The Land on Demand

The Browns At 75 Years Old: My Top 10 Defensive Backs

As a tandem, Hanford Dixon and Frank Minnifield were the best. But individually, one Browns cornerback was better. (Cleveland Browns)

As a tandem, Hanford Dixon and Frank Minnifield were the best. But individually, one Browns cornerback was better. (Cleveland Browns)

The Browns at 75 years old: My top 10 defensive backs

As of Wednesday, July 21, 2021

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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.

In celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Browns, I will commemorate the franchise with periodic lists honoring top moments, players, coaches, games and characters from my history as a beat writer and analyst.

The category: Top 10 defensive backs

The Browns have had a lot of very good defensive backs, but none Hall of Fame-worthy.

Only three Browns DBs – cornerbacks or safeties – have earned a first-team All-Pro distinction in his career.

Only 15 Browns defensive backs have earned a Pro Bowl berth, for a total of 22 times.

For a team celebrating its 75th anniversary, with four NFL titles in eight championship game appearances, three All-Pros from one position group seems pretty thin.

It made sorting out a top 10 in this category the most difficult task of this series.

10. Eric Turner, safety: 1991-95, 63 games, 17 INT, 2 TD.

Bill Belichick’s first draft pick in 1991, Turner was taken No. 2 overall – highest-ever for a Browns defensive back. He justified that selection by growing into a defensive player-of-the-year candidate in 1994 when the Browns led the NFL in defense and carried the team to a first-round playoff win. In his fourth season, Turner led the NFL with nine interceptions, one for a TD, and was second in tackles. His biggest hit stopped Jay Novacek cold at the 1-yard line on the game’s last play, preserving a 19-14 win over the NFC championship game-bound Dallas Cowboys.

9. Joe Haden, cornerback: 2010-16, 90 games, 19 INT, 1 TD.

Like many of his teammates, Haden had the misfortune of playing on Browns teams mired in organizational dysfunction. Haden became an unwitting beneficiary of that dysfunction when he was abruptly released by former GM Sashi Brown shortly before the 2017 season opener. He immediately signed with the rival Steelers. What a break for him. Haden suffered through a 29-83 record in seven seasons with the Browns. In four years in Pittsburgh, Haden and the Steelers are 42-21-1.

8. Clarence Scott, cornerback/safety: 1971-83, 186 games, 39 INT, 2 TD.

Initially booed by Browns fans because they selected him over Ohio State safety Jack Tatum with the 14th pick of the 1971 draft, Scott swiftly won over everybody with three interceptions in his first two games. After starting 104 games at cornerback, Scott made the conversion to safety in his ninth NFL season and proceeded to play five more years as a box safety – as opposed to free safety, the usual transition of older cornerbacks. Scott is first among Browns defensive backs with 186 games and third with 39 interceptions.

7. Erich Barnes, cornerback: 1965-71, 85 games, 18 INT, 3 TD.

Traded to the Browns at the age of 30 in 1965 by the Giants, Barnes started 69 games at cornerback in a five-year span and helped the Browns to four playoff appearances in his seven years overall. Barnes was an aggressive, tough, intimidating cornerback known in some quarters as a head-hunter. He’d have a hard time adjusting to the game’s offensive-friendly rules of today.

6. Bernie Parrish, cornerback: 1959-66, 94 games, 29 INT, 3 TD.

He led the NFL in 1960 with 238 return yards on six interceptions, then rang up seven interceptions the following year. He was a key player on the 1964 team that shut out the Baltimore Colts for the Browns’ last NFL championship. Parrish became just as noted for his outspokenness against the football establishment, rooted in his activism as a players’ union leader. After his playing days, he wrote a controversial book, alleging the NFL fixed games, and became a vocal critic of long-time players union kingpin Gene Upshaw.

5. Thom Darden, safety: 1972-81, 128 games, 45 INT, 2 TD.

The Sandusky native and Michigan Wolverine has held the franchise record for career interceptions for 40 years since retiring. In a four-season span in the 1970s, Darden had interception totals of 8, 7, 6 and 10. His brutal hit of airborne Bengals receiver Pat McInally in a 1976 game caused a lot of grief for him, though McInally returned to play in the game.

4. Ken Konz, safety: 1953-59, 84 games, 30 INT, 4 TD.

A first-round pick in 1951, Konz delayed his Browns career two years while serving as a lieutenant in the Air Force during the Korean War. He had 17 interceptions in his first three seasons, three for touchdowns. But his play alone in the Browns’ 1954 and 1955 NFL championship game victories would merit inclusion on this list. In the 1954 title victory over rival Detroit, Konz forced a fumble and intercepted Bobby Layne two times; in the 1955 win over the Rams, Konz had two interceptions of Norm Van Brocklin, one in the end zone. That’s four interceptions against two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks in back-to-back NFL championships.

2a. Hanford Dixon, cornerback: 1981-89, 131 games, 26 INT.

2b. Frank Minnifield, cornerback: 1984-92, 122 games, 20 INT. 

Impossible to separate or rank one above the other, the Corner Bros. were the first pair of teammates voted as starters on the same Pro Bowl team in 1988 and were the lifeblood and creators of the Dawg Pound. Dixon, aka “Top Dawg,” was a first-round draft pick in 1981; Minnifield, aka “Mighty Minnie,” joined via the United States Football League in 1984. For the next six years, they were the top cornerback tandem in the NFL. Individual claims to fame: Dixon once intercepted Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw three times in a game and Minnfield had two interceptions of Hall of Famer Warren Moon in an overtime period.

1. Warren Lahr, cornerback: 1949-59, 124 games, 44 INT, 5 TD.

Originally drafted by the Steelers and released after a knee injury, the graduate of Western Reserve University joined the Browns in their last year in the All-America Football Conference in 1949 and had four interceptions. His 44 interceptions overall qualify him second in franchise annals. Lahr added five interceptions in the playoffs, including three in the Browns’ NFL Championship Games in 1950 and 1951. Nevertheless, Lahr received only one post-season honor, making the Pro Bowl in 1953. 

Previously

My top 10 pass rushers

My top 10 quarterbacks

My top 10 running backs

My top 10 wide receivers

My top 10 head coaches

My top 10 games

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