OTTO GRAHAM, 82 Quarterback left imprint on game

The Cleveland Browns Hall of Famer set the bar for all quarterbacks.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- For 10 seasons, Otto Graham personified perfection, the Cleveland Browns and greatness. No quarterback has ever done it any better.
The Hall of Famer, who led the Browns to 10 championship games in the 10 seasons he played for them, died Wednesday of an aneurysm to the heart. He was 82.
Graham died in Sarasota, Fla., team spokesman Todd Stewart said. Graham was taken to Sarasota Memorial Hospital earlier in the day with a tear in his aorta, said his son, Duey Graham.
Paving the way
Before Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath or Joe Montana, Graham set the bar for all NFL quarterbacks by winning more consistently than anyone else.
"The test of a quarterback is where his team finishes," said Paul Brown once, Graham's coach in Cleveland. "By that standard, Otto Graham was the best of all time."
Graham helped the Browns become a football dynasty -- first in the All-America Football Conference and later in the NFL. He quarterbacked Cleveland teams in the 1940s and 50s that included Hall of Famers like Marion Motley, Dante Lavelli, Lou Groza and Bill Willis.
"He was as great of a quarterback as there ever was," said longtime friend George Steinbrenner, who grew up in Cleveland.
"Automatic Otto" never missed a game as a pro while passing for 23,584 yards and 174 touchdowns. Graham finished his career with a 105-17-4 regular season record.
He took Brown's teams to the title game in each season from 1946-55.
With Graham as their quarterback, the Browns won four championships in the AAFC and three NFL titles. He was MVP of the AAFC three times.
Graham was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965. In 1994, Graham was picked for the NFL's 75th anniversary team, joining quarterbacks Baugh, Unitas and Montana.
"Otto Graham was the superstar of the 1950s, when the NFL was gaining stability and growing in popularity," NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue said Wednesday night. "He helped glamorize the sport by winning championships and elevating the role of quarterback as the NFL entered the television era.
"He also played a major role in building the tradition of the Cleveland Browns."