Portal:Illinois/Selected biography/28

Otto Graham in 1959 as football coach at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy

Otto Graham (December 6, 1921 – December 17, 2003) was a professional basketball and football player. He played quarterback for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL). Graham is regarded by critics as one of the dominant players of his era, having taken the Browns to league championship games every year between 1946 and 1955, winning seven of them. While most of Graham's statistical records have been surpassed in the modern era, he still holds the NFL records for career average yards gained per pass attempt and for the highest career winning percentage for an NFL starting quarterback.

Graham grew up in Waukegan, Illinois, the son of music teachers. He entered Northwestern University in 1940 on a basketball scholarship, but football soon became his main sport. After a brief stint in the military at the end of World War II, Graham played for the Rochester Royals of the National Basketball League (NBL), winning the 1945–46 championship. Paul Brown, Cleveland's coach, signed Graham to play for the Browns, where he thrived. Graham's 1946 NBL and AAFC titles made him the first of only two people to have won championships in two of the four major North American sports. After he retired from playing football in 1955, Graham coached for the College All-Star Game, the Coast Guard Academy, and the Washington Redskins. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965. (Read more...)