Football Pioneer Paul E. Brown

Football Pioneer Paul E. Brown. . , Paul E. Brown, born September 7, 1908 in Norwalk, Ohio, and raised in Massillon, is a member of the Professional Football Hall of Fame and was one of the greatest coaches in the history of football at all levels. From 1932 until 1940, he led Massillon High School to a record of 80-8-2. He coached Ohio State to the 1942 national collegiate championship, and joined the professional football ranks in 1946 as coach of the new franchise in Cleveland. He coached his namesake Cleveland Browns to seven league championships in 17 seasons. , , Reverse , In 1968, Paul Brown brought professional football to Cincinnati as founder of the Bengals, and as the team's coach until 1975. Known as pro football's greatest innovator, he invented the "draw play," introduced the use of facemasks on helmets, and was the first coach to call plays from the sidelines. He helped break the color barrier in modern American professional sports, featuring African-American players Marion Motley and Bill Willis on his 1946 Browns team, a year before Jackie Robinson's debut in major league baseball. Brown died in 1991 and is buried in Rose Hill Memorial Park Cemetery in Massillon.