Cliff Lewis ( American football ) Clifford A . Lewis ( March 22 , 1923 " - " July 24 , 2002 ) was a professional American football player for the Cleveland Browns of the All America Football Conference ( 1946 " - " 1949 ) and National Football League ( 1950 " - " 1951 ) . He was the team ' s first quarterback . He attended Lakewood High School in Lakewood , Ohio , and Staunton Military Academy in Virginia . Lewis went to Duke University , where he played football as a back . He was a member of the Duke basketball team during the ( 1944 " - " 1945 ) season . Duke University athlete . Lewis broke his elbow playing tailback for Duke against the University of Pennsylvania in 1944 . He returned for a November game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets . Lewis connected with receiver Clark Jones during a Duke 34 - 0 victory over previously undefeated Wake Forest University , at Wallace Wade Stadium on November 11 . He passed to Harold Raether for the final touchdown in a 33 - 0 triumph over the University of North Carolina , a win which gave Duke a second consecutive Southern Conference title . Lewis ' passing assisted Duke in moving the ball 64 yards in the third quarter of the 1944 Sugar Bowl game in New Orleans , Louisiana . All - America Tom Davis carried the ball on eleven of twelve plays of the drive , which ended with him scoring . The Blue Devils won 29 - 26 . Professional football player . Lewis was a triple threat player and alternate quarterback for the Fleet City , California Bluejackets in 1945 . The Bluejackets ' starting quarterback was Charlie O ' Rourke of the Chicago Bears , while Louis Zontini of Notre Dame University was second team at the position . The Los Angeles Rams lost Lewis , who had been the 19th draft pick , when NFL commissioner , Bert Bell , ruled him inelligble for the draft under league rules . The Rams selected Lewis with the idea that he was in the 1946 graduating class . Instead he had one more year of collegiate eligibility as an athlete who entered college in 1943 . The Browns signed Lewis in February 1946 . Lewis started at quarterback for the Browns in their first three contests in the AAFC in his first season , sharing duties with Otto Graham . He became a safety who also returned punts and kickoffs after Graham won the starting quarterback job early in the 1946 season . As a substitute for Graham , Lewis passed fifty yards to Bob Oristaglio for a touchdown against the Bears , in September 1951 . After a 38 - 23 Cleveland upset of the Rams in October 1951 , Lewis was one of three Browns defensive back s credited by quarterback Norm Van Brocklin with giving him difficulty . Lewis returned a Bob Waterfield long pass for twelve yards , to the Cleveland 32 , during the Browns 24 - 17 loss to the Rams , in the 1951 National Football League title game at the Los Angeles Coliseum . Lewis retired from the Browns to devote full time to his insurance business on July 30 , 1952 . Post - NFL career . Lewis worked for two years ( 1961 - 62 ) as a color commentator on Browns television broadcasts , and became vice president of insurance administration for the New York Yankees following the team ' s purchase by George Steinbrenner in 1973 . He participated in the retired players division of the NFL players ' golf tournament in Hollywood , Florida , in January 1961 . Death . Lewis died at the age of 79 in Tampa , Florida following an extended illness in 2002 .