Speedie finished with 349 career receptions, 5,602 yards and 33 TDs with the Browns, who went 83-13-3 during his time with them. He led the AAFC in receptions three times and had the most catches in the NFL in 1952, when he had 62 for 911 yards and scored five touchdowns while being named MVP on a team loaded with stars.

He appeared in six league championship games - four straight in the All-America Football Conference and two in the NFL after Cleveland changed leagues in 1950. 'œThere was a time when it bothered me, but that was years and years ago.'Ī rangy, deceptively fast receiver at 6-foot-3, Speedie played with the Browns from 1946-52. 'œHe told me when I jumped leagues that he was going to get even with me,' Speedie said in a 1991 Los Angeles Times interview. When Speedie left Cleveland after the 1952 season to play for more money in Canada, Brown vowed revenge. But he'll soon take his place alongside teammates Otto Graham, Dante Lavelli, Marion Motley, Bill Wills and Lou Groza and their legendary coach Paul Brown - who played a role in Speedie's delayed induction.

'œWe had all but given up hope to ever see it.'įor decades, Speedie, who died in 1993 at age 73, was overlooked for enshrinement in Canton, Ohio. 'œIt's like a dream come true,' his daughter, Rebecca Speedie Walker said from her home in Colorado.

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