Browns to honor quarterback great Otto Graham with statue

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Cleveland Browns are honoring Hall of Fame quarterback Otto Graham with a statue outside FirstEnergy Stadium.

Graham played 10 seasons with Cleveland, leading the Browns to a title game in each one. With Graham, the Browns won four All-America Football Conference championships (1946, 1947, 1948, 1949) and three NFL championships (1950, 1954, 1955).

In his final game, Graham threw for two touchdowns and ran for two in a 38-14 win over the Los Angeles Rams for the NFL title. For his career, he passed for 23,584 yards with 174 passing touchdowns and 44 rushing.

Graham was inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965. He died in 2003 at 82.

The Browns will unveil the statue, which will sit on the stadium’s southwest side, in September. It will be the second by the team, following one of Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown in 2016.

The team has again commissioned sculptor David L. Deming, who also created the one for Brown.

Graham’s grandson, Ryan Vanname, got a sneak peak of the sculpture earlier this spring.

“It’s amazing,” Vanname said. “I know my family will definitely be proud of the work (Deming) did on this because right when I walked in it’s like, ‘That’s him. That’s my grandfather.’”