the lead for good. The 24–17 loss was the Browns' first in a championship game. The 1952 and 1953 seasons followed a similar pattern: Cleveland reached the championship game but lost both times to the Detroit Lions. In 1952's championship game, Detroit won 17–7 after a muffed punt by the Browns, several Lions defensive stands and a 67-yard touchdown run by Doak Walker scuttled Cleveland's chances. The team finished 11–1 in 1953, but lost the championship to the Lions 17–16 on a 33-yard Bobby Layne touchdown pass to Jim Doran with just over two minutes left. While the championship losses disappointed Cleveland fans who had grown accustomed to winning, the team continued to make progress. Len Ford, who the Browns picked up from the defunct AAFC's Los Angeles Dons team, emerged as a force on the defensive line, making the Pro Bowl each year between 1951 and 1953. Second-year wideout Ray Renfro became a star in 1953, also reaching the Pro Bowl. During the summer before the 1953 season, the Browns' original owners sold the team for a then-unheard-of $600,000. The buyers were a group of prominent Cleveland men: Dave R. Jones, a businessman and former Cleveland Indians director, Ellis Ryan, a former Indians president, Homer Marshman, an attorney, and Saul Silberman, owner of the Randall Park Race Track. McBride had been called in 1950 to testify before the Kefauver Committee, a congressional body investigating organized crime, which partly exposed his ties to mafia figures but did not result in any charges. While McBride never said so, the Kefauver hearings and the growing public association between him and the mafia may have played a role in his decision to get out of football. While the Browns came into 1954 as one of the top teams in the NFL, the future was far from certain. Graham, whose leadership and throwing skills were instrumental in the Browns' championship runs, said he planned to retire after the season. Motley, the team's best rusher and blocker, retired at the beginning of the season with a bad knee. Star defensive lineman Bill Willis also retired before the season. Still, Cleveland finished the regular season 9–3 and met Detroit the day after Christmas in the championship game for a third consecutive time. This time Cleveland dominated on both sides of the ball, intercepting Bobby Layne six times while Graham threw three touchdowns and ran for three