Ronald Reagan Once Visited the Cleveland Browns in Berea

In the waning days of his presidency, Reagan was on a campaign tour on behalf of his vice president, George H.W. Bush, who was running for president against Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis. With him was George Voinovich, then mayor of Cleveland, who was running for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Howard Metzenbaum.

Browns owner Art Modell invited Reagan to practice after an appearance at Baldwin-Wallace College. Coach Marty Schottenheimer, usually a diligent taskmaster, had no objection to cutting practice short an hour. “It was a thrill to our squad and to me personally,” he said of Reagan’s visit.

Reagan, who played Notre Dame football legend George Gipp in a 1940 film, talked about his days playing right guard at Eureka College in Illinois. Dan Fike, who towered over the president at 6-foot-7, said, “They make right guards bigger these days.” Reagan even threw a couple passes to tight end Ozzie Newsome and Rickey Bolden.

Bolden said Reagan threw a tight spiral. Backup quarterback Gary Danielson said Reagan was “the first quarterback to throw a pass in Cleveland this year and not get hurt.” Both Danielson and starter Bernie Kosar were sidelined by injuries that season, prompting the Browns to sign veteran quarterback Don Strock. Newsome noted that Reagan supplanted Strock as the oldest person to throw him a pass.

Read more: Why Do the Cleveland Browns Have an Elf?

It turned out to be a bad week for the Browns and Voinovich. The Browns lost to the Oilers on Monday night — their first loss to Houston in five years — and Voinovich lost to Metzenbaum, although Bush was elected president. Voinovich would get to the Senate eventually, after being elected to two terms as governor.  

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