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The first All-America
Conference championship game took place at Municipal
Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio before 41,181 rabid Browns
fans. Snow fell for three days preceding the game and
pelted the fans during it. It was estimated that the
attendance was down about 20,000 due to the weather. The
Cleveland Browns were the champions of the new league’s
Western Conference and they faced the champions of the
Eastern Conference, the New York Yankees. The City of
Cleveland had a NFL championship the previous year when
the Rams won the championship of the senior league. But,
the Rams had departed for Los Angeles, leaving Cleveland
all to the Browns. The Browns were coached by former
high school coaching genius, Paul Brown, who came to
them after a stint at Ohio State. The Giants were
coached by Ray Flaherty, former coach of the Redskins of
the NFL.
Cleveland Browns 14, New York Yankees 9
 CLEVELAND,
(AP)- A team as well-rounded as a country haircut- the
Cleveland Browns- possess the championship of the infant
All-America Football conference today.
On the frozen, snow-swept turf of the huge lakefront
Municipal Stadium, the surprising proteges of youthful
Paul E. Brown battled from behind yesterday to take the
title in the east-west playoff with the New York Yankees
by a 14-9 score before 40,469 fans.
On the short end of a 9-7 count with about four minutes
to go, automatic Otto Graham, former Northwestern
All-America, fired a 16-yard touchdown pass through the
semi-darkness to Dante Lavelli, former Ohio State end,
for the clinching counter.
The Browns didn't have an individual capable of winning
a berth on the all-pro honorary team, but as a batch of
rough and ready, point-producing precisionists they were
something new in the play-for-pay field.
Launching the season with seven straight wins, the
Browns sagged for two losses in mid-season and then
roared through six more victories to annex the western
laurels, scoring 423 points to 137. Seven home games of
the regular season attracted more than 400,000 fans, and
just to illustrate their versatility, the boys ran over
Brooklyn in the final tilt by 66 to 14, with nine
different men sharing the nine-touchdown avalanche.
Until the late drive yesterday it appeared the Browns
would be deprived of the championship. Cleveland was
making the first downs, punching the powerful Yankee
line for more yardage than the Yankees could make and
being just short of tripling the foes' total through the
air, but was a little short on points.
The Yankees took a three-point lead in the early minutes
of the first period on Harvey Johnson's field goal from
the 11-yard line.
Cleveland went ahead two minutes before the end of the
first half on Marion Motley's blast from the one-yard
line that completed a 70-yard drive, but the Yankees
regained command early in the third period when an
80-yard march ending with Orban (Spec) Sanders scooting
through center from the two.
There the score remained until it was almost over and
the Browns marked up the winning points.
Once in the first period Cleveland advanced as far as
the New York three-yard line and was stopped by the New
York line. On four other occasions the Browns were
dangerously close and failed to tally when field goal
attempts were missed by Lou Groza and Chet Adams.
Groza, who returned to practice only last Friday
following his injury in Brooklyn, obviously was bothered
by his sprained left ankle. He missed one attempt from
directly in front of the goal posts with the ball set up
on the 20-yard line. In good shape, it is difficult for
Groza to miss under conditions such as that.
Lou's other tries were from the Browns' 42-yard line and
the Yankee 48-yard line. He was wide with one while the
other was a low kick that barely cleared the heads of
the linemen. Adams' attempt was from the 37-yard line
and it was wide of the goal posts.
Groza was accurate with his conversion attempts, adding
both extra points.
While the Yankee line prevented Cleveland from rolling
up a big score, the Browns' fortifications up front also
were equal to the job at hand. New York's chances of
gaining the championship rested with the power of its
running attack, but the Browns charged through and held
Sanders, Eddie Prokop, Ace Parker and the other Yankee
runners to a net gain of 65 yards.
Cleveland's pass defense, with linemen hurrying the
veteran Parker, permitted New York only 81 yards. Ace
was wild with most of his aerials when forced to throw
the ball without much time and completed only eight of
18 attempts. He had one intercepted by Graham, who made
a one-handed catch while a New York player was tugging
at his other arm.
The Cleveland line clicked on offense, too. Except for
two times when Yankee linemen broke through and tossed
Graham for losses, Cleveland's forward line supplied
plenty of protection for Otto, who completed 16 of 27
passes for 213 yards.
The line got Motley loose through the middle several
times, Marion making 98 yards rushing in 13 attempts for
an average of 7.5.
Fifty-one of Motley's total was made on one attempt late
in the third period when the flying fullback broke
through center and raced from his own 23-yard line to
the Yankees' 26. Motley was hauled down from behind by
Eddie Prokop.
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