The final quarterback to lead the Cleveland Browns to an NFL championship, player has away at the age of 87.
NFL Championship football game in Cleveland, Ohio, Dec. 27, 1964. Cleveland Browns quarterback Frank Ryan makes gestures in the locker room while speaking with reporters following the Browns’ 27-0 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. The Cleveland Browns’ 1964 NFL championship-winning quarterback, Ryan, passed away on Monday, January 1, 2024. His age was 87.
This wasn’t your typical NFL quarterback, Frank Ryan.
The Cleveland Browns are champs thanks in part to his arm. Off the pitch, he received greater recognition for his intellect.
Ryan passed away on Monday. He guided the Browns to their final NFL championship in 1964 despite obtaining a degree in mathematics during the off-season. He was eighty-seven.
According to a statement from Ryan’s family, he passed away while receiving treatment at a Connecticut nursing home. According to his relatives, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) “is suspected to have played a role in the progression of the disease” and he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
Ryan gave the CTE Centre at Boston University his brain for research.
The Browns shared on social media, “We are honouring the life of a Browns icon and championship-winning quarterback by sending our condolences to his family and friends.
On December 27, 1964, the Browns upset the highly-favored Baltimore Colts and Hall of Famer Johnny Unitas 27-0 in the championship game. Ryan completed three touchdown passes to wide receiver Gary Collins. Cleveland is still one of the four clubs that has never made it to the Super Bowl and has not won a football championship since.
However, the Browns were a constant force in the early to mid-1960s because to Ryan and Hall of Fame running backs Jim Brown and Leroy Kelly.
Ryan received his Ph.D. from Rice University, where he played collegiate basketball in his native Texas, just a few months after winning the ’64 title, which stood as the final for any of the city’s three major professional teams for 52 years until the Cavaliers won the NBA title in 2016.
He continued on to become a maths teacher, first at Yale and then at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland. Ryan is also recognised for his contribution to the modernization of the US House of Representatives through the development of an electronic voting system.
Ryan played for the Browns for seven seasons, starting five of them and earning a 52-22-2 record. He was a three-time Pro Bowler with the team. In 1964 and 1966, he was the league leader in passing touchdowns.
Ryan was one of the best passers in the league and tossed at least 25 touchdown passes in three seasons, even though Cleveland won many games by riding the great Brown and then Kelly on the ground. Before retiring following the 1970 season, he also played for the Washington Redskins and Los Angeles Rams.
Ryan was Yale’s athletic director for ten years as well.
Ryan was a 13-year player who went 57-27-3 as a starter while passing for 16,042 yards and 149 touchdowns.
Joan, Ryan’s wife, is his surviving spouse. The couple commemorated 65 years of marriage.
The details of the funeral and memorial service were still being worked out.
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