Lou
Groza Bio,
Lou Groza Stats, What People
Said
The Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award is named in
honor of one of the all-time greats in football history,
Lou “The Toe” Groza. After starring in high
school in Martins Ferry, Ohio, and playing a season at
Ohio State University, Lou was drafted in the United States
Army for service in World War II, where he was stationed
in the Philippines and Okinawa. While he was in the Army,
Lou received a letter from Paul Brown, his coach at Ohio
State. Brown had just been named the head coach of the
new Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference,
and he wanted Lou to be a member of the first Browns’
team. Upon being discharged in early 1946, Lou went to
Cleveland, a place he would never leave.
Lou
ended up playing 21 magnificent seasons for the Browns.
He began his career as both an offensive tackle and a
kicker. In 1954, Lou was named the NFL’s Player
of the Year. After a back injury forced him to sit out
the entire 1960 season, Lou came back solely as the kicker,
a role that he maintained until he retired. This was the
first time in NFL history that a player had appeared on
a roster exclusively as a kicker.
Lou’s
greatest moment as a football player occurred on Christmas
Eve, 1950. The Browns, in their first season in the NFL,
were down 28-27 to the Los Angeles Rams in the 1950 NFL
Championship Game. With 28 seconds remaining, the Browns
turned to Lou to kick a 16-yard field goal. With the championship
hanging in the balance, Lou nailed the kick and Cleveland
won 30-28.
When
he retired in 1967, Lou left a legacy that is still unmatched
in NFL history. The 1,608 career points he scored is still
a Browns’ franchise record, and he ranks third all-time
in league history. Lou was a nine-time All-Pro and won
an amazing eight championships, four in the AAFC (1946-1949)
and four in the NFL (1950, 1954-1955, 1964). That puts
Lou in an elite group of athletes that includes Bill Russell,
Joe DiMaggio, and Maurice Richard as the greatest winners
in professional team sports history. The Browns retired
his number, 76, in 1968, and in 1974, the name of Lou
Groza was etched into football immortality when he was
elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The
influence Lou Groza had on the Cleveland Browns franchise
is still evident today, and it is not confined to the
myriad of team records that he still holds. When the Browns
returned to the NFL in 1999, they honored Lou with one
final tribute – their training facility in Berea,
Ohio, is located on 76 Lou Groza Boulevard.
It
only seems appropriate that when every current and future
Cleveland Browns player goes into work, he will have to
drive down a road named for the heart and soul of the
franchise. As teammate Doug Dieken said upon Lou’s
death in 2000, “I don’t know if he is the
greatest Cleveland Brown, but he is THE Cleveland Brown.”
Lou
Groza Bio,
Lou Groza Stats, What People
Said
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 240 lbs
DOB: January 25, 1924
1950 |
10 |
74 |
13 |
15 |
68.4% |
1951 |
12 |
73 |
10 |
23 |
43.5% |
1952 |
12 |
89 |
19 |
33 |
57.6% |
1953 |
12 |
108 |
23 |
26 |
88.5% |
1954 |
12 |
85 |
16 |
24 |
66.7% |
1955 |
12 |
77 |
11 |
22 |
50.0% |
1956 |
12 |
51 |
11 |
20 |
55.0% |
1957 |
12 |
77 |
15 |
22 |
68.2% |
1958 |
12 |
60 |
8 |
19 |
42.1% |
1959 |
12 |
48 |
5 |
16 |
31.3% |
1960 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
1961 |
14 |
85 |
16 |
23 |
69.6% |
1962 |
14 |
75 |
14 |
31 |
45.2% |
1963 |
14 |
85 |
15 |
23 |
65.2% |
1964 |
14 |
115 |
22 |
33 |
66.7% |
1965 |
14 |
93 |
16 |
25 |
64.0% |
1966 |
14 |
78 |
9 |
23 |
39.1% |
1967 |
14 |
76 |
11 |
23 |
47.8% |
|
| 17
yrs |
216 |
1,349 |
234 |
405 |
57.8% |
Lou
Groza Bio,
Lou Groza Stats, What People
Said
“He
was a special guy. He was the spirit of the Cleveland
Browns.” – Hall of Fame teammate Mike McCormack
“I
don’t know if he’s the greatest Cleveland
Brown, but he is THE Cleveland Brown.” – teammate
Doug Dieken
“When
you talk about the ambassador of Cleveland Browns football,
it’s Lou.” – Dieken
“You
could count on him for anything. He was a heck of a nice
guy.” – Hall of Fame teammate Otto Graham
“He
was like a brother to me. We were together for 59 years.
We’ve been all over the world together.” –
Hall of Fame teammate Dante Lavelli
“He
preached to all the players, ‘When a kid asks you
for an autograph, you better give it to him. If not, I’ll
make you do it.’” – teammate Jimmy Ray
Smith
“I
know that Lou won more games in clutch situations with
his kicking than any player in the game’s history.”
– Hall of Fame Browns coach Paul Brown
“What
a nice guy. I didn’t realize how much of an honor
it was to win the award until I met him. Lou was the Man.”
– 1993 Groza Award winner Judd Davis
“Lou
was a funny guy, fun to be around. We had a good time
together.” – 1998 and 1999 Groza Award winner
Sebastian Janikowski
“When
we spoke on the way over to the banquet, he told me candidly,
‘Steve, I never thought my career would come to
something as great as this.’ The Commission couldn’t
have picked a better person to honor with a yearly award.”
– 1994 Groza Award winner Steve McLaughlin
Lou
Groza Bio, Lou Groza Stats, What
People Said 
.gif)
