Ohio State Football: Brown won’t be best WR traded, a Buckeye was

If Antonio Brown moves on from the Steelers some think he could be the best WR ever traded, but that distinction is held by a former Ohio State football player.

With all of the talk about Antonio Brown and the Pittsburgh Steelers parting ways I have heard talk by pundits he may be the greatest wide receiver ever traded. Not hardly. What former Ohio State Buckeye Paul Warfield accomplished for both teams will still be the gold standard.

Brown has put up unbelievable stats during his career, 837 receptions for 11,207 yards and 74 touchdowns. But he will be hard pressed to impact two teams like Warfield did.

Warfield was an all-purpose back / wide receiver for Woody Hayes and was named first team All-Ten his final two years at Ohio State. He was then drafted by the Cleveland Browns and immediately took the NFL by storm.

In 1964 Warfield caught 52 passes for 920 yards and 9 touchdowns as a rookie and the Browns won their final NFL title.

He missed most of the 1965 season due to an injury but came back strong the next four years. During the 1966-69 seasons he averaged at least 20.6 yards per reception. The last two years Cleveland played in the NFL Championship Game, losing to Baltimore and Minnesota.

With Frank Ryan gone and Bill Nelson’s career winding down the Browns were in need of a quarterback and there was a highly touted one in the draft. The problem was, Purdue’s Mike Phipps was sure to be one of the first players taken and Cleveland didn’t have a high draft pick.

The Miami Dolphins chose Phipps with the third pick of the draft and found the Browns a willing trading partner.

In one of the worst trades in NFL history, Cleveland traded the future hall of fame wide receiver for an unproven quarterback who never met the high expectations many had for him.

Dolphin fans loved the trade though. Read on and you will see why.