gold star for USAHOF

323. Lou Rymkus

Paul Brown called Lou Rymkus the best pass protector that he ever saw, which is high praise considering how many people he saw do that task.

Brown did not see much of Rymkus as a rookie, as he played for the Washington Redskins after being drafted there in 1943 after a great career at Notre Dame.  Rymkus enlisted in the military during World War II, and when he returned to football, he joined the Cleveland Browns of the AAFC.  He would quickly establish himself as an upper-echelon Tackle on both sides of the ball.  With Cleveland, he earned a version of the All-Pro team each of the team's four years in the AAFC and was a key factor in the Browns winning all four league championships.  Rymkus and the Browns proved the AAFC was for real: when the NFL absorbed them, they won the NFL Championship, making it five in a row for the Tackle.

He would later be a Coach, winning the AFL title twice with the Houston Oilers (1960 & 1961) as their Head Coach and a Super Bowl as the Baltimore Colts Offensive Line Coach.

If you want to put someone in Canton based on the championships they collected, you would be hard-pressed to find one better than Lou Rymkus.