NFL Greatest Players

Marion Motley: His football destiny was charted at Canton, Ohio, in the 1930s and fulfilled many years later in the same city.

Somewhere between his childhood and Hall of Fame election, Marion Motley discovered that superior athletic abilities could carry him to lasting fame as a social pioneer and a great fullback. But his ticket to greatness would not come without a price.

Motley, a hulking 6-1, 232-pound bulldozer, made his professional debut with the Cleveland Browns of the newly formed All-America Football Conference in 1946, joining teammate Bill Willis as the first blacks in the pro game since the early 1930s.

Although they endured untold hardships and bigotry in the months preceding the 1947 baseball debut of Jackie Robinson, they never received equal credit for their social breakthroughs.

Motley made a different kind of impact on the field. A rookie at age 26, he became a one-man wrecking crew for the talented Paul Brown-constructed team that would dominate the AAFC and NFL over his eight pro seasons. Motley was a devastating force when he carried the ball on power sweeps or up the middle on his patented trap play.

He was a take-no-prisoners blocker on running plays, a one-man wall for quarterback Otto Graham on passes and a capable receiver. He also was an outstanding linebacker and kickoff-return man in the AAFC.

When the Browns were accepted into the NFL in 1950, opponents got their first look at the new-era fullback -- a blocker and runner with elusiveness instead of the traditional line plunger.

They quickly designed defenses to stop him, but he still led the league in rushing. When Motley retired after the 1953 season (he made a brief 1955 comeback with Pittsburgh), he had compiled an amazing 5.7-yard rushing average in the AAFC /NFL and his teams had won five league championships and lost in the title game three times.