CLEVELAND — Frank Ryan, who helped lead the Browns to their most recent NFL championship during his time as one of the greatest quarterbacks in team history, has died at the age of 87.
In a statement provided to the team, Ryan's family confirmed he passed away on New Year's Day following a battle with Alzheimer's disease. Loved ones expressed belief that head injuries suffered while playing football may have played a role in his illness, and in accordance with his wishes, his brain will be donated to Boston University for research on the topic.
A three-time Pro Bowler who twice led the league in touchdown passes, Ryan's exploits made him a hero not just on the football field but in the world of academia, where he was a renowned mathematician who even attempted to apply his knowledge of statistics to the game he loved. Both of those vocations would leave a lasting impression on Cleveland, the place he called home for the majority of his 13-year playing career.
Born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, Ryan stayed close to home and played at Rice University, where his athletic career was unassuming, at best. That didn't stop the Los Angeles Rams from selecting him in the fifth round of the 1958 NFL Draft, and with his sights already set on higher education, he decided to multi-task and join the team while also continuing his studies.
Ryan made just 11 starts across four seasons in LA before his big break came in 1962, as he arrived in Cleveland following the Browns' controversial trade of All-Pro QB Milt Plum. Originally the backup behind Jim Ninowski, he wound up starting the last seven games and showed enough promise that new head coach Blanton Collier stuck with him the next year following the firing of Paul Brown. Under Collier's guidance, the passing offense took off, and Ryan would thrive because of it.
A breakout 1963 campaign paved the way for the glory that was 1964, when Ryan would throw for 2,404 yards and a league-best 25 touchdowns as Cleveland took the Eastern Division with a 10-3-1 record. It would all culminate in the NFL Championship Game on Dec. 27 against the heavily favored Baltimore Colts, and the events of that day at old Municipal Stadium are still seared in the memories of all who witnessed it.
On a team that featured Hall of Fame playmakers like Jim Brown and Paul Warfield, it was Ryan and Gary Collins who stole the show, connecting for three scoring passes as the Browns rolled over the Colts 27-0. Though Collins was named the game's MVP, Ryan threw for an impressive 206 yards and posted a 117.1 passer rating, becoming the only Cleveland quarterback not named Otto Graham to win a league title as a starter. No one else in franchise lore has done it in the nearly 60 years since.
Ryan and the Browns got back to the NFL title game in 1965, but were overwhelmed by Vince Lombardi's mighty Green Bay Packers. Ryan would lead the league in TD throws again with 29 in 1966 (the same year he made his third straight Pro Bowl) and returned the Browns to the postseason in 1967, only to be blown out by the Dallas Cowboys. By the time Cleveland found itself in championship contention again in 1968, Ryan had been benched as the starter in favor of Bill Nelsen, and he subsequently spent two additional years as a backup for the Washington Redskins before retiring.
But by this time, Ryan had already mapped out his second act, as just months after winning the NFL title he had received his PhD from Rice. While continuing to play for the Browns, "Dr. Frank Ryan" found additional work as a math professor at what was then the Case Institute of Technology, and found his papers on values and functions published in math journals. He even found ways to pair his expertise in computers to the sport of football and produced such excellent work that the Browns themselves were impressed, though the project fizzled due to a lack of funding.
No matter, because after leaving Cleveland behind Ryan would take his talents to the halls of the U.S. Congress, playing a key role in the House of Representatives' use of more modern technology in things like floor votes. Athletics always held his heart, though, and he eventually got the best of both worlds when he served as athletic director at Yale University from 1977-87.
"I didn't want to be limited to just being a football player," Ryan said in a 2012 interview with Case Western Reserve University. "I wanted to be something beyond that."
Still, even if he had been limited to "just being a football player," Ryan would forever be an icon on the shores of Lake Erie. His 13,361 yards and 134 TD passes with Cleveland both remain among the top five on the club's all-time list, and in 2005 he was formally honored as one of the distinguished "Browns Legends."
"There are so many nice things about Cleveland," Ryan told Sports Illustrated in 2017, adding of his time with the Browns, "Those were the good old days."
Here is the full statement from Ryan's family:
"NFL quarterback and Cleveland Browns Legend Frank Ryan has passed away due to the devastating effects of Alzheimer's disease.
"Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is suspected to have played a role in the progression of the disease. Frank played 13 seasons in the National Football League from 1958 to 1970 and he led the Browns to their last NFL Championship victory in 1964, throwing 3 touchdown passes in a 27-0 win over the Baltimore Colts. He was elected to the NFL Pro Bowl 3 times from 1964 – 1966, and he was inducted as a Cleveland Browns Legend in 2005. Frank also played for the Los Angeles Rams and the Washington Redskins during his career. As a quarterback, Frank amassed many impressive team victories and career statistics, all the while earning a PhD in Mathematics from Rice University in 1965 that would lead to career accomplishments beyond the NFL.
"After retiring from professional football in 1970, Frank spent 7 years as the Director of House Information Systems for the United States House of Representatives, where he directed the development of the first computerized voting system used by the US Congress. In 1977 Frank was appointed the Athletic Director at Yale University, a post that he held for 10 years. After Yale, Frank served his alma mater Rice University as a Vice President for Institutional Planning. And throughout his varied career, Frank taught Mathematics at the undergraduate and graduate level, starting with Case Western Reserve, then Yale and then Rice. Upon his retirement to Vermont, Frank continued his lifelong study of math's great unsolved problems.
"Frank assigned just as much, if not more, importance to academic achievement as he did to athletic achievement and later in life, he emphatically warned those closest to him about the concussion and other injury risks associated with football. Like many of his teammates and friends before him, Frank has donated his brain to the Boston University CTE Center so that future football players and their families, as well as society in general, can better understand the effects of repetitive brain trauma on the human nervous system.
"Throughout his life, Frank received thousands of autograph requests from fans of all ages and backgrounds from across the country. He appreciated his fans enormously, and he kept every fan letter that he received. Frank fulfilled each and every autograph request that was sent to him, until he became physically unable to do so.
"Frank and his wife Joan marked their 65th wedding anniversary earlier this year. Frank had a large and loving family that gave him joy and happiness throughout his life, and his family was with him at the end."