He was a general manager’s dream come true—a first round draft pick who proved to be worthy of the choice. A big, strong running back who plowed through Big Ten defenses with relative ease at Purdue, the Browns tabbed him with their opening pick in the 1976 draft and roundly enjoyed the presence of his […]
He joined the Cleveland Browns as a second round draft choice in 1973 after a sensational career at the University of Oklahoma where he was a two-time consensus All-American back and runner up in the 1972 Heisman Trophy balloting. It was apparent early-on in his Browns career what the cheering had been about. In his […]
She began to get serious about figure skating rather early in life—when she was an eight-year-old elementary school student in her home town of Westlake. Beginning as a singles skater, she shifted her attention to pairs skating as a teen-ager and at the age of 22 she shifted partners and into a high gear on […]
A remarkably successful and generous businessman, this transplanted native of Brooklyn, NY brought to his adopted city of Cleveland, a stunning array of values—humanity, generosity, patriotism, leadership and genuine devotion—which assured his name in a permanent place of honor in the city’s annuals. But, while his unparalleled support of the healthcare and educational communities built […]
There are legends in sports and there are LEGENDS. Buddy Langdon merits all-capitals treatment when listing those who stand tallest in Greater Cleveland’s well-respected men’s softball lore. Born John Langdon in Cleveland’s Collinwood area, he moved to bat-and-ball conscious Euclid at the age of six By the time he graduated from Euclid High, he had […]
A solid, but hardly sensational wrestling career at Cleveland State University—a 56-11-2 record, a school record 14 pins as a senior bulwark of the nations ninth-ranked team when he qualified for NCAA Division I Nationals but he won just one match before bowing out—gave virtually no hint that the Vikings were nurturing an Olympic silver […]
A three-sport at Cleveland West High, where he captained the baseball, basketball and football teams, he appeared on track to a professional baseball career after earning All-Ohio diamond honors at West in 1964 and subsequently playing for two years in the Cleveland Indians farm system. Instead, his future in sports took a sharp right turn […]
A native Clevelander who starred in football, basketball and track at Cleveland West High from 1945 to 1948, he stayed on to give his hometown reason to continue cheering his feats at Case Tech. and continue to cheer it did as he literally fashioned a Hall of Fame career for the Rough Riders from 1948 […]
The son of an amateur sports car racer turned the lessons he learned on the inner workings of a car while growing up in Medina, OH into a smashingly successful career as one of the nation’s leading race car drivers. Drove his way into super start status by winning three CART championships in 1985, 1987 […]
A legend before his time, he came to Cleveland to enroll at Cleveland State University with a storied reputation as a New York basketball wonder who had bypassed his high school team to make a name in AAU and playground circles. Nothing he did in a Viking uniform diminished his stature. As a freshman in […]