Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

BD Sullivan wrote:He had originally come to the Browns in the monster 15-player trade in 1953 from the "new" Colts.

What were the circumstances behind the trade? Was Paul Brown trying to fleece the new Colts team? Or was there some sort of gentleman's agreement prior to admitting the 'new' Colts to the NFL?

Bryan wrote:

BD Sullivan wrote:He had originally come to the Browns in the monster 15-player trade in 1953 from the "new" Colts.

What were the circumstances behind the trade? Was Paul Brown trying to fleece the new Colts team? Or was there some sort of gentleman's agreement prior to admitting the 'new' Colts to the NFL?

I don't know all the details of the trade, but there was certainly no fleecing involved. The Colts sent five players to the Browns in exchange for 10 players. Among the players they got were Don Shula, Bert Rechichar, and Carl Taseff, who gave the Colts an excellent defensive backfield.

Two of the five players who went to the Browns, Mike McCormack and Herschel Forester, were in the service and didn't play in 1953.

BD: Thanks for the info about Catlin. About the 15 player trade: Don Colo was one of the 5 players that went to Cleveland and was needed because DT John Kissell decided to play in Canada in 1953. Cleveland wanted Catlin to bolster their linebackers after Hal Herring retired in 1953.

rhickok1109 wrote:

Bryan wrote:

BD Sullivan wrote:He had originally come to the Browns in the monster 15-player trade in 1953 from the "new" Colts.

What were the circumstances behind the trade? Was Paul Brown trying to fleece the new Colts team? Or was there some sort of gentleman's agreement prior to admitting the 'new' Colts to the NFL?

I don't know all the details of the trade, but there was certainly no fleecing involved. The Colts sent five players to the Browns in exchange for 10 players. Among the players they got were Don Shula, Bert Rechichar, and Carl Taseff, who gave the Colts an excellent defensive backfield.

Two of the five players who went to the Browns, Mike McCormack and Herschel Forester, were in the service and didn't play in 1953.

McCormack was considered the key piece to the trade, considering Brown's quote: "It'll be nice having a fellow like that a year from now." Interestingly, one of the six drafted players the Browns sent to the Colts was Harry Agganis, who decided to play baseball and tragically died a year or two later.

From the Colts perspective, they needed players--given that they had the remnants of the 1952 Texans (which did have Art Donovan), so their thinking was that this group could help them right away.

Mike McCormack is in the PFHOF mostly for being a great offensive tackle, but in 1954 he was very effective as a middle guard on Cleveland's defense (Bill Willis had retired).
In the title game that year, McCormack made a big defensive play ripping the ball out of Detroit's Bobby Layne's hands.

Tom Catlin is more known as a coach than as a player. He was defensive coordinator for Chuck Knox's teams at Buffalo and Seattle. Those teams generally were good defensive teams, probably in no small part to Tom Catlin.