June 27, 1999(1999-06-27) (aged 79) Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Height:
6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:
232 lb (105 kg)
Career information
High school:
Canton McKinley (Canton, Ohio)
College:
Nevada (1940–1942)
Undrafted:
1946
Career history
Cleveland Browns (1946–1953)
Pittsburgh Steelers (1955)
Career highlights and awards
NFL champion (1950)
4× AAFC champion (1946–1949)
2× First-team All-Pro (1948, 1950)
2× Second-team All-Pro (1946, 1947)
Pro Bowl (1950)
NFL rushing yards leader (1950)
AAFC rushing yards leader (1948)
AAFC rushing touchdowns co-leader (1949)
NFL 1940s All-Decade Team
NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team
NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team
Cleveland Browns Ring of Honor
Nevada Wolf Pack No. 41 retired
Career AAFC/NFL statistics
Rushing yards:
4,720
Rushing average:
5.7
Rushing touchdowns:
31
Receptions:
85
Receiving yards:
1,107
Receiving touchdowns:
7
Military career
Allegiance
United States
Service/branch
United States Navy
Years of service
1944–1945
Unit
Great Lakes Naval Station
Player stats at PFR
Pro Football Hall of Fame
Marion Motley (June 5, 1920 – June 27, 1999) was an American football fullback and linebacker who played for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and the National Football League (NFL). He was a leading pass-blocker and rusher in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and ended his career with an average of 5.7 yards per carry, a record for running backs that still stands. A versatile player who possessed both quickness and size, Motley was a force on both offense and defense. Fellow Hall of Fame fullback Joe Perry once called Motley "the greatest all-around football player there ever was".[1]
Motley was also one of the first two African-Americans to play professional football in the modern era, breaking the color barrier along with teammate Bill Willis in September 1946, when the two played their first game for the Browns.[2]
Motley grew up in Canton, Ohio. He played football through high school and at Nevada from 1940 to 1942, before enlisting in the military during World War II. While training in the U.S. Navy in 1944, he played for a service team coached by Paul Brown. Following the war, he then went back to work in Canton. Paul Brown invited Motley to try out for the Cleveland Browns, a team he was coaching in the newly formed AAFC pro football league. Motley made the Browns in 1946, and became a cornerstone of Cleveland's success in the late 1940s. The team won four AAFC championships before the league dissolved, and the Browns were absorbed by the more established NFL. Motley was the AAFC's leading rusher in 1948, and the NFL leader in 1950, when the Browns won another championship.
Motley and fellow black teammate Bill Willis contended with racism throughout their careers. Although the color barrier was broken in all major American sports by 1950, the men endured shouted insults on the field and racial discrimination off of it. "They found out that while they were calling us niggers and alligator bait, I was running for touchdowns and Willis was knocking the shit out of them", Motley once said. "So they stopped calling us names and started trying to catch up with us."[3] Focused exclusively on winning, Brown did not tolerate racism within the team.
Slowed by knee injuries, Motley left the Browns after the 1953 season. He attempted a comeback in 1955 as a linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers but was released before the end of the year. He then pursued a coaching career, but was turned away by the Browns and other teams he approached. He attributed his trouble finding a job in football to racial discrimination, questioning whether teams were ready to hire a black coach. Motley was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968.
^Piascik 2007, p. 289.
^Gary Webster, The League That Didn't Exist: A History of the All-America Football Conference. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2019; pp. 1-2.
MarionMotley (June 5, 1920 – June 27, 1999) was an American football fullback and linebacker who played for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football...
Fame, other than enshrinement. As of 2022, Steve Sabol, Art McNally, MarionMotley and Bill Willis are the only people to receive the award and also become...
Archived from the original on April 17, 2008. Retrieved April 21, 2008. "MarionMotley – Pro Football Hall of Fame Official Site". www.profootballhof.com....
the AAFC's Western Division. Led by quarterback Otto Graham, fullback MarionMotley and ends Dante Lavelli and Mac Speedie, the team won the first AAFC...
Ault, running back Frank Hawkins, and former coach Buck Shaw. Fullback MarionMotley is the only Nevada player to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall...
Richard Scarry, American-Swiss author and illustrator (d. 1994) 1920 – MarionMotley, American football player and coach (d. 1999) 1920 – Cornelius Ryan...
the Pro Football Hall of Fame including Harry Carson, Deacon Jones, MarionMotley, and Donnie Shell. Other legendary Bulldog players include Robert Porcher...
signing with the Browns and playing a game in September 1946 along with MarionMotley, a contest which took place months before Jackie Robinson broke the...
Bill Willis, a defensive lineman whom Brown coached at Ohio State, and MarionMotley, a running back who grew up in Canton and played for Brown at Great...
quarterback in the 60-69 range (Otto Graham), fullbacks in the 70-79 range (MarionMotley), halfbacks in the 80-89 range, ends in the 50-59 range (Mac Speedie)...
Brown behind an offense that featured quarterback Otto Graham, fullback MarionMotley, and ends Dante Lavelli and Mac Speedie. Cleveland began the season...
against the Buffalo Bills. Led by quarterback Otto Graham, fullback MarionMotley and ends Mac Speedie and Dante Lavelli, the Browns followed with a string...
of the heavy metal band Mötley Crüe, being the only member to remain throughout their entire history. Prior to forming Mötley Crüe, Sixx was a member...
backs) behind just fullbacks Jim Brown and MarionMotley. As of 2017, he ranked 6th all time behind Brown, Motley, running back Jamaal Charles and quarterbacks...
quarterback Otto Graham led an offensive attack that featured fullback MarionMotley, ends Dante Lavelli, and Mac Speedie. After a number of coaching changes...
signed Kenny Washington and Woody Strode and the Cleveland Browns hired MarionMotley and Bill Willis. Prior to the 1930s, basketball saw a great deal of...
Morrison (football player, coach) (Lima) Edwin C. Moses (runner) (Dayton) MarionMotley (Hall of Fame football player) (Canton) Scott Mruczkowski (football...
in the ranks of professional American football, when black athletes MarionMotley and Bill Willis took to the field for the AAFC's Cleveland Browns on...
straight NFL championship appearances for the Browns. Cleveland fullback MarionMotley led the NFL in rushing, and seven Browns were selected to play in the...
dominate the ground game. Pro Football Hall of Fame members Jim Brown, MarionMotley, Franco Harris, John Riggins, and Larry Csonka were fullbacks. There...
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