Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Speaking of Nick Skorich, who became an assistant coach for the Cleveland Browns in 1964 after being fired as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, I have a feeling that if he was hired by a different team, then Catfish Smith would have been playing for that different team instead of Cleveland.

I wonder if Catfish was protected from the expansion drafts of 1966 (Atlanta) and 1967 (New Orleans). Here is how it worked both of those years: 29 players were frozen (protected) as the Falcons and Saints made their first picks from every team (except Atlanta in the 1967 expansion draft, who were exempt). After making one pick from every team, the NFL teams were allowed to freeze two more players. The new teams then could pick two more players from each of the other NFL teams (except Atlanta in the 1967 expansion draft).

Catfish may have been on the bubble as far as being protected from that draft. I think that it is possible that he wasn't protected until after the two extra players were frozen. Reason I say this is because of the players taken in those drafts from Cleveland. Larry Benz, a starter for the Browns in 1965, probably would have been taken before Smith, even if Smith wasn't protected, but Smith might have been taken before Bobby Franklin or Dale Memmelaar, who were the other two players taken by the Falcons.

In the 1967 expansion draft, New Orleans took Walter "the Flea" Roberts, John Morrow, and Jim Battle from Cleveland. My guess is that Roberts or Morrow were taken first and Battle 3rd. I think that Smith could have been taken before Battle and maybe Morrow, due to having a broken leg during the previous season.

I was just watching a 1967 game between the St. Louis Cardinals at Cleveland. There was a play where Ernie Green broke away and appeared to be running for a TD. A little behind them was Cleveland center Fred Hoaglin. A Cards player came up after Green and was running right beside Houglin. Catfish Smith was running alongside Fred Hoaglin on his opposite side from the St. Louis player. Smith kept pointing at the Cards player wanting Hoaglin to block him, but Fred seemed to be oblivious to Catfish as well as the Cards player and just kept running forward. The Cards player did catch up to Green and deprived him of a TD,

Turns out that there was a penalty against the Browns on the play, so it really did not matter that much, but it did look pretty funny.

Fred Hoaglin did a good job for Cleveland as a center, taking over for John Morrow, who had a broken leg in 1966 that finished his playing career, but I bet that Fred heard about that play the following week.