PolarLava::Blog

I was sad to hear the news today that Cleveland Brown's great Otto Graham had died yesterday.

Graham played well before my time in 1946-1955, but I remember distinctly writing a book report on a book about his career when I was in about 4th or 5th grade. I don't remember much about that report, but I do remember I pick the book for two reasons. I was a big football fan, as I still am and flipping through the book I learned he was born in Waukegan, Illinois (December. 6, 1921 to be exact). And I remember thinking that was pretty neat because that was the small city near where I grew up, Gurnee, Illinois.

In that book I learned Otto was one of the greatest to every play the game. A man I knew little about until that time, I learned that somebody from a nowhere place like my backyard could achieve greatness.