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The Cleveland Browns headed into the 1971 season in need of help at wide receiver for the second consecutive year.
Owner Art Modell had created a hole at the position prior to the 1970 season when he traded future Hall-of-Famer Paul Warfield to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for the third overall selection in that year’s draft, which turned out to be quarterback Mike Phipps.
Related: The best player to wear No. 24 in Browns history
Modell tried to patch the hole by trading for wide receiver Homer Jones, but Jones only lasted one season with the Browns before retiring after the season due to a lingering knee injury.
Related: Former Browns WR Homer Jones passes away at age 82
Not to be deterred, Modell was back at it in the spring of 1971 as he sent a third- and a fourth-round draft pick to the Kansas City Chiefs for wide receiver Frank Pitts, who earns the honor of being the best player to wear uniform number 25 in franchise history.
Pitts, who had been a member of two Super Bowl teams with the Chiefs, spent three seasons with the Browns and posted his second career season with more than 600 receiving yards in 1972, a year that also saw him have a career-best eight touchdown receptions.
Two games stand out from Pitts’ time with the Browns, the first coming in 1971 when he returned to Kansas City Municipal Stadium to face the Chiefs and had five receptions for 129 yards against the team he played with for the first six years of his career.
The second came the following season when Pitts pulled in a 38-yard touchdown pass from Phipps with 41 seconds remaining to pull out a win against the San Diego Chargers on Monday Night Football.
While he still played in 13 games in 1973, Pitts’ career was on the downside as he only had 31 receptions for 317 yards. He spent the 1974 season with the Oakland Raiders and then retired after having just three catches for 23 yards.
Pitts finished his Browns tenure with 94 receptions for 1,424 yards and 16 receiving touchdowns, which is still good for a tie for No. 20 on Cleveland’s list for touchdown receptions.
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The best of the rest (the pickings are slim)
Running back Charles White, who rushed for 942 yards and nine touchdowns in five seasons (1980 to 1984) with the Browns, running back Chris Ogbonnaya, who had 1,299 yards from scrimmage in three seasons (2011 to 2013), defensive back Chris Crocker, 22 starts and three interceptions from 2003 to 2005, and current running back Demetric Felton, who is still trying to find a role with the team after being selected in the sixth round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
Poll
Who is the best player to wear No. 25 in Browns history?
This poll is closed
-
4%
George Atkinson
(8 votes) -
0%
Vincent Barnett
(0 votes) -
1%
Terry Cousin
(2 votes) -
5%
Chris Crocker
(10 votes) -
1%
Demetric Felton
(3 votes) -
0%
Anthony Florence
(0 votes) -
11%
Coye Francies
(22 votes) -
10%
Corey Fuller
(21 votes) -
5%
Dana Hall
(10 votes) -
0%
Justin Hamilton
(0 votes) -
4%
Dontrel Hilliard
(8 votes) -
0%
Alfred Jackson
(0 votes) -
1%
Charlie Leigh
(2 votes) -
2%
Pat Moriarty
(4 votes) -
6%
Chris Ogbonnaya
(12 votes) -
28%
Frank Pitts
(56 votes) -
1%
Lewis Sanders
(3 votes) -
0%
Sedrick Shaw
(0 votes) -
15%
Charles White
(31 votes) -
0%
Rolley Woolsey
(1 vote) -
1%
Kenny Wright
(3 votes)
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