Frank Pitts Jr., who spent three seasons with the Cleveland Browns, passed away on January 16 at the age of 82.
A fourth-round selection by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 1965 AFL Draft, Pitts spent six seasons with the Chiefs, winning two AFL Championships, and played in Super Bowl I (a loss to the Green Bay Packers) as well as Super Bowl IV, where the Chiefs beat the Minnesota Vikings in the final game of the AFL.
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Pitts had three receptions for 33 yards and three runs for 37 yards, with two of his plays leading to scores. A 20-yard reception in the first quarter helped to set up a 48-yard field goal from Jan Stenerud, and then a 19-yard run in the second quarter led to another Stenerud field goal as the Chiefs went on for a 23-7 win.
The Browns acquired Pitts prior to the start of the 1971 season for a pair of draft picks. In 31 games with the Browns, Pitts had 94 receptions for 1,424 yards and 16 touchdowns, outpacing the production he had with the Chiefs (78 receptions, 1,450 yards, and 11 touchdowns).
Two games stand out from Pitts’ time with the Browns, the first coming in 1971 when he returned to Kansas City Municipal Stadium to face the Chiefs and had five receptions for 129 yards against the team he played with for the first six years of his career.
The second came the following season when Pitts pulled in a 38-yard touchdown pass from Phipps with 41 seconds remaining to pull out a win against the San Diego Chargers on Monday Night Football.
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Pitts’ best season with the Browns came in 1972, when he posted career highs in receptions (36), touchdowns (8, tied for 17th-best in franchise history), and his second-best yardage season (620) as the Browns advanced to the playoffs as the AFC’s Wild Card team.
The Browns lost that day to the undefeated Miami Dolphins, in large part because of five interceptions from Phipps, but Pitts also dropped a sure touchdown pass in the first quarter that would prove crucial in the 20-14 defeat.
Pitts played his 10th and final season in 1973 with the Oakland Raiders, where he had just three receptions for 33 yards while appearing in 13 games.
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