1951 Cleveland Browns season

1951 Cleveland Browns season
Owner	Mickey McBride
General manager	Paul Brown
Head coach	Paul Brown
Home stadium	Cleveland Stadium
Radio partner	WERE
Results
Record	11–1
Division place	1st NFL American
Playoffs	Lost NFL Championship (at Rams) 17–24
Pro Bowlers	Ken Carpenter, HB Dante Lavelli, E Lou Groza, LT Tony Adamle, LB Len Ford, DE Otto Graham, QB Dub Jones, HB Bill Willis, LB
All-Pros	Len Ford Otto Graham Dub Jones Bill Willis
←  1950 Browns seasons 1952  →

The 1951 Cleveland Browns season was the team's second season with the National Football League. Dub Jones set an NFL record with six touchdowns in one game versus the Chicago Bears. ^[1]

Offseason and roster moves

Cleveland won the NFL championship in 1950, its first year in the league after four seasons in the defunct All-America Football Conference. Head coach Paul Brown made a number of roster moves in the offseason, including bringing in fullback Chick Jagade, end Bob Oristaglio and defensive backs Don Shula and Carl Taseff.

NFL draft selections

See also: 1951 NFL draft

1951 Cleveland Browns draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	14	Ken Konz  *	Halfback	LSU	Career delayed by service in the Korean War Pro Bowl (1955) [2]
2	18	Bucky Curtis	End	Vanderbilt
3	38	Jerry Helluin	Tackle	Tulane	Career delayed by service in the Korean War
4	39	Bob Oristaglio	End	Pennsylvania
4	41	Bob Smith	Halfback	Texas A&M
4	50	Art Donovan  * †	Tackle	Boston College	5× Pro Bowl (1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957) [3] Hall of Fame class of 1968
5	62	Ace Loomis	Halfback	Wisconsin-La Crosse
6	74	Dan Rogas	Guard	Tulane
7	82	Irv Holdash	Center	North Carolina
7	86	Walt Michaels  *	Halfback	Washington and Lee	5× Pro Bowl (1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959) [4]
8	88	Art Spinney  *	End	Boston College	2× Pro Bowl (1959, 1960) [5]
8	98	Max Clark	Halfback	Houston
9	105	Burl Toler	Guard	San Francisco
9	110	Don Shula  †	Halfback	John Carroll	Hall of Fame class of 1997
10	123	Chet Gierula	Guard	Maryland
11	135	Bernie Curtis	Halfback	Syracuse
12	142	Milan Sellers	Halfback	Florida State
12	147	Stew Kirtley	End	Morehead State
13	159	Bob Voskuhl	Center	Georgetown (KY)
14	171	Rudy Cernoch	Tackle	Northwestern
15	183	Joe Skibinski	Guard	Purdue
16	195	Ed Pasky	Halfback	South Carolina
17	207	Leroy Ka-Ne	Halfback	Dayton
18	219	Rube DeRoin	Center	Oklahoma State
19	231	Ray Solari	Guard	California
20	243	Jack Crocher	Halfback	Tulsa
21	255	Ray Stone	End	Texas
22	267	Carl Taseff	Cornerback	John Carroll
23	279	Johnny Champion	Halfback	Southern Methodist
24	291	Wayne Benner	Halfback	Florida State
25	303	John Knispel	Tackle	Wisconsin–La Crosse
26	315	Fred Williams  *	Tackle	Arkansas	4× Pro Bowl (1952, 1953, 1958, 1959) [6]
27	327	Jack Jones	Halfback	Livingston
28	339	Roger Thrift	Halfback	East Carolina
29	351	Bill Driver	Halfback	Florida State
30	362	Sisto Averno	Guard	Muhlenberg
Made roster    †    Pro Football Hall of Fame     *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Roster and coaching staff

1951 Cleveland Browns roster

Quarterbacks  60 Otto Graham 62 Cliff Lewis Halfbacks 90 Rex Bumgardner 84 Ken Carpenter 82 Tommy James 86 Dub Jones 80 Warren Lahr 94 Don Phelps 96 Don Shula 98 Carl Taseff		Fullbacks  74 Tony Adamle 70 Emerson Cole 72 Chick Jagade 76 Marion Motley Ends 53 Len Ford 59 Horace Gillom 56 Dante Lavelli 50 Bob Oristaglio 58 Mac Speedie 52 George Young		Guards  35 Alex Agase 38 Bob Gaudio 34 Abe Gibron 32 Lin Houston 30 Bill Willis Tackles 48 Chubby Grigg 46 Lou Groza 45 John Kissell 42 Derrell Palmer 44 Lou Rymkus 49 John Sandusky Centers 22 Frank Gatski 20 Hal Herring 24 Tommy Thompson		Assistants Blanton Collier (Backfield) Weeb Ewbank (Tackles) Fritz Heisler (Guards) Tim Temerario (Ends) Rookies in italics (2) 34 Active, 0 Inactive
NFL American Conference CHC CLE NYG PHI PIT WAS National Conference BAL CHB DET GB LA NYY SF

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	August 17	College All-Stars	W 38–7	1–0	Soldier Field	92,180
2	August 25	New York Yanks	W 52–0	2–0	Rubber Bowl	25,820
3	September 4	at Detroit Lions	L 20–21	2–1	Briggs Stadium	35,165
4	September 9	at Chicago Bears	W 32–21	3–1	Wrigley Field	67,342
5	September 14	Los Angeles Rams	W 7–6	4–1	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	38,851

Regular season schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 30	at San Francisco 49ers	L 10–24	0–1	Kezar Stadium	52,219	Recap
2	October 7	at Los Angeles Rams	W 38–23	1–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	67,186	Recap
3	October 14	Washington Redskins	W 45–0	2–1	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	33,968	Recap
4	October 21	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 17–0	3–1	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	32,409	Recap
5	October 28	New York Giants	W 14–13	4–1	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	56,947	Recap
6	November 4	at Chicago Cardinals	W 34–17	5–1	Comiskey Park	19,742	Recap
7	November 11	Philadelphia Eagles	W 20–17	6–1	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	36,571	Recap
8	November 18	at New York Giants	W 10–0	7–1	Polo Grounds	52,215	Recap
9	November 25	Chicago Bears	W 42–21	8–1	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	40,969	Recap
10	December 2	Chicago Cardinals	W 49–28	9–1	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	30,550	Recap
11	December 9	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 28–0	10–1	Forbes Field	24,229	Recap
12	December 16	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 24–9	11–1	Shibe Park	16,263	Recap

Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

Playoffs

Round	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
Championship	December 23	at Los Angeles Rams	L 17–24	0–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	57,540	Recap

Standings

NFL American Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Cleveland Browns	11	1	0	.917	9–0	331	152	W11
New York Giants	9	2	1	.818	7–2–1	254	161	W4
Washington Redskins	5	7	0	.417	4–5	183	296	L1
Pittsburgh Steelers	4	7	1	.364	3–5–1	183	235	W1
Philadelphia Eagles	4	8	0	.333	3–6	234	264	L2
Chicago Cardinals	3	9	0	.250	0–8	210	287	W1

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

NFL National Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Los Angeles Rams	8	4	0	.667	7–2	392	261	W1
San Francisco 49ers	7	4	1	.636	5–2–1	255	205	W3
Detroit Lions	7	4	1	.636	5–4–1	336	259	L1
Chicago Bears	7	5	0	.583	6–2	286	282	L1
Green Bay Packers	3	9	0	.250	1–8	254	375	L7
New York Yanks	1	9	2	.100	1–7–2	241	382	L2

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Awards and records

• Otto Graham, NFL MVP

References

1. The Best Show in Football:The 1946–1955 Cleveland Browns, p.226, Andy Piascik, Taylor Trade Publishing, 2007, ISBN   978-1-58979-360-6
2. "Ken Konz career stats". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on December 4, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
3. "Art Donovan career stats". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on October 16, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
4. "Walt Michaels career stats". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on December 21, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
5. "Art Spinney career stats". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on January 12, 2014. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
6. "Fred Williams career stats". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on November 15, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2013.

Further reading

• Jonathan Knight, The Browns Bible: The Complete Game-by-Game History of the Cleveland Browns. Kent, OH: Black Squirrel Books, 2013.

External links

• 1951 Cleveland Browns at Pro Football Reference
• 1951 Cleveland Browns Statistics at jt-sw.com
• 1951 Cleveland Browns Schedule at jt-sw.com
• 1951 Cleveland Browns ^[usurped] at DatabaseFootball.com