelphia Eagles,” Hanford Sentinel, April 20, 1963
9. John Dell, “Majority in Fan Poll Opposes Eagles’ Sale to Brown,” The Philadelphia Inquiry, April 14, 1963
10. Larry Merchant, “A Solid Vote for Paul Brown,” Philadelphia Daily News, April 19, 1963
11. “Paul Brown Doesn’t Want to Buy Eagles, Paper Says,” Lexington Herald, May 4, 1963
12. “D.C. Man Wins With ‘Upped’ Bid,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 6, 1963
13. Forbes.com/teams/philadelphia-eagles
14. Michael Nyerges, “Bengals-Saints rarely meet, but share history,” The Enquirer, November 11, 2014