• Mickey McBride, the Browns owner from their inception in 1946, sold the club to a syndicate composed of local businessmen for $600,000, more than twice as much as any other professional team had ever cost.
• Coach Paul Brown was fishing in Canada when the deal went down. When he returned, he was furious that the deal was completed without his knowledge. He also considered the sales price insultingly low, which affected him adversely as a shareholder of the club. However, he liked the fact that the new owners would follow McBride's lead and stay out of the way as Brown ran the team. After a brief contentious conversation when Paul returned from vacation, he and McBride never spoke again.

The offseason had also provoked much discussion about the "aging Browns."

• "Past their prime." No longer the "lean and hungry" players Brown craved but rather "fat and satiated."
• Brown would hear none of it. I'm not conceding anything now. We've got problems, yes. There are always problems in this business, but I think we have the material to solve ours. If it turns out we haven't, well, we'll start from scratch.

The Cleveland coach/GM shook up his team with a major trade with the Baltimore Colts.

• To replace the defunct Dallas Texans, the league had awarded a franchise to Carroll Rosenbloom, a native of Baltimore who made his fortune in the clothing business.
• The second incarnation of the Colts inherited the Texans' players, including two future Hall of Fame D-linemen, Art Donovan and Gino Marchetti.
• The trade involved 15 players, ten from the Browns and five from the Colts. Most were reserves or newly-drafted rookies. One player going from Cleveland to Baltimore was DB Don Shula, who would eventually coach both teams. Another former Brown was DB Bert Rechichar, a first round pick in '52. Coming to the Browns were C Tom Catlin, a rookie All-American from Oklahoma, T Don Colo, a three-year veteran, and OT Mike McCormack, currently in the service.
• The overmatched Colts finished 3-9 in the Western Conference, ahead of only the hapless Packers (2-9-1).

Once the season started, the Browns showed no signs of being over the hill.

• QB Otto Graham led the league in passing yards, passing average, completion %, INT perfect, and passing rank (computed retroactively) to earn the United Press International MVP award. Under his leadership, the Browns won their first eleven games, including two strange wins over the Giants - 7-0 in the Big Apple and 62-14 in Cleveland.
• Finally, the Eagles upset the Browns in the final game in Philly 42-27. Still, Cleveland won the East by 2.5 games.
• Lou Groza set a record with 23 field goals. Coaches around the league talked of defending the 30 against the Browns like it was the goal line because of The Toe's reliability. He produced almost 1/3 of Cleveland's points by himself.
• Despite the attention paid to Graham and the offense, the Browns quietly led the league in points allowed (162).
• Graham could no longer throw to Mac Speedie. The original Brown from 1946, dissatisfied with his salary, signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League for twice what he made with Cleveland. Mac's place as #2 receiver behind Dante Lavelli was taken by Ray Renfro (39 receptions for 722y with Pete Brewster a close third (32 catches for 632).

The Lions also repeated in the West.

• Detroit didn't clinch its division until the last weekend when they beat the Giants to finish 10-2 and edge the 49ers by one game.
• Rookie LB Joe Schmidt made Detroit's tough defense even better. The Lions finished second to Cleveland in points allowed.
• Yale Lary and Jack Christiansen spearheaded the secondary that led the league in interceptions with 38, eight more than the second place Rams.
• A pair of close wins over San Francisco, the league's offensive leaders (372 points), 24-21 and 14-10, propelled the Lions to the top spot.
• QB Bobby Layne continued to direct the Lions offense and partying. The roster included nine rookies, seven second-year players, two returnees from the Korean War, and 13 players who came from other teams. Bobby made sure they all blended together as a team.
  DB Jim David praised Layne's unconventional leadership. Nobody was a stranger for long. That was Bobby's way. Once you were on the team, you were part of the gang. There would be a spirit party of sorts. There was rookie afternoon at some showbar in town. If you didn't show, we'd send a taxi for you. Bobby was the leader, and we all followed. He knew the game, and he knew people, and he knew how to have a good time. ... But when it came time to play, we were ready. They'd tell jokes that when we'd form the huddle, you could smell liquor and stuff like that. But that never happened. Not during the regular season, anyway.
  Doak Walker, Bobby's teammate at Highland Park High School in Dallas, recalled: Everybody walked softly around Bobby. Even the assistant coaches were afraid of him. They knew the kind of power he had with the club.

The Browns and Lions didn't meet in the regular season.

• So the championship game was like the World Series in that the argument over which conference champion was better would be settled on the field.
• The two quarterback/coach combos provided quite a contrast in terms of game management. Brown sent in every offensive play using "messenger guards." Parker, by contrast, allowed Layne the freedom to do as he wished on the field.

1953 Cleveland Browns

• Dumont televised the game for the third year in a row over its network of 130 stations nationwide, the largest network yet assembled for a pro football game. Mutual again supplied the radio broadcast..
• The forecast called for light snow flurries after the game. The temperature at kickoff was 34°.
• The Browns brought tennis shoes to the Motor City in case a frozen field rendered their regular cleats unusable.
• The odds in favor of Cleveland had come down some by game day to 6.5 or 5.5 points, depending on whose line you preferred.
• The Browns would play without their best linebacker, Tommy Thompson, who was lost for the season in Game 9 with a dislocated knee. Walt Michaels moved to the right side with rookie Tom Catlin filling in on the left side. The good news was that MG Bill Willis would play for the first time in more than a month. Other members of the defense who were back at top strength after an off week before the title game were S Ken Gorgal and T Derrell Palmer.
• The Lions defense had held three of its last six opponents to a single touchdown each and the other three to a pair of scores. 320lb Les Bingaman anchored the middle of the line.
• Detroit got a boost in morale when the front office handed each player a $300 bonus Christmas day.
• Counting exhibition games, Cleveland had failed to beat the Lions in six tries since Buddy Parker became coach, although one game ended in a deadlock.
• The Briggs Stadium turf was soft and mushy in spots and hard in others. Very little grass was left. One reporter called it "more of a skidiron than a gridiron."
• Should the game be tied after 60 minutes, the teams would play a sudden death overtime.

54,577 spectators would witness a tight game between evenly-matched teams that wasn't settled until the final minutes.

• Quarter 1
  Cleveland started shakily. After returning the Detroit kickoff to the 24, an offside call immediately moved it back to the 19. Chick Jagade got the 5y back around right end. Then Graham faded back to pass, but, as he tried to throw, MLB LaVern Torgeson stretched across a blocker who tried to cut him and knocked the ball out of Otto's hands. Les Bingaman recovered on the 12.
  HB Gene Gedman gained 6y on first down off left tackle. After two more runs, the Lions faced 4th and one. An early decision faced Parker, and he showed faith in his offense. Layne took the snap, hesitated a half second, then sneaked over right guard to the two. The contest's first measurement confirmed that the Lions made it. After a plunge up the middle gained nothing, Bobby handed to Walker on a quick opener over left tackle on the weak side. Doak drove across, then converted. Lions 7 Browns 0 (10:55 remaining)
  
  Gene Gedman gains 7y to the 6 after the Lions recovered Graham's fumble.
  A 15y penalty on the kickoff gave the Browns good field position near midfield. However, in a portent, Graham overthrew an open receiver down the middle on 3rd down. So Horace Gillom punted, and Cleveland downed it on the two.
  The home team's cause took a jolt when big RE Leon Hart left the game for good with a twisted knee. Jim Doran, normally a defensive terminal, took Hart's place. Since Doran had caught only six passes all season, Parker's choice seemed odd against the league's best pass defense.
  After two runs to the five, Layne stumbled on the next play and fell at the two. But a 15y Cleveland penalty gave the Lions a first down on the 17. Bobby then fired to Doran out to the 44. After an incompletion, a screen pass lost yardage. But LE Cloyce Box grabbed a slant in to the Browns 46. When the measurement showed the ball inches short, the Lions punted, Billy Reynolds returning from inside the five to the 19.
  After being stuffed on first down, Jagade broke through on a draw play for a first down at the 33. Graham misfired on a long pass, but a 15y penalty put the pigskin on the 48. On 3rd-and-nine, the Lions flushed Otto out of the pocket. He ran left, twisted, and threw awkwardly down the middle. As with many of his passes that afternoon, the ball sailed high, bouncing forward off Dante Lavelli's hands to Reynolds, who rambled to the 15. But his effort was in vain since two receivers cannot touch the ball consecutively. So Gillom booted dead on the six.
  On the first snap, LH Bob Hoernschemeyer fumbled the handoff, and DE Len Ford recovered for Cleveland at the line of scrimmage. But the Lions stood strong.
  On first down, Jagade took a pitchout and was dropped for a 1y loss around left end. Ken Carpenter got that back over guard as the period ended. END Q1: Lions 7 Browns 0

Lions employ seven-man front to stop Browns running game.

• Quarter 3
  It was a different Cleveland team that started the second half.
  Detroit returned the kickoff from the six to the 27. Two runs gained a first down at the 38. Hit as he threw, Layne's pass down the middle went to Gorgal at the Cleveland 40 for his second interception of the day, Ken returning to his 49.
  The Browns pounced on the opportunity and moved to the tying touchdown. With Graham back under center, Billy Reynolds, Jagade, and Ken Carpenter took turns carrying the ball, with a swing pass and a quarterback draw mixed in, to gain two first downs in a row to the 24. Then came an improvised play. Back to pass, Otto found no one open. So he took off downfield. About to be tackled at the 20, the crafty quarterback flipped the ball underhanded several yards to the left and behind him to to Dub Jones, who had been blocking but followed Otto down the field. Jones dropped the ball, but it bounced right back into his hands as he continued to the nine. From there, Graham took the snap, spun as if to pitch out to the right, but instead handed to Jagade who sped through a big hole up the middle into the end zone with 6:58 left. Groza's PAT tied the score. Lions 10 Browns 10
  On the ensuing kickoff, HB Sherman Howard picked up and carried returner Jug Girard backwards and slammed him to the ground, causing a fumble that the Browns recovered inside the five. But a quick whistle from the referee standing a few feet from the tackle nullified the turnover. On the first play, Hoernschemeyer steamed through the right side to the 33. After an offside call against the Lions and an incompletion on a screen pass, Layne launched a beautiful pass to Box just before the receiver stepped out of bounds at the 47. Two plays after that, Layne rolled left and kept running until dragged down at the Cleveland 41, where he fumbled, his tackler recovering. (The box score does not give the recoverer's name.)
  But the Browns couldn't capitalize. Graham was sacked on 2nd down and threw a long incompletion on 3rd down. Gillom's punt came to rest at the 17.
  The defensive struggle continued as Detroit went three and out, Carpenter returning Lary's punt 7y to the Lions 48.
  Jagade ripped up the middle for eight and 14y. Then Jones, on a power play over guard, added 18 more, taking the ball to the nine. Jagade gained two on the last play of the period.
  END Q3: Lions 10 Browns 10

• Quarter 4
  As happened at the beginning of the second quarter, the Browns had a chance to score a touchdown from inside the 10. But a pass to Renfro at the two went off his hands as he was hit. Then with the ball on the right hash, Graham ran to his left for no gain to put the ball in front of the goal posts. Groza produced his second field goal 44 seconds into the final stanza to give the Browns their first lead of the afternoon. Browns 13 Lions 10
  Walker fielded Groza's kickoff at the goal line but couldn't get his footing and went down at the five. The Lions fought their way out of this hole by holding the ball for 14 snaps all the way to the Cleveland 26. On the second play, Layne threw out of his end zone to E Dorne Dibble who ran to the 15. Two runs by Hoernschemeyer gained another first down at the 26. Layne kept on an option play for five. Walker weaved to the 37 before the Texas gunslinger threw another beautiful down and out to Box, who was pushed out at the Browns 41. Layne kept on the option again to the 38. The the Lions tried some razzle dazzle. Layne started to the right on the option again but pitched to Hoernschemeyer coming back to the left. Bob rumbled to the 33 where two tacklers met him. As he went down, he pitched to Walker who added three more. Layne's 3y sneak preceded Walker's 1y gain around right end. Under pressure, Bobby threw an incompletion to bring up 4th down. So Walker tried a field goal from the 33 that missed.
  Sparked by another great effort by Jagade, the Browns moved from their 20 to Detroit's 33. First, three runs produced a first down at the 31. Two plays later, Chick broke loose and ran through tacklers until one grabbed him by the shirt and wrestled him down at the Lions 39. But again the attack stalled as two runs gained four and a pass down the left sideline fell incomplete. So Lou the Toe booted an insurance three-pointer from the 43 with just 4:10 remaining. He tied an NFL championship game record with three field goals. Browns 16 Lions 10
  Starting from the 20 and needing a touchdown, Layne huddled his troops and told them, Just give me some time and block for me, boys, and I'll win you a title. He hit Doran on another patented down and out, this one to the right, for 17. The next snap nearly produced disaster as Layne's pass down the middle was almost intercepted. One Brown defender seemed to get in the way of a teammate making the grab. Then, a long aerial to Walker racing down the left sideline was knocked away at the last second. Facing 3rd and 10 from the Lions 37, Doran slid into a gap between two Brown defenders and grabbed a Layne pass down the middle before being sandwiched between two defensive backs for a first down at the Cleveland 45.
  Afterwards, Layne said, If he don't get that one, we ain't going nowhere no how.
  
  Doran catches a Layne pass as Tommy James moves in.
  Next, the Lions quarterback threw to his left end, Box, who snared the pigskin on the 36. A pitchout to Hoernschemeyer gained nothing as the clock kept ticking. Layne then ran for 3y over left guard for a first down at the 33. Detroit called a timeout to set the stage for the biggest play of the game.
  Ever since he entered the game in the first quarter, Doran had been dueling with the defensive back opposite him, Warren Lahr, who was infuriated when Jim threw an elbow at him. From the beginning, the cocky Doran told Layne he could beat his man on a go pattern. The Lion receiver recalled: Lahr and I had been feuding a bit, you know, like you do in a tough game. He said he was gonna hit me in the mouth.
  During the timeout, assistant coach Aldo Forte in the press box suggested a screen pass to blunt the rush of DE Len Ford. Parker relayed the play to Layne. Know what I think? Bobby told his coach. I think a cigarette sure would taste good about now.
  Bobby had noticed Lahr pointing an angry, threatening finger at Doran earlier. An excellent poker player, the quarterback from Texas knew that angry men make bad decisions.
  When Layne returned to the huddle, Doran insisted again, Really, Bobby, I can beat him deep. Like Johnny Unitas a few years later, Layne had an uncanny ability to salt away a play in his memory and pull it out at just the right time. This was the moment to do so.
  Bobby called the out and up that Jim had begged for. Doran lined up wide to the right with Lahr lurking a few yards in front him. He worried that Warren would keep his promise and try to knock his head off. But at the snap, Jim circled to the right and shot down the sideline past his tormentor. With his O-line doing a great job walling off the Browns' five rushers, Layne had time to loft a soft pass into the end zone. It was just a question of whether the speeding Doran would catch up with it. He cradled the ball into his arms two strides past the goal line with Lahr 3y back. The Lions ran downfield to greet Doran as he returned from the end zone. Walker booted the go-ahead PAT with 2:08 showing on the clock. Lions 17 Browns 16
  But the Browns needed only a field goal. Could Graham pull the game out of the fire? No, he couldn't. Carpenter returned the kickoff 10y to the 28 with 1:54 left. Then Otto, flushed out of the pocket to his right, fluttered a pass aimed at Pete Brewster. But Carl Karilivacz, a rookie defensive back drafted in the 23rd-round, leaped high at the 45 and snared it, returning down the sideline to the six. However, the official marked him out of bounds at the 34. After two running plays gained a first, Layne sneaked for three, after which a fight broke out among two players from each side. When order was restored, Bobby lay down with the snap only to have a Brown run in and fall on him. That provoked more pushing and shoving. Finally, the gun went off, and C Vince Banonis ran off triumphantly with the game ball.
  FINAL SCORE: LIONS 17 BROWNS 16
  

Video of the 1953 Championship Game
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4