Paul Warfield is a Former Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins wide receiver, Super Bowl VII and VIII winner with the Dolphins, 1964 NFL champion with the Browns, and member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Paul Warfield Bio
Paul Dryden Warfield was born on November 28, 1942, in Warren, Ohio, the son of a minister. While attending President Warren Garding High School, he shined on the football and basketball teams, winning state championships in the long jump and 180-yard hurdles.
Paul Warfield College Career
After his graduation, Warfield went to Ohio State's program under outstanding coach Woody Hayes. Here, too, he played successfully as an running back and defensive back, winning a national championship with the team in 1961. Paul was named to the Big-10 all-star team in each of the three seasons he played. He also continued to participate in track and field and was among the candidates to make the U.S. Olympic team, but eventually chose professional football over it.
Paul Warfield NFL Career
At the 1964 NFL Draft Warfield was selected by Cleveland Browns at number eleven overall. He was drafted as a secondary player, but his first workouts so impressed coach Blanton Collier that he moved the rookie to the receiver position.
In his debut season, Paul racked up 920 yards receiving with nine touchdowns, and his speed was a great complement to the punching power of running back Jim Brown. That same year, the Browns won an NFL championship and Warfield earned his first career Pro Bowl invitation. Together with Cleveland, he had three more times to play in the finals, including after the beginning of the Super Bowl era, but failed to win again. Before the start of the 1970 season, the team traded him to the Miami Dolphins, receiving the third overall pick in the draft . This transition was a shock to the player himself, fans and experts.
In Dolphins, Warfield became the missing link, a deep threat on offense. Along with the team, he made three consecutive Super Bowl appearances. The first attempt, Super Bowl VI, was a failure for Miami, and history was made with President Richard Nixon's pre-game call to head coach Don Shula. The head of state rushed to share with the team's coach a prank he had devised involving Warfield. The next two Super Bowls, VII and VIII, brought the team success.
After two very successful seasons, another shocking decision Paul made was to move to the World Football League. Along with Miami's championship teammates Larry Csonka and Jim Kiick, he became a Memphis Southmen player. There he played one season before the league ceased to exist. Warfield then returned to Cleveland, where he spent the last two years of his career. He played a total of 13 seasons in the NFL, gaining 8,565 yards and scoring 85 touchdowns during that time.
Paul Warfield was named to the Pro Bowl eight times during his career and was named to the All-Pro first team six times. In 1983, he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on his first try. Warfield is also a member of the 1970s All-Star team and the NFL's Team of the Century. He is a member of the Browns and Dolphins franchise Halls of Fame.
After he finished playing, Warfield worked for several years as a sports commentator for a Cleveland radio station. In 1981, he was invited to the Browns as director of player relations. In the 1990s, Paul was president of a consulting firm. From 2004 to 2010, he was an advisor to the Cleveland Browns general manager. He is now retired, spending a well-deserved vacation in California in the town of Rancho Mirage.