QB Frank Ryan, who led Cleveland Browns to last NFL title in 1964, dead at 87

Frank Ryan, who led the original Cleveland Browns to an upset victory in the NFL title game in 1964 -- the last for the franchise -- died on Monday. He was 87.

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Ryan, a three-time Pro Bowl selection who played 13 seasons in the NFL from 1958 to 1970, died from Alzheimer’s disease, his son, Frank “Pancho” Ryan, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Ryan had been in a nursing home in Waterford, Connecticut, the newspaper reported.

Ryan threw three touchdowns to Gary Collins in the NFL title game in 1964, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com. The Browns shut out the heavily favored Baltimore Colts 27-0 in Cleveland to win their fourth NFL crown.

It was the last time the city of Cleveland would have a major pro championship until June 2016, when the Cavaliers defeated the Golden State Warriors to win the NBA title, The New York Times reported. Cleveland has yet to enjoy a Super Bowl appearance, and the city’s baseball team last won a World Series title in 1948.

Ryan, who came to the Browns from the Los Angeles Rams in 1962, played seven seasons in Cleveland. He still ranks No. 5 in passing yards and second in passing touchdowns, the Akron Beacon Journal reported.

The quarterback had a 52-22 record as a starter for the Browns and threw 134 touchdowns, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com.

Six months after guiding the Browns to the NFL title, Ryan earned a doctorate in mathematics from Rice University, according to the Times. He was a second-string quarterback at the Houston school, the newspaper reported.

Ryan was a professor of mathematics at the Case Institute of Technology (now known as Case Western Reserve University) in Cleveland while playing for the Browns and later taught math at Yale and Rice, according to the Times.

Ryan played his final two seasons in Washington before retiring in 1970. He then spent seven years working for the U.S. House of Representatives and was the director for the first computer voting system in Congress, the Plain Dealer reported.

He later spent 10 years as Yale’s athletic director, according to the newspaper. He would become a senior administrator at the university and then became a fundraising executive at Rice, the Times reported.

Ryan was aware of the dangers of concussions and chronic traumatic encephalopathy disease from playing football, believing that it played a role in his Alzheimer’s condition, according to the Plain Dealer. He has donated his brain to the Boston University CTE center.

“Our hearts are with the family and friends of Frank Ryan, as we honor the life of a Browns icon and championship-winning quarterback,” the Browns said in a statement.

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