VINCE COSTELLO, GALEN FISS & JIM HOUSTON STARTING LINEBACKERS CLEVELAND BROWNS

Description

VINCE COSTELLO, GALEN FISS & JIM HOUSTON
CLEVELAND BROWNS STARTING LINEBACKERS
ON THE 1964 NFL CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM
LIMITED EDITION LITHOGRAPH
12" x 17.5" Unmated, Unframed &
Signed
COMES COA & LIFETIME AUTHENTICITY GUARANTEE
JIM HOUSTON
- Also Played for Ohio State -
DECEASED
James Edward Houston (November 3, 1937 ? September 11, 2018) was an American football linebacker who played 13 seasons in the National Football League with the Cleveland Browns. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2005. Houston was chosen in the first round of both the AFL draft by the Buffalo Bills and the NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns. He originally played as a defensive end under head coach Paul Brown, but later moved to linebacker under Blanton Collier. At linebacker he became a
FOUR-TIME PRO BOWL selection
, and helped the Browns win the 1964 NFL Championship. He died on September 11, 2018 at his home in Massillon of complications of dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Houston played for the Ohio State Buckeyes as an end.
He was a three-year starter under head coach Woody Hayes and twice the team MVP. He was elected the
TEAM CAPTAIN
as a senior. Houston contributed on both offense and defense. Although known primarily for his excellent blocking and tackling, he helped the
Buckeyes win a National Championship in 1957
(as recognized by the Coaches poll), and was also the leading receiver on the 1959 team, including a 100-yard game that year against Michigan State. He was an
All-America selection in 1958 and 1959
. Houston was inducted into the Ohio State Varsity O Hall of Fame in 1979, and was named to the Ohio State Football All-Century Team as a defensive end in 2000.
Houston was chosen in the first round of both the AFL draft by the Buffalo Bills and the NFL draft by the Cleveland Browns. He originally played as a defensive end under head coach Paul Brown, but later moved to linebacker under Blanton Collier. At linebacker he became a four-time Pro Bowl selection, and helped the Browns win the 1964 NFL Championship. He died on September 11, 2018 at his home in Massillon of complications of dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
GALEN FISS
- Team Captain 1964 NFL Championship Team -
DECEASED
Galen Fiss (born July 30, 1931, in Johnson City, Kansas ? died July 17, 2006, in Overland Park, Kansas) was a National Football League linebacker who played eleven seasons with the Cleveland Browns. Fiss was
captain on Cleveland's NFL championship team in 1964
. Fiss, who had Alzheimer's disease, died of cardiac arrest in 2006.
VINCE COSTELLO
-
DECEASED
Vincent Costello (April 8, 1932 ? June 22, 2019) was an American football linebacker who played twelve seasons in the National Football League for the Cleveland Browns (1956?66) and New York Giants (1967?68). He later coached with Paul Brown as linebackers coach for the Cincinnati Bengals (1969?1973); Miami Dolphins (1974) and the Kansas City Chiefs (until his retirement).
1964 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 19th season, and 15th season with the National Football League. The Browns won the NFL Championship, despite having not made the playoffs in six seasons.
1964 Cleveland Browns Team
The Browns were led by Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown who had a stellar regular season, rushing for 1,446 yards with a 5.2 yards/carry average. Although they had a great rushing game, the Browns had a very balanced offense, choosing not to just hand the ball to Brown on every play. The quarterback of the team was Frank Ryan who had a decent season throwing for 2,404 yards and 25 touchdowns while throwing 19 interceptions. The top receivers of the team were Paul Warfield and Gary Collins, the second of whom would become a legend by catching three touchdowns in the championship game against the heavily favored Baltimore Colts.
Leading into the game, the Browns were huge underdogs. Most experts had them losing by double digits. Baltimore was so heavily favored that after the Browns won the game, Sports Illustrated had to scramble to find a picture of a Browns player to put on its cover. Baltimore had the league's best offense and had a league best record of 12?2. They were stacked with future Hall of Famers such as Johnny Unitas, Lenny Moore, and John Mackey. The Browns though, were unfazed by the apparent talent disparity and Jim Brown was reported stating before the game, "we're going to kick their [butt] today." The game-time temperature that day was 34 degrees and felt much colder in 15- to 25-mph winds whipping under gray December sky. The Municipal Stadium crowd of 79,544 was the second largest in NFL title-game history at the time. The Browns knew that if they wanted to be in the game they had to make a statement early on, and they did just that. Galen Fiss, the Browns team captain, broke up a screen pass from Unitas to Moore, sending Moore airborne for a loss. The Browns tenacity on defense is what got them to the half time score of 0?0. Brown's running back Ernie Green reported after the game about half time, "We cleaned ourselves and sat down, and it seemed like something came over all of us. I think we all kind of looked at each other and concluded, 'Hey, we can beat these guys.'" Not only did the Browns "beat" the Colts in the second half, They destroyed them, scoring 27 unanswered points. Gary Collins became a Cleveland Browns legend by catching three touch down passes, the third one being a 51-yarder with Colts defender Bobby Boyd all over him. The biggest story of the game was how well Cleveland's defense played against Baltimore's heralded offense. Cleveland was able to hold Unitas to just 95 yards while intercepting him twice.
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