Dick Schafrath, four-time NFL All-Pro offensive lineman and member of Browns' last championship team, dies at 84

Doug Dieken was talking about the passing of Dick Schafrath, but he couldn't help but to crack a smile.

"'Schaf' was a little bit of a character," Dieken said this afternoon. "No ... 'Schaf' was A LOT a character."

Jim Brown called Schafrath "one of the most extraordinary human beings I have ever met ... probably the greatest overachiever I ever met." The Hall of Fame running back said so in a foreword to Schafrath's 2006 autobiography, "Heart of a Mule."

The book closed on Schafrath's life this week. The iron man left tackle — a star of one of the Cleveland Browns' great stories who used to say he wanted to set an Ohio record for longevity — died at the age of 84 Sunday night.

"He was a Cleveland Brown and Ohioan to his core," the Browns wrote in a statement. "Schafrath’s unmatched work ethic helped establish what it means to be a Cleveland Brown."

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Schafrath started at left tackle on the Browns' last league championship team, helping them win the 1964 NFL championship. He spent his entire 13-year (1959-71), 176-game NFL career with Cleveland. He missed one game in 1963 and another in 1966. Otherwise, he suited up every Sunday. And Monday.

On Sept. 21, 1970, he took his familiar spot at left tackle in the first "Monday Night Football" game, a 31-21 Browns win over the Jets; teammates included running back Leroy Kelly, receiver Gary Collins and quarterback Mike Phipps.

It is hard for younger Browns fans to relate to Schafrath's role on Cleveland's last NFL title team, since the deed was done 57 years ago. Jim Brown, 85, remains a part of NFL marketing imagery. He has long pushed for Schafrath to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

In writing a foreword for "Mule," Brown wrote Schafrath and Gene Hickerson were rare blockers on one of history's better lines.

"Their attention to detail, their strength at the point of attack, and their speed downfield resulted in a 5.2 per carry average for yours truly," Brown wrote.

Cleveland was a heavy underdog against Johnny Unitas and the Baltimore Colts in the 1964 title game. Collins, known by Schafrath by the nickname "Futz," caught three touchdown passes in a 27-0 Browns victory.

Winter had just arrived the week of the game. Best friends Collins and Schafrath rode to practice in Schafrath's Volkswagen "Bug."

"The defroster did not work well, Schafrath wrote. "Futz would hang out the window, wiping the windshield so we could see. Sometimes we took the sidewalks to pass traffic, but we had no accidents.

"Since Gary was so confident we were going to win, I arranged for a team party after the game at a downtown hotel. I arranged for a band, too, so we could really celebrate."

The Browns stayed in that hotel the day before the title game. A fidgety Schafrath decided to walk across the street to a downtown movie theater. He thought it odd that he was shown to a seat by an usher, since the theater was almost empty.

"In a few minutes, the usher is escorting a guy to a seat right beside me," Schafrath wrote. "I look up and it is Ordell Braase (of Baltimore)."

Defensive end Braase vs. left tackle Schafrath was seen as a pivotal matchup in the title game.

"Braase and I went at it like two bulldogs," Schafrath wrote. "He was a tough, good player, but I refused to let him have an inch."

Schafrath was named most valuable player for the Browns' 1964 season based on a players' vote. He was amused by the uproar around the MVP not being Brown, Collins or quarterback Frank Ryan.

Dick Schafrath grew up in Wooster; Staple in Northeast Ohio

Schafrath grew up on a farm outside Wooster and developed a knack for talking to people from all over the country, including the rich and famous. He was a raconteur and an adventurer.

He did a two-month USO tour in support of troops in Vietnam. He married four times and apologized to his ex-wives in his colorful autobiography. He paddled a canoe across Lake Erie. Half on a bet, half to raise money for charity, he ran 62 miles from his high school field in Wayne County to Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

"The story behind that was that he would win a car if he completed that run," Dieken said. "Dick had never done any distance running.

"He was tough enough to do it, but it was around training camp time. I think he found out you can't start running marathons and have your legs for camp."

One time Schafrath's family, including his wife at the time and five kids ages 15 and younger, took a 25,000-mile tour of America, sleeping mostly in a Dodge van.

Dick Schafrath goes into politics

He opened a canoe livery near Loudonville as he was phasing out of his Browns career. His family operated it for 25 years, through 1997. He hated the red tape politicians wrapped around small businesses, a viewpoint he took into a political career.

He campaigned for Ronald Reagan, who would greet him by calling him "the cowboy from Ohio." His name recognition and personality gained him an invitation in 1985 to replace an Ohio state senator who had retired, mid-term.

The campaign to get him elected in 1986 was chaired by his father, his college coach (Woody Hayes) and his first Browns coach (Paul Brown). He was in the state senate through 2003. In "Mule," incidentally, Schafrath notes his dad was born in Canton in 1909, and lived there until he was 16 and the family moved to Wooster.

Schafrath part of Cleveland Browns left tackle legacy

Schafrath was part of a succession of great left tackles in Cleveland that began with the beginning of the franchise.

From 1946 into the 1959 season, Lou Groza was the Browns' left tackle, making appearances in 11 league championship games. Schafrath was drafted out of Ohio State in the second round in 1959 and succeeded Groza at left tackle in 1960. He held the job into the 1971 campaign, when he was replaced by Dieken.

"The team wasn't doing well in Dick's last year," Dieken said. "A while into the season, I became the left tackle, and Frank Pitts replaced Gary Collins at receiver.

"Everybody understood what a career Dick had, arguably worthy of the Hall of Fame.

"I appreciated him then and I appreciate him now. He was great to me."

Schafrath is not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, although he regularly has come up in debates about who should be.

In addition to helping the Browns win their '64 title, Schafrath helped them reach NFL championship games in 1965 and 1968. Dieken manned the left tackle post through 1984 and was a leader on the Browns' memorable Kardiac Kids team of 1980.

The next of the franchise's great left tackles, Joe Thomas, started from his rookie year of 2007 through the 2017 season, when he suffered a career-ending injury.

"Right after I was drafted, I learned about the rich history of the left tackle position for the Cleveland Browns," Thomas, a 10-time Pro Bowler and six-time All-Pro, said in a statement released by the team. "Some of the NFL's all-time greats lined up in that spot — from Lou Groza to Dick Schafrath to Doug Dieken. Dick helped set the standard for left tackles in the NFL, and I am truly saddened to hear of his passing."

Schafrath was named to seven straight Pro Bowls (1963-69) and made first-team All-Pro four times.

At Ohio State, he and quarterback Frank Kremblas were senior captains on a team that went 6-1-2. A former Massillon star, Jim Houston, was team MVP. Dick LeBeau played back on offense and defense.

In another foreword in Schafrath's autobiography, Jim Tressel referred to him by his nickname.

"If one asked Dick Schafrath what his most important roles have been, he would respond that he is, first, a humble child of God; second, a servant to others; third, a friend to many; fourth, a very fortunate father," Tressel wrote in 2006. "Each week, Mule writes a message to our Ohio State football family in which he challenges all of us to excel, first as men of God, second as warriors on the gridiron.

"It is an honor to be counted among the multitudes that have gained from knowing Dick Schafrath."

Dieken was humbled by his place in the succession of Browns left tackles as he reflected on Schafrath on Monday.

"Lou was my football grandpa," Dieken said. "Dick was my football dad."