Buckskin86
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But when the Browns made Ohio State linebacker Jim Houston their first-round selection and eighth overall in the 1960 NFL draft, they signed him for $10,000, plus a $1,000 bonus. With inflation, that's about $80,000 today -- roughly the average NFL salary 30 years ago.
Houston, now 72 and living in Sagamore Hills, remembers when head coach Paul Brown first addressed the rookies at old League Park.
"Gentlemen," Brown said, "you're going to be off Mondays and Tuesdays. Get a job."
"So I did," said Houston, who opened an insurance and financial planning company that he still runs from his basement office. "All of us tried to get jobs that would help sustain the off-season. You needed money, you had to go to work."
Staying close to the community, to make ends meet
Houston, who retired after the 1972 season, said he earned considerably more in insurance than football. That wasn't unusual. The NFL was decidedly different. It was before multi-billion-dollar TV contracts meant players could be set for life if they played long enough and managed their money right. It was before the roster carousel of free agency, so players often spent their whole careers with one team, in one city. Many stayed to work in the community.
Remember when ... off-season was work time for the Cleveland Browns (and all pro athletes)? | cleveland.com
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