Webster's Giants/Browns trivia

[Webster29]

Since Bighitter got me going I thought I would throw one out there for your consideration.   Back before free agency trades in sports always interested me.  And one of my favorite of all time and and probably many on this board was the one that brought Ron Johnson to the Giants.  There was a series of events that made Ron a Giant.  Can anyone remember what that series was and who were the players involved in the trade???

[kartanoman]

The Browns traded Ron Johnson and Jim Kanicki to the Giants in exchange for Homer Jones; a deal that, in retospect, was an outstanding one for the Giants.

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Peace!

[retrojint]

Geez:  I see Homer snagging the ball with Al Nettles of the Trogs in hot pursuit and that is like a beautiful woman smiling at you at 02:00 from the far corner of an otherwise abandoned bar.

Did LB Wayne Meylan (sp), Nebraska, also come over in the deal?  I seem to remember a third party involved who didn't make the squad. 

[kartanoman]

Retro - thanks for the catch ... Wayne Meylan was indeed part of the trade and, as you mentioned, did not make the team.

Also, be careful about that smiling woman at the bar as we used to say back in the day - "Nobody's ugly after 2 AM!"   

Peace!

[retrojint]

Kart: ;D Good point.  Up close you get to look past all that makeup. 

[Webster29]

Kart & Retro:  You are both of course correct.   I remember asking Chris Allen about Wayne Meylan being part of the trade as he was not listed on the Giants all time roster.  I had remembered Meylan as being a good special teams player and back up lb.  Chris said that he had been injured with the Browns and never healed enough to make the Giants.

The series of events that I was looking for went something like this.  The Browns wanted qb Mike Phipps out of Purdue in the draft but there was no chance he would fall to them.  So they had to trade their great wr Paul Warfield to Miami for Miami's first round pick.  So Cleveland got Phipps but lost a great receiver and needed someone to take his place.  They approached the Giants on the availability of Homer Jones.  The two teams started talking trade and some names were thrown around.  The Browns offered Johnson w/o saying a first name.  Supposedly they were talking about their dt Walter Johnson, a pretty good player.  The Giants were hoping they meant Ron who was coming off a terrific rookie season.  They did not think the Browns would be willing to part with RJ but took a shot and said do you mean Ron.  The Browns agreed and the Giants got RJ, Kanicki and Meylan.  Pretty good deal.

[retrojint]

Red:  And the Browns got fleeced because Phipps never panned out, Warfield might have been the greatest receiver in the game, adjusted to the circumstances of his era, and Homer did essentially zero for them after the kick-off return against the Jets during the first ever Monday Night telecast. 

[bighitterdalama]

Big Red,

I knew that Warfield figured into the trade somehow, but I couldn't remember the exact circumstances. Thank you for the insight. At the end of the 1969 season, the Browns were desperate to find a replacement for the aging Don Nelson. The Browns' front office thought that Purdue's Mike Phipps fit the bill. Phipps turned out to be a servicable NFL QB but, as Retro points out, never really did pan out into the All Pro many thought he could become. Phipps never had a season of 2000+ passing yards.

Homer Jones career-long knee injury finally caught up with him in 1970. Following his electric KO return for a touchdown to open up Monday Night Football against the Jets, he played sparingly for the Browns in 1970, catching only ten passes for 141 yards. He retired at the end of the season.




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Big Hitter