 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.