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Frank Ryan, last Browns quarterback to win a title, passes away at the age of 87 – Terry Pluto
- Updated: Jan. 02, 2024, 3:08 p.m.|
- Published: Jan. 02, 2024, 7:54 a.m.
1/7
Frank Ryan
CLEVELAND, Ohio – The last quarterback to lead the Browns to an NFL title passed away on New Year’s Day.
That’s Frank Ryan, who led the Browns to a 27-0 victory over the Baltimore Colts in the 1964 NFL Championship game. Ryan threw three TD passes, all to Gary Collins, as the Browns pulled off the upset over the heavily favored Colts and their quarterback Johnny Unitas.
Ryan passed away at the age of 87 from Alzheimer’s disease. He had been in a nursing home in Waterford, Conn., according to an email from his son, Frank “Pancho” Ryan Jr.
Ryan had an amazing career well beyond his 13 years in the NFL. He taught math at Rice University, Yale and Case Western University. When he was leading the Browns to the 1964 title, he also was working on his Ph.D. in Math at Rice. Yes, playing football and doing high-level graduate math work at the same time.
Ryan was with the Browns from 1962-68. He had a 52-22 record as a Cleveland starter, throwing 134 TD passes compared to 88 interceptions. He made three Pro Bowls.
After Ryan retired from the NFL in 1970, he spent seven years working for the U.S. House of Representatives. He was the Director of Development for the first computer voting system in the U.S. Congress. Ryan later spent 10 years as Athletic Director at Yale.
He was very aware of the dangers of concussions and Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) disease from football. He believed that played a role in him developing Alzheimer’s.
Ryan has donated his brain to the Boston University CTE center. Frank and his wife Joan were married 65 years.
This from Frank Ryan Jr.’s email:
“Throughout his life, Frank received received thousands of autograph requests from fans of all ages and backgrounds from across the country. He appreciated his fans enormously. He kept every fan letter he received and fulfilled every autograph request sent to him until he became physically unable to do so. Frank had a large and loving family and they were with him at the end.”
