10 greatest Cleveland Browns of all time

9. G Gene Hickerson

In the mid-1950s, then-University of Mississippi head coach John Vaught eventually turned high school running back Gene Hickerson into an offensive line. It was a move thoroughly endorsed by the future Pro Football Hall of Fame blocker.

“They started me with the fullbacks, but I got tired of running all of those sprints in that sweltering August Mississippi heat,” explained the six-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro (via Jimmy Swartz of BrownsNation.com). So I asked to change positions…I said, ‘I want a position where I don’t have to run as much.’ They said, ‘What do you have in mind?’ I said, ‘Make me an offensive guard or a defensive end. Let me play somewhere that I don’t have to run in all this Lord-awful heat.’ That is how I became a guard.”

The rest is history. Hickerson helped pave the way for Hall of Fame running backs Jim Brown, Bobby Mitchell and Leroy Kelly. He was part of the Browns’ last NFL championship season in 1964. He played in 202 regular-season contests and made 183 starts in a total of 15 campaigns with the franchise.

The six-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro finally had his moment in Canton, Ohio, in 2007.