Browns we lost in 2023 including legend Jim Brown

Training camp each year earmarks a renewal of hope with the Cleveland Browns. Every NFL club is undefeated and has aspirations of a deep playoff run and a chance of winning the league championship.

Our players are looked up to as the next crop of conquering leaders. Just as our heroes are celebrated in life, here is a snapshot of several former Browns who parted this earth in 2023.

RB Jim Brown

Age: 87

Passing date: May

Career: Browns 1957-1965

Point blank: The Greatest Running Back Ever. Brown was an afterthought for Cleveland head coach Paul Brown in the 1957 NFL draft as the successful coach was seeking a replacement for his retired QB Otto Graham. The Browns had the sixth overall pick in the draft and Coach Brown coveted quarterbacks Len Dawson of Purdue and Stanford’s John Brodie. Yet Brodie went third and Dawson fifth. This forced Coach Brown to choose Brown who was known for being an All-American lacrosse player.

Jim Brown’s rookie year set the tone: NFL Rookie of the Year, First Team All-Pro, Pro Bowl, NFL rushing yards leader, NFL rushing touchdowns leader, and won the league MVP. He retired while filming a movie in England that had run over two weeks. Then-team owner Art Modell told him that he would be fined $100 a day that he was not in training camp, so he retired instead after gaining 1,544 yards (14-game season) while scoring 21 touchdowns and being named the league MVP, the third of his career.

Brown played nine seasons and was named to the Pro Bowl each year. He was the NFL rushing yards leader for eight seasons, five-time NFL rushing touchdowns leader, NFL scoring leader (1958), First Team All-Pro for eight seasons, and NFL champion (1964).

After football, Brown was named or inducted to: NFL 1960s All-Decade Team, NFL 50^th Anniversary Team, NFL 75^th Anniversary Team, NFL 100^th Anniversary Team, Browns Ring of Honor charter class (2010), his #32 jersey retired, College Football Hall of Fame (1995), National Lacrosse Hall of Fame (1983), won the Tewaaraton Legend Award (lacrosse Heisman trophy), U.S. Army ROTC National Hall of Fame (2016), and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

He appeared in 52 television shows and movies and was a proponent of the civil rights movement.

The National Lacrosse Hall of Fame regards Brown as the greatest lacrosse player ever. The Premier Lacrosse League’s MVP distinction is named the “Jim Brown Most Valuable Player Award.” On January 13, 2020, Brown was named the greatest college football player of all time by ESPN. In February of 2023, the NFL announced it renamed its league rushing title as “The Jim Brown Award.”

LB Johnie Cooks

Age: 64

Passing date: July

Career: Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts 1982-1988, New York Football Giants 1988-1990, Browns 1991

Cooks was hired as a defensive weapon for the Giants when they won Super Bowl 25. He followed Bill Belichick when he was hired by the Browns to be their head coach in 1991. Lingering injuries caused Cooks to retire after the 1992 season. The linebacker played for 10 years and had 32 sacks. He was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.

DT Ron East

Age: 80

Passing date: September

Career: San Diego Chargers 1970-1972, Browns 1973-1978

A former Marine, East grew up a javelin champion in Montana. The quick defensive tackle played alongside Jethro Pugh and Bob Lilly for four years then off to San Diego alongside teammates Coy Bacon and Deacon Jones. He was referred to as “the most aggressive player coached.”

East signed a deal with the World Football League which folded before his contract could be activated. He was traded to the Browns and right away became the starting left defensive end where he started every game and had 4.5 sacks. Cleveland traded him to the Atlanta Falcons and he finished out his career with one year in Seattle.

While with the Cowboys, his wife gave birth to their son while East was playing in Super Bowl 5, a 16-13 Dallas loss.

TE Charley Ferguson

Age: 83

Passing date: February

Career: Browns 1961, Minnesota Vikings 1962, Buffalo Bills 1963-1969

After struggling to keep a roster spot for two seasons, Ferguson found success with the Bills of the American Football League (AFL). He was part of the Bills’ back-to-back league championships in 1964 and 1965. He was voted to the AFL All-Star Team after the 1965 season. While with Cleveland he played in 12 games with one start with two receptions for 68 yards and one TD.

TE Harry Holt

Age: 65

Passing date: November

Career: BC Lions 1978-1982, Browns 1983-1986, Chargers 1987

After a good career at Arizona, Holt signed with British Columbia of the Canadian Football League where he played in 54 games with 137 receptions, totaling 2,364 yards with 14 TDs. In 2004 Holt was selected to the Lions’ 50^th Anniversary Team.

After playing in Vancouver, he played for the Browns for four seasons where he started 22 games and played in 52 contests with 837 yards, five touchdowns with 63 receptions.

WR Homer Jones

Age: 82

Passing date: June

Career: Houston Oilers 1963, Giants 1964-1969, Browns 1970

This player altered pro football. A former track star, his nickname was “Rhino.” He was the star sprinter on a team that won the 1961 and 1962 NAIA National Championships. Jones was drafted in the 20^th round by the Oilers in the 1963 AFL draft but was passed upon by NFL clubs. He suffered a knee injury in training camp and the Giants offered him a bus ticket and knee surgery if he would jump leagues.

Jones would have three consecutive years with over 1,000 yards receiving and was known for being fast. The combination of elite speed and size for his position (6-2, 220 pounds) made him difficult to cover. He was selected Second Team All-Pro in 1967, voted to two Pro Bowls, and was the NFL receiving yards leader (1967).

He invented a football term. At the time, Giants receivers/running backs would throw the ball into the stands after scoring a touchdown. The NFL decided to stop this practice and had a $500 fine for doing so. Jones wanted to do the same thing as his teammates, but after scoring a touchdown he remembered the new rule, suddenly stopped, and slammed the ball into the turf. He called it “a spike.”

Jones was traded to the Browns in 1970 for RB Ron Johnson who would become famous for playing in blue cleats. Jones scored a touchdown on a kickoff return in his first game with Cleveland which was the debut for Monday Night Football. He had knee injuries and was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals at season’s end but never reported. Three years later he inked a contract with the New York Stars of the new World Football League but did not make the final roster.

RB Randy Minniear

Age: 79

Passing date: August

Career: Giants 1966-1969, Browns 1970

Taken in the 20^th round of the 1966 NFL draft, Minniear played three seasons with the Giants and started just eight games but played in 27 contests. His best season he had 35 carries with 141 yards. He then played for the Browns with eight games played but played sparingly.

Minniear then spent 40 years on Wall Street, retired and then coached high school football at age 72. He also spent 20 years as chairman of the NFL Alumni Association.

LB Jim Romaniszyn

Age: 71

Passing date: August

Career: Browns 1973-1974, New England Patriots 1976

The talented linebacker was selected in the 13^th round of the 1973 NFL draft after attending tiny Pennsylvania Western University - Edinboro. He played in every game for the Browns for two seasons with zero starts. Despite being a defender, he also returned kicks having seven kickoff returns. Romaniszyn was inducted into three Hall of Fame programs.

RB Charlie Scales

Age: 85

Passing date: June

Career: Pittsburgh Steelers 1960-1961, Browns 1962-1965, Atlanta Falcons 1966

The journey for Scales began with not being drafted after being on scholarship at the University of Indiana but not concluding his college career. His father had passed away and Scales took on the responsibility of getting employment to help his mother financially.

On weekends Scales played for the semi-pro Duquesne Ironmen of the All-American Conference for two years. The Colts saw him play and offered him a tryout deal but he had to decline because he was not a college graduate. After one more year playing for Duquesne, he qualified and inked a contract with the Steelers who then signed John Henry Johnson. At the same time he was employed at the steel mill. One of Pittsburgh’s running backs became injured which opened up a spot for a free agent like Scales.

Bobby Layne was the QB and was a well-known partier. Scales was a church-going guy and didn’t drink, yet the Steelers were known as a drinking man’s team.

The Cleveland Plains Dealer wrote an article saying I looked like Floyd Patterson and hit like him too, because of my blocking. He was traded to the Browns for a third-round pick, played four years, and was part of the 1964 NFL Championship squad.

After football Scales worked for Westinghouse for nine years and then was employed by the Volkswagen plant.

DE Chris Smith

Age: 31

Passing date: April

Career: Jacksonville Jaguars 2014-2016, Cincinnati Bengals 2017, Browns 2018-2019, Carolina Panthers/Las Vegas Raiders 2020, Baltimore Ravens/Houston Texans 2021, Seattle Sea Dragons 2023

A fifth-round pick of the Jaguars out of a successful career at Arkansas, Smith was cut by Jacksonville in his first training camp, then signed to the practice squad and traded to the Bengals after just one season. Cleveland then signed him to a three-year deal needing help at the defensive end position, but was cut after just 25 games with 22 total tackles and one sack. He hooked on with four other NFL teams but only saw snaps in 12 games.

He sat out all of 2022 and then was signed with the Sea Dragons of the XFL last year on a unit that allowed the most offensive yards per game. He played in only four games with five total tackles. A cause of death was never revealed.

WR Ralph “Catfish” Smith

Age: 84

Passing date: August

Career: Philadelphia Eagles 1962-1965, Browns 1965-1968, New Orleans Saints/Atlanta Falcons 1969

A track state champion in high school, Smith played both ways at Ole Miss and was named Second Team All-SEC and Second Team All-American plus was on Ole Miss’ National Championship team of 1960. The AFL Chargers drafted him in the eighth round and the Eagles took him in Round 12. He played sparingly for three seasons with just six starts and 10 receptions.

After being released on the final cutdown for the 1965 season, he signed with the Browns. Smith appeared in every game for Cleveland in his four years with 29 starts. He gained 405 yards on 29 receptions with four touchdowns.

RB Charles White

Age: 58

Passing date: January

Career: Browns 1980-1984, Los Angeles Rams 1985-1988

A track star named Two Time Pac-10 Player of the Year, a Two Time Unanimous All-American, won the Heisman Trophy in 1979 after gaining 2,050 yards as a senior at USC. He was drafted by the Browns in the first round of the 1980 NFL draft after hiring retread Calvin Hill the year before failed. It took a full season for White to supplant Greg Pruitt as the starting running back.

In five seasons with Cleveland, he started just 25 games and missed the entire 1983 season with an ankle injury. His Browns totals were 49 games played, 25 starts, 276 attempts, 942 yards, nine touchdowns, a 3.4 yards per rushing attempt, and 83 pass receptions for 684 yards with one more touchdown.

The Browns released him after his rookie contract expired. He signed with the Rams where he had some success including gaining 1,374 yards in 1987. That same year he was named First Team All-Pro, earned his only Pro Bowl, becoming the NFL rushing yards leader, NFL rushing touchdowns co-leader (11), and was named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year. He passed away from liver cancer.