 Lahr on a 1954 football card | |||||||||
| No. 80, 24 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Positions | Defensive back Safety | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1923-09-05)September 5, 1923 Mount Zion, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died | January 19, 1969(1969-01-19) (aged 45) Aurora, Ohio, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||
| Weight | 189 lb (86 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | West Wyoming(West Wyoming, Pennsylvania) | ||||||||
| College | Western Reserve | ||||||||
| NFL draft | 1947: 32nd round, 294th overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Warren Emmett Lahr (September 5, 1923 – January 19, 1969) was an American professionalfootball player who was adefensive back who played for theCleveland Browns for 11 seasons, mainly in the 1950s. When he retired, he had the most careerinterceptions in Browns team history with 44.
Lahr grew up inPennsylvania and starred on theWest Wyoming High School football team. After graduating in 1941, he attendedWestern Reserve University inCleveland, Ohio and played football for theRed Cats as a reserve in1942. He then served for three years in theU.S. Navy duringWorld War II. He returned to Western Reserve in1946 and became a star for the team as a lefthalfback for two seasons.
Lahr was selected by thePittsburgh Steelers of theNational Football League (NFL) in the1947 draft. However, he signed with the Browns of the rivalAll-America Football Conference (AAFC). Lahr sat out the 1948 season with an injured knee, but quickly became a regular on defense the following season. He stayed with the Browns through 1959, a period during which the team won one AAFC championship and three NFL championships after merging into that league in 1950.
Lahr has the second-most career interceptions in Browns history, trailing onlyThom Darden, who passed him with his 45th and final interception in 1981. After leaving the Browns, Lahr settled inAurora, Ohio and served as acolor commentator for Browns games between 1963 and 1967. He died of a heart attack in 1969 at the age of 45.
Lahr Grew up inWest Wyoming, Pennsylvania, a small town in the eastern part of the state.[1][2] He attendedWest Wyoming High School, where he was a standout on the football team.[2] However, West Wyoming did not have a strong team, and Lahr's only college scholarship offer came fromWestern Reserve University, a small school inCleveland, Ohio.[1][2] Lahr graduated in 1941 and enrolled at Western Reserve.[1]
Lahr began as a reserve player under Western Reserve head coachTom Davies in 1942, when he was asophomore.[1] He playedhalfback for theWestern Reserve Red Cats.[3] However, his college career was interrupted by three years of service in theU.S. Navy duringWorld War II.[4] Lahr returned to Western Reserve in 1946 and had a successfuljunior season as a left halfback.[5][6] TheRed Cats went undefeated against the three other rival Cleveland schools of the Big Four Conference, and Lahr was named to the 11-member All-Big Four city all-star team after the season.[7][8] He also won the school's Jack Dempsey Adam Hat trophy for his performance.[9]
Lahr figured prominently inWestern Reserve's offense as asenior in 1947. He was switched from halfback toquarterback midway through the season. However, the team was less successful than the previous year.[10]
After the season, officials at theMid-American Conference, of whichWestern Reserve was a member, ruled that Lahr and other players who had served in the war could have an extra year of eligibility to play football.[11] Lahr had exhausted his eligibility by playing in 1942, 1946 and 1947, but was not expected to have enough course credits to graduate until 1949.[11] However, Lahr decided to forgo his extra year at Western Reserve and signed with theCleveland Browns, a professional team in theAll-America Football Conference (AAFC) coached byPaul Brown.[12] Lahr was also selected by theNational Football League'sPittsburgh Steelers late in theNFL draft.[13]
Lahr came to the Browns in 1948 as a third-string quarterback, but had to sit out while recovering from a knee injury he suffered before the season began.[14][15] The Browns went undefeated in 1948 and won a third straight AAFC championship.[16]
Lahr's first playing time with the team came in 1949, when Cleveland again won the AAFC championship.[17] Brown came close to cutting Lahr when he made a mistake on defense during a preseason game against theSan Francisco 49ers.[18] However, Lahr made the team and started the year as a left halfback. He was switched tosafety in the middle of the season and played primarily on defense after Browns starterCliff Lewis was injured.[18] Substituting for Lewis, Lahr quickly became a regular starter on defense and finished the year with four interceptions.[19][20] One of his interceptions came at the end of a divisional playoff game against theBuffalo Bills and helped the Browns retain a 24–21 lead.[13]
The AAFC dissolved after the 1949 season and the Browns were absorbed by the NFL.[21] Lahr stayed with the team after the transition and was a mainstay of the defensive backfield throughout the 1950s, playing oppositeTommy James.[20] The Browns won theNFL championship in their first year in the league, when Lahr recorded eight interceptions, including two he ran back for touchdowns.[19][22] He had two interceptions in the Browns' 30–28 win over theLos Angeles Rams in the championship game.[13]
Lahr continued to play mainly as a defensive left halfback in the following seasons, although he spent time at safety in 1952 and his final season in 1959.[13] The Browns advanced to the NFL championship each year between 1951 and 1953, but lost once to the Rams and twice to theDetroit Lions.[23] Lahr was named a first-teamAll-Pro by sportswriters in 1951, when he had five interceptions and returned two of them for touchdowns.[19] His blown coverage on a late-game touchdown catch byJim Doran of the Lions in the 1953 championship was a major factor in the Browns loss.[13] He was nevertheless named to thePro Bowl after the season, having made five interceptions and returned them for 119 yards.[19] The Browns repeated as NFL champions in 1954 and 1955 behind a strong defense and an offensive attack led by quarterbackOtto Graham.[24] Lahr was named a first-team All-Pro for the second time in 1956.[19]
Cleveland reached theNFL championship in 1957, losing to the Lions, and made the playoffs in 1958.[13] Lahr stayed with the Browns through the 1959 season, when he was switched from defensive halfback to safety.[13] He had 44 interceptions in his Browns career, which stood as the record for most team interceptions by a Browns player until it was later broken byThom Darden.[13] He also ran back five interceptions for touchdowns, which remains a team record.[13]
After retiring from football, Lahr settled inAurora, Ohio and served as the color commentator alongside announcerKen Coleman for Browns games broadcast onWJW channel 8 in Cleveland between 1963 and 1967.[13] He was dropped whenCBS made changes to its broadcasting lineup in 1968, but continued to work on preseason games.[25] He also worked as a sales agent for Lax Industries in Cleveland and ran a sporting goods business with his close friend Ed Lewis, the athletic director atAdelbert College, which was part of Western Reserve.[1]
Lahr died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 1969, when he was 45 years old.[13] He had recently passed aphysical examination, but had come down with the flu the previous week.[25] He and his wife, Rowena, had five daughters.[25] In 2008, Lahr was named a Browns Legend, an honor given by the franchise to a selection of the best players in its history.[26]
Warren Lahr's broken field running and accurate aerials kept the Reserve attack throughout three quarters of the game and set up the first scores ...
... the Red Cat attack, spearheaded by the brilliant Warren Lahr, poses a real problem for this left side.
Definitely out of the game ... is Warren Lahr, third-string quarterback who has a wrenched knee.
Warren Lahr was with them, too, the former Reserve star working out with the team daily though he is on the injured-reserve list.
