This was the last step in a four-year process that began in January 1967 with the champions from both leagues playing in Super Bowl I.
Plagued by hearing problems, the 64-year-old coach announced his retirement before the end of the 1970 season, which the Browns finished with a 7–7 record.
[1] Collier told owner Art Modell that he could no longer hear his players, and it was difficult to read their lips through new face masks that obscured their mouths.
Realizing quarterback Bill Nelsen's aching knees were on borrowed time, the Browns had made a blockbuster trade with the Miami Dolphins on the eve of the 1970 NFL Draft to get the rights to select the man they felt would be their passer of the future, Mike Phipps.
But it came at a steep price, for they had to give up Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Paul Warfield in the process.
That loss, coupled with Nelsen's physical condition and the unfamiliarity with the personnel on the former AFL clubs they were playing for the first time, took the starch out of what had been a good offense going back to 1963.
Along with that, the defense, though it gave up 35 fewer points than it had in 1969, just could not make up the difference, led to the Browns finishing 7–7, only the second non-winning mark in club history.