Frank Gatski - Professional Career

Professional Career

When Gatski graduated, Sam Clagg, a teammate at Marshall, helped get him a tryout with the Cleveland Browns after contacting John Brickels, an assistant coach with West Virginia ties. The Browns were a new team in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and were set to begin play in 1946. Gatski, who was working in the mines after graduating from Auburn, hitchhiked to Bowling Green, Ohio for the team's training camp. He did not consider a football career a certainty, and returning to the coal mines where his father had died in an accident was a distinct possibility. "I didn't know what was going to happen," he said later. "I just went up there to see what would happen."

By the time Gatski arrived in Bowling Green, he had acquired the nickname "Gunner" for his strength and speed on the offensive line. Growing up in the rough surroundings of a West Virginia mining town had toughened him up, and he did not mind Cleveland coach Paul Brown's overbearing perfectionism. As a professional, he later said, "you're supposed to be able to take that crap." Initially, Gatski's prospects of making the team looked dim. Brown had brought in veteran center Mo Scarry to be the starter. But Gatski proved his value to the team with his reliability and work ethic. He made the team and signed a $3,000 per year contract.

Gatski played mostly as a backup to Scarry and as a linebacker in his first and part of his second season. He became the full-time starter at center in the 1948 season. The Browns, meanwhile, were an immediate success. The team won the AAFC championship every year from 1946 to 1949, when the league dissolved. Gatski's role on the offensive line was to help protect quarterback Otto Graham from defenders when he went back to pass. He also helped push away defenders and create space for fullback Marion Motley to run in.

The Browns merged into the more established National Football League (NFL) in 1950. Aided by Gatski's blocking, the offense and the team continued to succeed. Cleveland won the 1950 NFL championship, and reached the championship game in each of the following five seasons, winning again in 1954 and 1955. By the time the Browns entered the NFL, Gatski had developed a reputation for consistency, durability and toughness. Brown began keeping only one center on the roster – Gatski. Centers today would complain about that, Walt Michaels, who played with Gatski in the early 1950s, said in later years. Gatski, however, did not mind. "He would take all the snaps," Michaels said.

Gatski was a quiet man who liked to hunt. He practiced hitting targets with his bow and arrow at League Park in Cleveland, where the Browns trained during the season. He was one of the Browns "Filthy Five" players who did not wash their practice uniforms during the season. Brown called him one of the strongest men on the team's roster. Graham thought of him as sure protection against opposing linemen. Teammates called him an "iron man" and a "Rock of Gibraltar". He was named to All-Pro lists in all but one year between 1951 and 1955 and made the Pro Bowl in 1954 and 1955.

The Browns struggled after Graham retired in 1956 and ended the regular season at 5–7, their first-ever losing record. After the season, Brown traded the 35-year-old Gatski to the Detroit Lions for a draft pick after Gatski asked for a raise. He only played in the 1957 season with the Lions. Detroit beat the Browns for the NFL championship that year. By the time he retired after the 1957 season, Gatski had played on eight championship teams, a professional football record. Gatski did not miss a practice or a game during his 12 seasons in football.