It’s Draft Week and it’s as good of a time as ever to dive back into the past of the Cleveland Browns and their previous selections at each of the 2024 picks the team currently holds (54, 85, 156, 206, 227, 243).

The Browns have held the 156th pick in the draft five times in franchise history with two of those selections being contributors for their perspective sides of the team.

1950: Emerson Cole, Fullback/Linebacker, Toledo

Cole was the first African American drafted by the Cleveland Browns when they selected him in the 12th round of the 1950 NFL Draft. He was tabbed to be the eventual replacement of Marion Motley at fullback but a rift between himself and head coach Paul Brown never saw the hope turn into fruition.

The Browns released him during the 1952 season and he was picked up by the Chicago Bears but only played one game before leaving football and becoming a deputy sheriff in Lucas County, Ohio later becoming the regional director of the Ohio Civil Rights Commission.

1952: Tom Cosgrove, Center, Maryland

Cosgrove was the Browns’ 13th round selection in the 1952 NFL Draft, even though the All-American center elected to return to school for his senior season. He was later involved in a bribery scandal with two other teammates to help influence the result of Maryland vs LSU.

After his collegiate career, the Browns traded his rights to the Baltimore Colts prior to the 1953 season but Cosgrove never appeared in an NFL regular season game.

1953: Galen Fiss, Linebacker, Kansas

Fiss was the Browns 13th round selection in the 1953 NFL Draft and would spend his entire career with Cleveland but his journey getting there was interesting. The team didn’t offer him a contract right away so Fiss went and played minor league baseball in the Cleveland Indians organization for a year and spent two years in the Air Force before signing with the Browns finally before the 1956 season.

In eleven seasons with the Browns, Fiss had 13 interceptions, 18 fumble recoveries and unofficially 6.5 sacks (sacks didn’t become an official stat until 1982) during his career. He was elected to two Pro Bowls (1962, 1963) and was also a member of the Browns last NFL Championship team in 1964.

1954: George Cummins, Linebacker, Tulane

Cummins was the Browns’ 13th round selection in the 1954 NFL Draft but he never appeared in an NFL game.

1958: Hal Williams, Back, Miami (OH)

Williams was the Browns’ 13th round selection in the 1958 NFL Draft but he never appeared in an NFL game. He did appear in two CFL games, one each for the Calgary Stampeders (1958) and the Saskatchewan RoughRiders (1960).

2022: Jerome Ford, Running Back, Cincinnati

Ford was the Browns’ fifth-round selection and has made some sort of impact in each of his first two seasons with Cleveland.

In his rookie season, Ford saw the majority of his playing time on special teams as the primary kick returner. He ranked third in the NFL in kick return yards (723) and sixth in yards per kick return (24.1).

Last season, Ford had to assume the lead back role after Nick Chubb’s season ending injury and he had some success in helping the Browns reach the playoffs for the third time since the franchise’s return in 1999. He had 1,132 yards (813 rushing, 319 receiving) from scrimmage and nine total touchdowns and is expected to be part of a committee with D’Onta Foreman and potentially a rookie until Nick Chubb returns from rehabbing his knee injury later in the 2024 season.