Pro Football’s “Dirtiest Player”
That is not really a moniker that one would want to be attached to, but from 1948 through 1960 it was commonly used in reference to Hardy Brown.
Sometimes observers varied and said he was the toughest player in pro football, but “toughest” and “dirtiest” were pretty much lumped together.
Hardy Brown ended his career with the Denver Broncos in the 1960 inaugural season, playing defensive back and linebacker with his 6-0, 193-pound frame.
Before coming to Denver Brown had moved around a lot, earning his nickname of “thumper” at every stop.
He started out with Brooklyn in the All American Football Conference (a pro league, which was where the Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers began) in 1948, and played for Chicago in the AAFC in 1949.
His playing tactics were a little on the rough side, to say the least, so he then moved (and was moved) from Chicago to Washington and Baltimore in 1950, to San Francisco for the 1951-55 seasons, by far his longest tenure with one team, and then on to the Chicago Cardinals in 1956 before finishing up with the 1960 striped socks Broncos.
But Hardy Brown had some tough early years, and generally speaking he made people pay for them on the football field.
Born in the small town of Quanah, Texas, he was raised in an orphanage, and that’s where he learned his football.
The Masonic Home School in Fort Worth was the name of the institution, and although Brown said (I was by no means the toughest guy on my high school team,” it was a tackling tactic that he picked up at the school which he refined and made famous (infamous, really) that gave him his dubious reputation.
The players at Masonic Home developed a tackling style involving throwing one’s body at the ball carrier and connecting with the tackler’s shoulder on the victim’s chin. If the contact was perfect, the collision was awful.
A lot of players at Masonic Home used that style, but they were not as talented as Brown, so the combination of his ability and the pure viciousness of attack gave him a scholarship to Southern Methodist, before he finished up at the University of Tulsa.
As he began his pro career Brown added his own special touch to the technique, having a thin layer of steel attached to his shoulder pads. While they gave Brown a bit more weight to carry around, that was nothing compared to the chaos that he began to create roaming the secondaries of the AAFC, NFL, and finally the AFL. I have watched a lot of old film of Hardy Brown, and I can verify that there were any number of collisions in which his victims dropped like rocks.
Particularly in that at the start of his career players still were not wearing facemasks.
One final Bronco connection: the great, late Fred Gehrke, who as general manager of the Broncos crafted the roster for the team’s first Super Bowl appearance in 1977, played for the Los Angeles Rams against those teams on which Brown was launching his human rockets.
Fred was a very tough guy himself, tough enough that his own nickname was “Leather.”
I once asked Fred about playing against Brown, and he paused for a few seconds, then calmly said, “Hardy Brown. He wasn’t so tough.”
Tough guys from a tough era in pro football.
Tags: Denver Broncos, Fred Gehrke, Hardy Brown
Jack Tatum to me was the hardest, meanest hitting guy I saw in my life time, always going for the hardest hits on someone’s head, so much so that he paralized a New England player.This guy was as mean as they come and just about every hit he delivered would now be a penalty, some games were so tough to watch with him in it, you just about had to turn your head away, it was like a massacre, and I am not exaggerating, if you saw that guy live he scared the bejesus out of you and every receiver out there. Of course I’m talking about who I saw in my lifetime and as far as football years it started in 1975, so I know nothing about previous dirtiest player, but Tatum is the one in my book.
dirty aka hard hitting players win games, and are fun to watch. atwater, romo, lyle alzado, dawkins, ect ect. the only problem is in todays no fun league with all the fines they would need a second job just to make a living.
Whats goin on with Marshall, hopefully him and McDaniels can sort their issues out and he stays a bronco
hmm 1st post ever and wrong blog
Tatum “they call me assasin”……..never liked the fact he paralyzed Darrell Stingley from the New England Patriots during a preseason game. RIP D. Stingley. Another reason I hated the Raiders. Tatum and their other Safety George Atkinson were head hunters. I was playing jr high football at the time and remember Coach talking about the type of hit Tatum delivered. I remember one of our Broncos WR’s ..possibly Jack Dolbin taking a vicious hit by either Atkinson or Tatum a few years later.
There is no such thing as a wrong blog, you are fine just where you’re at, feel free to discuss anything Bronco on any blog you want.
Two Words:
Jack Lambert.
Thx Baylinorcrush. Have read everything ever posted since I have had a computer but have never posted, but getting to edgy to find out what is goin to happen with Marshall, Dumervil, and the rest of are good players. I think Dumervil will be back but don’t think Marshall will be. If he isn’t, Hopefully the organization will do something positive with what they get for Brandon.
GOOOOOO BRONCOSSSSSSSSSS.
Oh how about 47, John Lynch. Loved watching him lay people out.
lynch is a great hitter. I wouldn’t consider him a dirty player though.
The dirtiest Broncos I can think of were Alzado and Romanowski.
And Shanny’s O line going after everyone’s knees, LOL.
Ya Lynch wasn’t a dirty player but a hard hitter.
Ya I’d agree on Shanny’s O-line. They did some pretty dirty things to protect the q.b. LOL
Okay, so how much do you bet that if Trindon Holiday runs a 4.23 40 yard dash, AL davis drafts him in the first round?
They were cut blocks, taught by Alex Gibbs, tackles below the knees, not so much only used to protect the QB, but to open up running lanes, those famous cutback lanes that Terrell Davis exploited better than anyone.
Trindon Holliday is fast…but i personally believe Jacoby Ford is faster and just ask skilled in returns if not better.
I think Al davis is starting to learn speed isnt everything lol
So the fact that no bronco was franchised means……? lol
I actually think taylor mays will have a great workout and get picked be the raiders
The dirtiest player I know is “Stink” he was part of one of the dirtiest O lines in football and also was just plain out dirty, like dirt bag no shower BO fumunda kind of dirty. Best of both Dirty worlds so to speak.
He retired and took a shower, now he thinks he’s the second coming of David Hasselhof…..lol
I agree Baylin,Alzado & Romonowski were both tough,but personnaly,I loved to see Romo lay the wood to the opposition.Remember when he broke Kerry Collins jaw in ’97,felt sorry for him.He played for 4 teams but went to the pro bowl only twice,and that was ’96 & ’98,both with the Broncs.He was definitely dirty,if you don’t believe me,look him up,you’ll see.He spit in JJ Stokes face,punched Tony Gonzales,threw a football and hit Bryan Cox in the crotch,and when he left here he went to Oakland and in practice punched a TE in the face and broke his eye socket,forcing him to retire.He was dirty,but one player you always loved to watch blow somebody up.
The fact that no Bronco player was franchised, TRB, means…that McD and Xman have a genius plan that will improve our franchise.
Wonder what McD is gonna do about this Knowshon incident. I guess we will surely find out if he favors one player type over another!!!!
There’s a verry simple reason why the Broncos didn’t franchise anybody. They don’t have to. The Big three (B Marsh, Doom and Orton) are all RFA’s. That means they have total control of them for the next two years at bargain basement contract prices (If they wish to do so). While all three deserve bigger and better contract, the reality of it is that they don’t have to do it.
Bowlen will be happy, we have the 11th pick, it’s official, the flip was held very early this morning.
Oldsouthstander, it seems Mike Klis agrees with you, here is some of what he has to say today about it:
With virtually no incentive to do otherwise, the Broncos are expected to join all other NFL teams and avoid negotiating multiyear contracts with any of their restricted free agents. The Broncos’ restricted free agents include starting quarterback Kyle Orton, NFL sack leader Elvis Dumervil, star receiver Brandon Marshall, starting right guard Chris Kuper and pass-catching tight end Tony Scheffler. All were hoping to hit unrestricted free agency March 5, but with owners making the no-brainer move of opting out of their collective bargaining agreement (CBA), players with four and five years of NFL service are certain to become restricted free agents by March 4. Restricted as in no more than a one-year, roughly $3 million contract. It doesn’t figure to make the Broncos’ big five happy. Only one NFL restricted free agent has received a multiyear contract extension in the past six months: DeMarcus Ware of the Dallas Cowboys. Ware, an outside linebacker who had six fewer sacks than Dumervil last season, agreed to a six-year deal in October that included a $40 million guarantee. Ware might be the last of the restricted free agents to be so richly rewarded.
The only way a restricted free agent can get a lucrative, multiyear deal is if an owner acts out of the goodness of his heart.
Good luck.
Football is an impersonal business, especially this time of the year.
It seems as if McD has an idea as why we finished so poorly in running the ball and stopping the run, another of Mike Klis articles in Indy this morning:
Acknowledging their habitual late-season fades may have a physical explanation, the Broncos will alter their offseason conditioning program.
“We’re going to work hard on power and those type of lifts,” Broncos coach Josh McDaniels said Thursday. “Power and strength. The power aspect of it, we’re going to work mass with some of our bigger guys. The first six games of the season, we ran the ball and stopped the run.”
I hope it’s that easy to fix…. I also hope it’s not the only thing he thinks he needs to fix to improve those areas, seriously.
Interesting statement by Klis this morning (it’s the last time I mention him today I promise, LOL, but you have to agree this guy is busier than most and seems to have the most insight on the Broncos), when listing possible first picks for us he doesn’t list a single ILB, could it be he knows more than we do? Here is what he says:
With their first round pick, the Broncos figure to take an interior defensive lineman (Jared Odrick, Dan Williams, Terence Cody, Brian Price); pass-rushing end/linebacker (Jason Pierre-Paull, Sergio Kindle, Sean Weatherspoon) to complement Elvis Dumervil; or quarterback (Jimmy Clausen); or receiver (Dez Bryant, Brandon LaFell).
So looking at that list would mean that 90% of all mock drafts that have us drafting McClain are dead wrong. I have to say I am a bit surprised about that, he puts all the failing to stop the run on the D line and thinks our ILB’s will be just fine. I wonder if it’s just a gut feeling he has or something the Broncos said or how they are acting that is leading him to think that way. Very interesting indeed. It would be fine with me because I think we should go with Dan Williams anyway.
If we can p/u some interior D lineman that were just as physical as our starters, that would be beneficial. If they’re not able to rotate out for some blows, we’ll rotate at first opportunity. Some of our ILB were also overpursuing to fill gaps due to our interior lineman not making penetration, therefore getting blown off the line of scrimmage during the 2nd half the season. As a result, we got burned on the cut back. Makes sense to look at drafting Williams, Cody, Odrick or Price.
The mock drafts always seem to be off. Last year most were saying we’d draft Rey Maualuga, James Laurinaitis, Tyson Jackon or B.J. Raji. Maualuga was the only one we had a shot at. Hard to believe he fell to 2nd or 3rd pick in 2nd round. ESPN’s Mel Kiper was sold we’d draft him. Maualuga had a solid year for the Bengals. Robert Ayers showed potential at times, for us last year. Let’s hope has has a solid 2nd season in the league.
I still think last year was the Orapko year for us, it was there for the taking, we didn’t, so the Skins with the next pick jumped all over it, the rest, as they say, is history.
I didn’t know Hardy Brown finished his career in Denver. I remember watching an NFL Films special about him back in the 90′s. He said that he had 30-40 knockouts playing pro football, and that he never felt sorry for anyone he hit. I think that it was Bob Waterfield who was hit by a Volkswagen once, and he said after that he didn’t know Hardy Brown was in town. Tough, mean player. The Tatum of the 50′s.
Hey!
NFL Draft Season is upon us and mock drafts are flying around every where. Would love if you would check out mine:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/353102-nfl-mock-draft-10-suh-and-mccoy-have-the-spotlight-for-now
Would love your opinion.
Thanks in advance!
-Jack-
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