Browns Hall of Famers are wowed by Ring of Honor.
UPDATED: 5:32 p.m.
Browns fans lift up the covering revealing the name of Hall of Fame running back Leroy Kelly during halftime of Sunday's Browns-Chiefs game.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Bobby Mitchell stared at the huge screen at Heritage Hall, where the first group of 16 Hall of Famers were enshrined in the new Browns Ring of Honor.
Mitchell watched a young man carrying a football on a sweep, fellow Hall of Famer Gene Hickerson in front of Mitchell, delivering a bulldozer of a block on a Browns opponent.
Now 75, Mitchell blinked his eyes several times, seemingly fighting back a few tears.
"To be remembered like this..." he said. "For it to happen in Cleveland...the Browns weren't my real team, because I didn't spend most of my career here. But they have done more with this to elevate me than Washington has."
Mitchell played for the Browns from 1958-61, then was traded to the Washington Redskins for Ernie Davis, who died of leukemia before he ever played a regular-season game for the Browns.
With the Browns, Mitchell was a special teams star, a sometimes receiver and the other running back next to Jim Brown. It was in Washington where Mitchell became a Hall of Fame receiver. But it is in Cleveland where he believes, "They have gone out of their way to highlight my career. I'll never forget this."
That was the response of virtually all the Ring of Honor members and their families to the Hall of Fame-style Heritage Hall, where fans will be able to drink up the Browns history.
The widow of Hall of Fame receiver Dante Lavelli, Joy Lavelli, stood in front of the display honoring her husband.
Former great Browns running back Leroy Kelly clearly enjoyed hearing the cheers once again on Sunday, as he walked back to the stands after Sunday's Ring of Honor ceremony. "He would have loved to see this," she said. "This made me think of when [former coach] Paul Brown came to Hudson and signed Dante to his first contract. He gave him a $500 bonus, and $3,500 for the first year. I still have it."
What else comes to mind?
"Paul Brown would never let the wives travel to away games," she said. "At home, he would not let more than two wives sit together at games. He was afraid that we'd find out what our husbands were being paid."
She laughed about the memory.
Which is what the Ring of Honor is all about -- memories. And smiles. And a few tears as the seasons have relentlessly marched on. Nine of the Ring of Honor members are deceased. Another, Mike McCormack, wanted to attend, but is recovering from surgery. In a dispute with the front office, Jim Brown refused to take part. The president of the Baltimore Ravens, Ozzie Newsome was with his team in Cincinnati.
That left four Ring of Honor members -- Paul Warfield, Leroy Kelly, Joe Delamielleure and Mitchell -- to pose in front of the display for pictures taken by their families. But families and friends of other members were there.
"My father would have loved this as much as being in the Hall of Fame," said Bob Hickerson, son of the late Gene Hickerson. "It's just fabulous."
Judd Groza was there to represent his father, Lou Groza, who died in 2000. He wished his mother could have seen it, she died a few months ago. Looking at a picture of his father, Judd talked about when his dad knew it was time to quit.
"He said he kicked off at a game, and some rookie blindsided him with a block," Judd said. "Then the kid reached down and helped my dad up, saying, 'Sorry Mr. Groza.'"
What you heard from these men and their family members was a sense of awe and humility.
Leroy Kelly became the featured back when Brown retired after the 1965 season. Kelly then made six Pro Bowls. He remains underrated because he was the man who came after perhaps the greatest running back in the history of the National Football League.
"I really didn't feel that much pressure, because we had such a great team," Kelly said. "The blocking was great -- Hickerson, John Wooten, [Dick] Schafrath, John Brewer, John Morrow ... Paul [Warfield] and Gary [Collins] were receivers, and they blocked, too. [Fullback] Ernie Green blocked. These guys made it easy for me."
At 68, Kelly still was praising his offensive line.
Warfield spent a lot of time looking at the shrines of some of the earliest Browns -- Otto Graham, Marion Motley, Len Ford, Bill Willis and Lavelli.
"I grew up in Warren, and these were the players I watched," said Warfield. "For me to be in the same Ring of Honor with them -- it's still hard to imagine."
Warfield then mentioned being in the same 1964 draft as Kelly. He talked about playing on the same team as Brown and Hickerson, and how it's a thrill to be entering the Ring of Honor with those former teammates.
The 16 Ring of Honor names were unveiled at halftime of Sunday's game, giving Browns Stadium a much-needed sense of history.
Also in town were several members of the Browns' Legends Club. Former defensive end Bill Glass raved about owner Randy Lerner and team president Mike Holmgren picking up all the expenses for his trip from Dallas. He toured the Ring of Honor shrines with Paul Wiggin and Jim Ray Smith.
"Doing something like this for the former players and fans says a lot about the ownership," said Smith, a guard from 1956-62.
A long-time executive with the Minnesota Vikings, Wiggin said "Wow" several times as he walked with Glass and looked at the displays. The former teammates turned into fans as they gawked at the pictures of the Hall of Famers.
"What a tribute," said Wiggin. "It's amazing this franchise has had 16 Hall of Famers. I was a pretty good player, but these were great ones. In Minnesota, we have some nice pictures of our best players on the walls, but it's nothing like this. Being here reminds all of us what an honor it was to be with the Browns, and this is first class. The fans and former players will love it."
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