Lou Rymkus Louis Joseph " the Battler " Rymkus ( November 6 , 1919 – October 31 , 1998 ) was an American football player and coach in the All - America Football Conference ( AAFC ) , National Football League ( NFL ) and American Football League ( AFL ) . Playing as a tackle for the Cleveland Browns in the AAFC and NFL in the late 1940s and early 1950s , Rymkus provided pass protection for quarterback Otto Graham as the team won five league championships . Following his playing career , Rymkus took a number of assistant coaching jobs before serving as the first head coach of the AFL ' s Houston Oilers in 1960 . The team won the league ' s first championship , but Rymkus was fired by Oilers owner Bud Adams after a slow start in 1961 . Rymkus was born in Royalton , Illinois and grew up in Chicago . He was a star lineman in high school and won a football scholarship to attend the University of Notre Dame . At Notre Dame , he played on a 1941 team that went undefeated under head coach Frank Leahy . Rymkus was drafted by the NFL ' s Washington Redskins in 1943 and played one season for the team before joining the U . S . Marines during World War II . Following two years in the service , he signed with the Browns , where he spent the remainder of his playing career . Paul Brown , the Browns ' first coach , called Rymkus " the best pass protector I ' ve ever seen " . His blocking was used by coaches to demonstrate proper form . After Rymkus ' s brief stint coaching the Oilers , he held numerous football jobs , including as the coach of a high school team in Louisiana and an assistant with the Detroit Lions . Rymkus was a finalist for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988 but was not elected . He died of a stroke in Houston , Texas , where he lived for most of his later life . Early life and high school career . Rymkus was born in Royalton , Illinois , the son of a Lithuania n immigrant coal miner who owned a small grocery store . After his father was shot and killed outside the grocery store , Rymkus and his family moved to the Back of the Yards neighborhood on Chicago ' s South Side . With family finances tight , he took a number of odd jobs , including working as a laborer and delivering newspapers and groceries . At the suggestion of a friend , Rymkus attended Tilden Tech , now known as Tilden High School , and began to display talent as a lineman on the school ' s football team . He blocked a kick and scored a touchdown in a game at Chicago ' s Soldier Field in 1936 against rival Austin High , a play he later said was the most memorable of his high school career . Rymkus won seven letters at Tilden playing on the football , track and wrestling teams . As a senior , he defeated Rudy Mucha to win the Chicago prep - school wrestling title . College and professional career . Rymkus ' s success in high school led to a scholarship to the University of Notre Dame , where he played from 1940 to 1942 . He was known in college as a tough and durable tackle . In a 1941 game against Georgia Tech , Rymkus was elbowed in his upper lip . He left the game to get 14 stitches and returned to play in the 20 – 0 Notre Dame victory . Notre Dame went undefeated that season , coach Frank Leahy ' s first year at the school . During his junior year in 1942 , Rymkus earned All - America honors , and in his final season at Notre Dame he was named the team ' s Most Valuable Player . Rymkus was drafted by the National Football League ' s Washington Redskins in 1943 , signing a contract giving him a $ 2 , 000 annual salary ( $ in dollars ) . Playing alongside quarterback Sammy Baugh , Rymkus returned a blocked punt for a touchdown in one game and an interception for a touchdown in the next game . After the 1943 season , Rymkus joined the U . S . Marines during World War II . He trained Navy recruits at Great Lakes Naval Station near Chicago in 1944 and 1945 , and served at Pearl Harbor . As the war wound down with Germany ' s surrender in mid - 1945 , Rymkus decided to join the new Cleveland Browns of the fledgling All - America Football Conference . Paul Brown , the coach of the new team , had met Rymkus at Great Lakes , where he coached the training station ' s military football squad . Brown offered Rymkus a $ 4 , 000 salary ( $ today ) , double what he made with the Redskins . George Preston Marshall , the owner of the Redskins , declined to match the offer and questioned the wisdom of joining a league that he thought had little chance of success competing against the more established NFL . Rymkus left his wife Betty in Nappanee , Indiana and hitchhiked to the Browns ' training camp in Bowling Green , Ohio . The Browns began play in 1946 , and Rymkus soon became an anchor of the team ' s offensive and defensive lines . He solidified his reputation for toughness by playing more than 50 minutes per game that year despite a knee injury for which he needed surgery immediately after the season . On defense , Rymkus helped stop opponents ' rushing attacks and disrupt the opposing quarterback . On offense , he helped protect quarterback Otto Graham and opened up running room for fullback Marion Motley . Graham led the AAFC in total passing yards over its four years of existence , while Motley led the league in rushing . The Browns advanced to the AAFC championship in 1946 , but a week before the game , Rymkus and teammates Jim Daniell and Mac Speedie were arrested and held for several hours after a confrontation with Cleveland police . The men were drinking as they waited to pick up Speedie ' s wife , who was coming on a plane from Utah . Daniell , who was driving the car the three men were in , honked at a police car that was blocking him , leading to an argument and the arrests . Rymkus and Speedie were charged with creating a disturbance and Daniell was charged with public intoxication . Daniell , the Browns ' captain , was kicked off the team after the incident , but Rymkus and Speedie remained . The Browns went on to win the championship the following week , and Rymkus was named to a combined all - AAFC and NFL team . Cleveland won the AAFC championship in each of the following three years before the league dissolved and the Browns were absorbed by the NFL . Rymkus was named to all - AAFC teams in 1947 , 1948 and 1949 . In 1948 , when the Browns won all of their games , Brown took away Rymkus ' s defensive duties and made him exclusively an offensive tackle . That summer , he served as an umpire in the All - American Girls Professional Baseball League . The Browns won the NFL championship in 1950 , the team ' s first year in the league . Cleveland advanced to the championship the following year , but lost 24 – 17 to the Los Angeles Rams . Slowed by injuries to his elbow and knees , the 32 - year - old Rymkus retired after the 1951 season , never having missed a game or a practice during his six years with the team . Brown called him " the best pass protector I ' ve ever seen " ; former teammates said his play was a model Cleveland coaches used to tech pass blocking to newcomers . Coaching career . Following his retirement in early 1952 , Rymkus accepted a position as line coach at Indiana University , where his former Notre Dame teammate Bernie Crimmins had been appointed head coach . A year later , he headed north to work as an assistant under former Rams head coach Bob Snyder with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League . In 1954 , he returned to the NFL as a line coach for the Green Bay Packers . In four seasons there , he worked with future Hall of Famers Forrest Gregg and Jim Ringo . On January 9 , 1958 , Rymkus accepted an assistant coaching position with the Rams . Rymkus had been mentioned as a possible candidate to replace Lisle Blackbourn as the head coach of the Packers , but was passed over for the job in favor of fellow assistant Ray McLean . He worked under Sid Gillman with the Rams for two seasons , and was seen as a potential head coach . The new American Football League ' s ( AFL ) Los Angeles Chargers considered him for the top spot in 1959 ; Leahy , Rymkus ' former Notre Dame coach , served as the team ' s general manager . The Chargers selected Gillman instead , and Rymkus in January 1960 took the head coaching position of the AFL ' s Houston Oilers . Oilers owner Bud Adams signed him to a three - year contract paying $ 15 , 500 per year ( $ in dollars ) . Rymkus hired a stable of assistant coaches including Wally Lemm , Walt Schlinkman , Fred Wallner and former Browns teammate Speedie . The team was led by quarterback George Blanda , running back Billy Cannon and wide receiver Charlie Hennigan . As the regular season progressed , Houston built up a 10 – 4 record , setting up a meeting with the Chargers in the AFL championship game . The Oilers had lost to the Chargers in a November 13 game dubbed the " Sawdust Game " because sawdust was spread over the muddy and wet field in Los Angeles , but they entered the championship a six - and - a - half point favorite . Before the game , Rymkus was named the AFL ' s coach of the year . The Oilers went on to beat Gillman ' s Chargers 24 – 16 in the championship game on January 1 , 1961 . To commemorate the victory , Rymkus ordered thousands of drinking glasses emblazoned with a picture of his face and gave them to friends . The celebratory mood continued into the next preseason , when Adams sent the team for two weeks of training camp in Hawaii . Rymkus was upset by the distractions caused by the decision . " We found it hard to think football around the palm trees " , he said . " A preseason camp has to be hard , and you have to work hard . You can ' t do it in a place like Hawaii . " The team got off to a 1 – 3 – 1 start in 1961 , and Adams fired him on October 14 . Adams said the decision was " based on the conclusion the material on hand has not been used to its fullest potential " . Wally Lemm was given the head coaching job , but the shake - up prompted Speedie to resign . Under Lemm , the Oilers regrouped to win their second consecutive title . Rymkus left football after his firing and accepted a regional public relations position with the Los Angeles - based Global Marine Exploration Company . After more than three years out of the sport , he returned to coaching and the Oilers when former Redskins teammate Hugh Taylor hired him as the team ' s offensive line coach . Rymkus stayed with the team for the 1965 season , resigning in January 1966 . Despite his short tenure with the Oilers , Rymkus ' s was popular in Houston ; over 250 people attended a dinner in his honor following his resignation . Three weeks later , Rymkus and Baugh , who had worked with him on the Oilers ' staff , were named assistant coaches for the Detroit Lions . When Harry Gilmer was fired as Lions ' head coach after the 1966 NFL season , however , Rymkus was once again out of work . He got a job as an assistant for the Akron Vulcans of the Continental Football League and was appointed the team ' s head coach and general manager in 1967 . Rymkus stayed in the position until the team folded later that year due to financial difficulties ; the team ' s owner , Frank Hurn , ran out of money and stopped paying the Vulcans ' bills . Rymkus next took a steep pay cut to serve as head coach of Many High School in Many , Louisiana . The job , in rural west - central Louisiana , paid him only $ 9 , 200 a year ( $ in ) to coach football , teach three history classes and run the school ' s summer recreation program . Rymkus was drawn by the tough conditions the players endured ; many of his athletes missed practice to work on family farms . The team failed to win a game in 1968 , but Rymkus stayed connected to professional football as a scout with the Kansas City Chiefs on weekends . In 1969 , Rymkus left Many – he said he " couldn ' t afford it " – and began working as general manager of the Executive Health Club in Houston . Later that year , he raised money to organize a West Texas Rufneks team in the Continental Football League . After the Rufneks lost an exhibition game 31 – 0 to the visiting Omaha Mustangs , the board of directors of Professional Sports Inc . voted unanimously to remove him as head coach . Ted Dawson , who had been head coach and general manager of the Rufneks when the team was part of the Texas Football League in 1968 , retook the position and completed the season in a tie with the Western Conference champion San Antonio Toros . In early 1970 , Rymkus applied for a job as the Browns ' offensive line coach but did not get the position . Later that year , he returned to the NFL as an offensive line coach for the Baltimore Colts under Don McCafferty . After just three regular - season games , however , he was replaced by George Young and transferred to the team ' s scouting department . Rymkus received a championship ring that year when the Colts defeated the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl V . During his coaching career , Rymkus was renowned for his strictness . While with the Oilers , he repeatedly threatened to whip his players . He could also be melodramatic . He once repeated a speech Leahy gave at Notre Dame before a practice in a blizzard . He told his players during a hot August in Houston to be " like the Great Northern Buffalo , whose coat is shaggy and whose muscles are strong . The Great Northern Buffalo sticks his head into the wind and braves the cold , not like the puny Southern Buffalo , who turns his back to the storm . " Later life and death . Rymkus worked in the late 1970s for the Houston Astros in the group sales department . He went on to take a number of jobs outside of football , including selling cars in Houston , where he spent his remaining years . In 1988 , he was among 15 finalists for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame but did not make the cut . He died of a stroke in a Houston hospice in 1998 . He and his wife Betty had two children , twin boys named Pat and Mike .