![]() Lahr on a 1954 football card | |||||
No. 80, 24 | |||||
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Position: | Defensive halfback, Safety | ||||
Personal information | |||||
Born: | Mount Zion, Pennsylvania, U.S. | September 5, 1923||||
Died: | January 19, 1969 Aurora, Ohio, U.S. | (aged 45)||||
Career information | |||||
High school: | West Wyoming (West Wyoming, Pennsylvania) | ||||
College: | Western Reserve | ||||
NFL draft: | 1947 / Round: 32 / Pick: 294 (By the Pittsburgh Steelers) | ||||
Career history | |||||
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Career highlights and awards | |||||
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Career NFL statistics | |||||
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Player stats at PFR |
Warren Emmett Lahr (September 5, 1923 – January 19, 1969) was an American professional football player who was a defensive back who played for the Cleveland Browns for 11 seasons, mainly in the 1950s. When he retired, he had the most career interceptions in Browns team history with 44.
Lahr grew up in Pennsylvania and starred on the West Wyoming High School football team. After graduating in 1941, he attended Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio and played football for the Red Cats as a reserve in 1942. He then served for three years in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He returned to Western Reserve in 1946 and became a star for the team as a left halfback for two seasons.
Lahr was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) in the 1947 draft. However, he signed with the Browns of the rival All-America Football Conference (AAFC). Lahr sat out the 1948 season with an injured knee, but quickly became a regular on defense the following season. He stayed with the Browns through 1959, a period during which the team won one AAFC championship and three NFL championships after merging into that league in 1950.
Lahr has the second-most career interceptions in Browns history, trailing only Thom Darden, who passed him with his 45th and final interception in 1981. After leaving the Browns, Lahr settled in Aurora, Ohio and served as a color commentator for Browns games between 1963 and 1967. He died of a heart attack in 1969 at the age of 45.