Milt Plum
Encyclopedia
Milton Ross Plum was an American football
quarterback
who played for the Cleveland Browns
(1957–61), Detroit Lions
(1962–67), Los Angeles Rams (1968) and New York Giants
(1969) of the National Football League
.
, punter
and placekicker
at Penn State
following his prep years playing for Woodbury High School
. After using their first-round pick in the 1957 NFL Draft
on Jim Brown
, the Browns chose Plum in the second round.
Plum got onto the field at quarterback in the fourth game of the 1957 season when starter Tommy O'Connell
got hurt against the Philadelphia Eagles
. Plum and O'Connell would split time throughout the rest of the 1957 season, in which the Browns went 9-2-1 and won the Eastern Conference.
O'Connell left the NFL after the 1957 season, and over the next four years, Plum was a consistent part of an offense built around the running of Jim Brown and Bobby Mitchell
.
According to the NFL passer rating
formula in use since 1973, Plum's rating of 110.4 for the 1960 season was the best of any quarterback before 1989 and remains the fifth-best all-time. For his five seasons with Cleveland combined, Plum had a rating of 89.9, ranking him first among Browns quarterbacks with at least 750 pass attempts.
In 1960 and 1961, Plum's backup was Len Dawson
, who would go on to a Hall of Fame
career with the Kansas City Chiefs
of the American Football League
.
The Browns traded Plum to the Lions as part of a six-player deal before the 1962 season. The Lions lacked the powerful running game of the Browns, forcing Plum to rely more often on his arm. Although he started strong, leading to the Lions to a 3-0 start, things went downhill after a costly interception in Week 4 led to a loss to the Green Bay Packers
. Late in the season, head coach George Wilson
benched Plum several times in favor of Earl Morrall
. The Lions finished 11-3, two games behind Green Bay.
Plum lost the starting-quarterback job to Morrall in 1963, but regained it when Morrall got hurt early in the 1964 season. 1964 wound up being Plum's best year in Detroit; he threw for 2,241 yards and 18 touchdowns, and the Lions finished 7-5-2. The Lions traded Morrall to the Giants before the 1965 season, and Plum struggled that year, completing fewer than half of his passes. In 1966, Plum suffered a knee injury and was replaced by Karl Sweetan
, who shared time with Plum in 1967.
Plum backed up Roman Gabriel
on the 1968 Rams and Fran Tarkenton
and Gary Wood
on the 1969 Giants, playing sparingly both years. He retired after the 1969 season.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
who played for the Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
(1957–61), Detroit Lions
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
(1962–67), Los Angeles Rams (1968) and New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
(1969) of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
.
Career
Plum played quarterback, defensive backDefensive back
In American football and Canadian football, defensive backs are the players on the defensive team who take positions somewhat back from the line of scrimmage; they are distinguished from the defensive line players and linebackers, who take positions directly behind or close to the line of...
, punter
Punter (football position)
A punter in American or Canadian football is a special teams player who receives the snapped ball directly from the line of scrimmage and then punts the football to the opposing team so as to limit any field position advantage. This generally happens on a fourth down in American football and a...
and placekicker
Placekicker
Placekicker, or simply kicker , is the title of the player in American and Canadian football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals, extra points...
at Penn State
Penn State Nittany Lions football
The Penn State Nittany Lions football team represents the Pennsylvania State University in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big Ten Conference. It is one of the most tradition-rich and storied college football programs in the...
following his prep years playing for Woodbury High School
Woodbury Junior-Senior High School
Woodbury Junior-Senior High School is a comprehensive community middle school and public high school that serves students in sixth through twelfth grades from Woodbury, in Gloucester County, New Jersey, United States, as part of the Woodbury Public Schools system.As of the 2008-09 school year, the...
. After using their first-round pick in the 1957 NFL Draft
NFL Draft
The National Football League Draft is an annual event in which the National Football League teams select eligible college football players and it is their most common source of player recruitment. The basic design of the draft is each team is given a position in the drafting order in reverse order...
on Jim Brown
Jim Brown
James Nathaniel "Jim" Brown is an American former professional football player who has also made his mark as an actor. He is best known for his exceptional and record-setting nine-year career as a running back for the NFL Cleveland Browns from 1957 to 1965. In 2002, he was named by Sporting News...
, the Browns chose Plum in the second round.
Plum got onto the field at quarterback in the fourth game of the 1957 season when starter Tommy O'Connell
Tommy O'Connell
Tommy O'Connell is a retired American collegiate and Professional Football quarterback who played in five NFL and two American Football League seasons from 1953–1957 and 1960-1961 for 3 different teams...
got hurt against the Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
. Plum and O'Connell would split time throughout the rest of the 1957 season, in which the Browns went 9-2-1 and won the Eastern Conference.
O'Connell left the NFL after the 1957 season, and over the next four years, Plum was a consistent part of an offense built around the running of Jim Brown and Bobby Mitchell
Bobby Mitchell
Robert Cornelius Mitchell is a former American football halfback and flanker in the National Football League for the Cleveland Browns and the Washington Redskins. Mitchell was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983.-Early life:Mitchell was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas and attended...
.
According to the NFL passer rating
Passer rating
Passer rating is a measure of the performance of quarterbacks or any other passers in American football and Canadian football. There are at least two formulae currently in use: one officially used by the National Football League and the Canadian Football League, and one used in college football...
formula in use since 1973, Plum's rating of 110.4 for the 1960 season was the best of any quarterback before 1989 and remains the fifth-best all-time. For his five seasons with Cleveland combined, Plum had a rating of 89.9, ranking him first among Browns quarterbacks with at least 750 pass attempts.
In 1960 and 1961, Plum's backup was Len Dawson
Len Dawson
Leonard Ray "Len" "Lenny" Dawson is a former American collegiate and Professional Football quarterback who attended Purdue University and went on to play for three professional teams, most notably the Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs...
, who would go on to a Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
career with the Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
of the American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
.
The Browns traded Plum to the Lions as part of a six-player deal before the 1962 season. The Lions lacked the powerful running game of the Browns, forcing Plum to rely more often on his arm. Although he started strong, leading to the Lions to a 3-0 start, things went downhill after a costly interception in Week 4 led to a loss to the Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
. Late in the season, head coach George Wilson
George Wilson (football coach)
George Wilson was a professional football end and later a coach for the National Football League's Detroit Lions and the American Football League's Miami Dolphins....
benched Plum several times in favor of Earl Morrall
Earl Morrall
Earl Edwin Morrall is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League. Morrall, who also occasionally punted, played 21 seasons in the National Football League as both a starter and reserve. In the latter capacity, he became known as the greatest backup quarterback in NFL...
. The Lions finished 11-3, two games behind Green Bay.
Plum lost the starting-quarterback job to Morrall in 1963, but regained it when Morrall got hurt early in the 1964 season. 1964 wound up being Plum's best year in Detroit; he threw for 2,241 yards and 18 touchdowns, and the Lions finished 7-5-2. The Lions traded Morrall to the Giants before the 1965 season, and Plum struggled that year, completing fewer than half of his passes. In 1966, Plum suffered a knee injury and was replaced by Karl Sweetan
Karl Sweetan
Karl Robert Sweetan was a former professional NFL quarterback who played in five NFL seasons from 1966-1970 for 3 different teams. He is tied with several other players for the record longest pass completion...
, who shared time with Plum in 1967.
Plum backed up Roman Gabriel
Roman Gabriel
Roman Ildonzo Gabriel, Jr. is a former American football player. The son of a Filipino immigrant, he was the first Asian-American to start as an NFL quarterback and is considered by many to have been one of the best players at that position during the late 1960s and early 70s.Gabriel attended and...
on the 1968 Rams and Fran Tarkenton
Fran Tarkenton
Francis Asbury "Fran" Tarkenton is a former professional football player, TV personality, and computer software executive....
and Gary Wood
Gary Wood
Gary Fay Wood was an American football quarterback in the National Football League from 1964 until 1969.The 5' 11 quarterback was drafted out of Cornell University in the 1964 NFL Draft by the New York Giants in the eighth round...
on the 1969 Giants, playing sparingly both years. He retired after the 1969 season.