Gene Brito—A Great Player, an Even Better Man

By John Turney 

  

When a player is up for the Hall of Fame he has the support of his team in terms of trying to sway those who vote. 

Or it could be a family trying to get their loved one into the Hall. There has even been an entire fan base holding a rally to persuade the voting committee.

But only Gene Brito had a sitting U.S. President to lobby for his Hall-of-Fame induction.

It happened in the Summer of 1971 when President Richard M. Nixon, just prior to a historic trip to China, visited Canton to attend the Enshriment ceremony and festivities.

On his tour of the Hall, Nixon suggested that Gene Brito, a defensive end who had played in California in college and in Washington D.C. as a pro, was worthy of receiving a bust. "As a defensive end he was the best", proclaimed the most powerful man on the planet.

Over the next several years the voters didn't act in accordance with the soon-to-be impeached 37th president. In fact, Brito, in the ensuing decades, never made the Final 15 to have his case discussed, not even by the 2020 Centennial Blue Ribbon Panel.

So, was Nixon right about Brito? Is he deserving of the Hall? 

The answer is yes and it's not a particularly close call. Hopefully, the Hall's senior committee will give him a look in the near future.

Brito was not only was he Nixon's favorite player he was also John F. Kennedy's and Harry S. Truman's as well. Noted New York Times columnist Art Daley noted that Brito was the only thing Truman and Nixon ever agreed on.

Why the bipartisan support?

Brito touched people as few did. All who met him took to him - he was a beloved.

On one occasion he was carried off the field by the fans. Upon retiring he was presented with a brand new Pontiac Bonneville that had been paid for by fans' donations, a dime and a dollar at a time.

Three years later, when a crippling disease befell him, his fans committed to raising $100,000 to help with medical bills and other expenses.

Additionally, a Los Angeles-area contractor recruited a group of tradesmen - plumbers, electricians, etc., to donate materials and labor to construct a large addition to the Brito home - a room large enough to accommodate his wheelchair, a hydraulic lift, a king-sized bed and other niceties to make his living with his condition more tolerable.

Moreover, the Philadelphia Eagles' players voted him a full share of their 1962 Playoff Bowl money. All Brito ever did to the Eagles was dirty up their quarterbacks yet they honored him.

Yes, Brito was THAT guy - the kind of guy who people would embrace in his hour of need.

The Hall of Fame, though, is not for being a good man among good men, it is for being a great player among great players.

Brito was THAT guy, too.

Hall-of-Fame defensive end Gino Marchetti, when asked who were the best defensive ends of his era, opined, "The guy I respected the most was a guy in Washington named Gene Brito. He was a light guy, a fast guy, a quick guy - he had a lot of moves", later adding, "Nobody was quicker or faster off the ball than Gene."

Fourteen-year defensive tackle Dick Modzelewski, who played with and against Brito, concurred, "I thought I was quick off the ball but I thought he was offside all the time he was so quick"

Norm Van Brocklin also praised Brito, "He's the best player on that team", noting that "he knocks you down while to the ball is in play, not after the whistle." 

The Dutchman's claim was evidenced by the fact that Brito was only called for one penalty in his Washington career - a false start. He never was flagged for a personal foul such as roughing or a late hit.

Before there was a term "high-motor" Brito personified it, "Gene was the goingest. He just kept coming and coming and coming", said Harland Svare.

The Times' Daley wrote, "There was an extraordinary aspect to the Brito performances. He was a 230-pound bulldozer of a pass rusher. He brushed aside or knocked down blockers. He stampeded over everyone on his way and he as sheer murder on quarterbacks."

In one dominant performance, Brito was harassing Steelers quarterback Jim Finks to the point that he told his tackle Frank Varrichione, "You've got to stop Brito. I don't care how you do it even if you have to break the rules and hold him. Varrichione said, "That doesn't work either. I've already tried holding."

George Preas, another tackle, who like Varrichione, had high praise for the Loyola grad, reported that Brito was "in a class by himself." Expounding, "Gene Brito is the toughest (I face). He's the only player I have trouble blocking ... He's quick and knows all the tricks. What makes him all the harder is that they don't give him a specific assignment. They just turn him loose ... most other players you can figure the way they will play. He's likely to do anything anytime."

Want more? How about Lenny Moore?

The Colts Hall-of-Famer added that Brito was a "Great defensive end" and that he was "Very, very quick, very fast. He wasn't big by the standards of a defensive end but, man, you had to keep a back in the backfield to pick him up. He was as quick as a cat."

Mike McCormack, a Hall-of-Famer himself, has always maintained that the best defensive end he faced was Gino Marchetti but when he expands the list to the top few Brito is on it. 

Pro Bowl guard John Gordy began his career as a tackle but after being embarrassed by Brito in his first pro game he was moved inside. Recounted Gordy, "He was on my back all game ... he just killed me. Bobby Layne kept yelling at me in the huddle, 'Keep that guy off me.'"

In 1969 the Football Writers' Association of America released an All-time Pro team and three defensive ends were named—Deacon Jones, Gino Marchetti and Brito.

Don Klosterman a collegiate teammate said he was the "most intense player he ever saw", and called him "Mean" Gene.

Without question opponents and teammates thought Brito has Hall-of-Fame chops but at eighteen he didn't look like someone who ever would.

Enlisting in the Army right out of Lincoln High School in East Los Angeles the handsome 5-11, 163-pound Latino earned the rank of Staff Sergent in the Army Paratroopers and early in 1945 was part of a combat drop into the Philippines where there was stiff Japanese resistance.

That experience was enough to cause Brito nightmares for the rest of his life in what was most assuredly what would be called post-traumatic stress disorder.

After his military service, the Los Angeleno returned home and excelled at CYO sandlot football, was spotted by collegiate scouts and was offered an athletic scholarship to Loyola University. 

There he earned a BA and lettered in four sports with the most success in football. As a two-way end. 

Washington drafted him in the 17th round of the 1951 draft. The then-6-1, 216-pounder made the team beginning the season on defense but was moved to the offensive side of the ball and played well enough for his coaches to suggest that had they played him all season as a receiver he would have been a strong candidate for Rookie of the Year.

The next year he played mostly offense but was always hounding coach Curly Lambeau to put him in on defense and got snaps there - Lambeau thought Brito was too slight to play defensive end.

In 1953 Gene got up to 230 pounds and got his wish, he was a defensive end and his defensive career took off, making his first of five Pro Bowls.

Wanting to be closer to his off-season job teaching and coaching Brito demanded to be traded to the Rams. Team owner George Preston Marshall wouldn't accommodate him and that, coupled with friction he and other teammates had with coach Curly Lambeau, caused Brito to take his wares to Calgary and played twelve-man football. He played for the Stampeders, making the All-Western Interprovincial Union All-Star Team - the league's (not yet the CFL) version of an All-Pro team.

Brito returned to Washington in 1955, putting on hold his desire to play in Los Angeles, and was a consensus All-Pro, the first of four consecutive years. The Touchdown Club of Washington D.C. named him the league's top player. 

With his return and full-time commitment to a 4-3 scheme the defense was one of the best in the NFL after being an absolute disaster in 1954 and after many years of being second division, Washington went 8-4.

They beat the Cleveland Browns for the first time since the Browns joined the league and in the game, Brito stole the ball from Otto Graham to set up a game-winning score. He did something similar a few weeks later against the 49ers this time setting up the only touchdown in a 7-0 win.

Brito retired in 1958 to finally pursue teaching and coaching underprivileged kids, taking a job at his high school alma mater.

To his surprise, his old team finally traded him to the Rams and where could keep his teaching job and play football.

Dream realized. He'd told the media he wanted to play forever.

In his first year in L.A. he broke an ankle but in 1960 returned and was a second-team All-Pro (UPI) and would have been a great candidate for Comeback Player of the Year, had that award existed.

But forever was too short for the gallant man.

In 1961 his world collapsed. Suddenly and without warning he developed a muscular disease that robbed him of his strength and eventually his life.

In the preseason he complained of weakness, he could not get off the ball, he just didn't have "it". After a battery of doctor's tests he was diagnosed with an ALS-type disease which acted quickly, within weeks paralyzing his legs and partially his arms. 

It progressed to the point that his lungs would not work on their own and less than six months after his symptoms began he had to be put into an iron lung with the worst possible prognosis. 

His death seemed imminent and Catholic last rites were administered.

However, over the next year, the disease relented and he made a partial recovery and it was big news in the media - a national sports story. 

John F. Kennedy sent him a telegram reading, "Your courage is now an inspiration to all men and all nations."

The reprieve didn't last, though, and in 1965 he was gone. 

Again, sports sections across the country covered his passing. His life and legacy were recounted in the most glowing of terms.

It is unknown if he'd have played another two or four years, perhaps completing a twelve- or fourteen-year career and if the lack of longevity was the key factor in his being overlooked by Hall voters.

Longevity in a player's career was a part of the mix when deciding if a player was worthy of the Hall of Fame. So was being on a winning team.

During the years Brito would have had the best chance of getting a Gold Jacket defensive ends Andy Robustelli, Gino Marchetti, Deacon Jones, Willie Davis and Doug Atkins all were getting theirs. All played twelve seasons or longer and all but Jones were part of a championship.

Brito was stuck on some poor teams and was robbed of his chance to play longer.

If a short career was an issue the committee needs to look no further than Lee Roy Selmon who played nine years. Add to that recent inductees like Tony Boselli, Terrell Davis and Ken Easley who all had shorter careers than Mean Gene.

Comparing postseason honors bolsters Brito's case - he was a consensus (made the majority of the wire service teams) All-Pro four times. There are 23 defensive ends in the Hall of Fame and only five were consensus All-Pro more often - Reggie White, Bruce Smith, Gino Marchetti, Deacon Jones and Jack Youngblood.

It's more than ends Howie Long, Lee Roy Selmon, Jason Taylor, Doug Atkins, Chris Doleman, Richard Dent, Charles Haley, Fred Dean, Ed Sprinkle, Elvin Bethea as well as others.

He went to more Pro Bowls than Len Ford, Dent, Joe Klecko, Dean and Sprinkle and the same number as Willie Davis and Haley and that gives zero consideration for his Canadian All-Star season.

It is worth noting that there was only one Canadian-born player of the 24 players on that All-Star team, it was full of former NFL players so making it was not an accomplishment to be dismissed as having little value. There were good players who didn't get voted to the team.

All this exhibits that it's time that the current voters revivify Brito's candidacy. 

If they do and allow him one of the senior slots and the committee as a whole concur Genaro Herman Brito would be just the seventh Latino with a bust in Canton and his compelling life story will have its crowning jewel. 

Then, someone should make a Hollywood film about the skinny kid from East L.A. who was a paratrooper in World War II, an all-around high school and college athlete, a man committed to social work in his home community, someone who was adored by fans and admired by Republican and Democrat Presidents alike and most of all - a good man.