1951 Cleveland Browns season

Last updated

1951 Cleveland Browns season
Owner Mickey McBride
General managerPaul Brown
Head coach Paul Brown
Home field Cleveland Stadium
Local radio WERE
Results
Record11–1
Division place1st NFL American
Playoff finishLost NFL Championship
(at Rams) 17–24

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]

Contents

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

1951 Cleveland Browns draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
114 Ken Konz  *  Halfback LSU Career delayed by service in the Korean War
Pro Bowl (1955) [2]
218Bucky Curtis  End Vanderbilt
338 Jerry Helluin   Tackle Tulane Career delayed by service in the Korean War
439 Bob Oristaglio  End Pennsylvania
441Bob Smith Halfback Texas A&M
450 Art Donovan  * † Tackle Boston College 5× Pro Bowl (1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957) [3]
Hall of Fame class of 1968
562 Ace Loomis  Halfback Wisconsin-La Crosse
674Dan Rogas  Guard Tulane
782Irv Holdash  Center North Carolina
786 Walt Michaels  * Halfback Washington and Lee 5× Pro Bowl (1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959) [4]
888 Art Spinney  * EndBoston College2× Pro Bowl (1959, 1960) [5]
898Max Clark Halfback Houston
9105 Burl Toler  Guard San Francisco
9110 Don Shula  † Halfback John Carroll Hall of Fame class of 1997
10123 Chet Gierula  Guard Maryland
11135Bernie Curtis Halfback Syracuse
12142Milan Sellers Halfback Florida State
12147Stew Kirtley End Morehead State
13159Bob Voskuhl Center Georgetown (KY)
14171Rudy Cernoch Tackle Northwestern
15183 Joe Skibinski  Guard Purdue
16195Ed Pasky Halfback South Carolina
17207Leroy Ka-Ne Halfback Dayton
18219Rube DeRoin Center Oklahoma State
19231Ray Solari Guard California
20243Jack Crocher Halfback Tulsa
21255Ray Stone End Texas
22267 Carl Taseff   Cornerback John Carroll
23279Johnny Champion Halfback Southern Methodist
24291Wayne Benner HalfbackFlorida State
25303John Knispel TackleWisconsin–La Crosse
26315 Fred Williams  * Tackle Arkansas 4× Pro Bowl (1952, 1953, 1958, 1959) [6]
27327Jack Jones Halfback Livingston
28339Roger Thrift Halfback East Carolina
29351Bill Driver HalfbackFlorida State
30362 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 

Halfbacks

Fullbacks 

Ends

Guards 

Tackles

Centers


Assistants

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

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance
1August 17 College All-Stars W 38–71–0 Soldier Field 92,180
2August 25 New York Yanks W 52–02–0 Rubber Bowl 25,820
3September 4at Detroit Lions L 20–212–1 Briggs Stadium 35,165
4September 9at Chicago Bears W 32–213–1 Wrigley Field 67,342
5September 14 Los Angeles Rams W 7–64–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 38,851

Regular season schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendanceRecap
1September 30at San Francisco 49ers L 10–240–1 Kezar Stadium 52,219 Recap
2October 7at Los Angeles Rams W 38–231–1 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 67,186 Recap
3October 14 Washington Redskins W 45–02–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 33,968 Recap
4October 21 Pittsburgh Steelers W 17–03–1Cleveland Municipal Stadium32,409 Recap
5October 28 New York Giants W 14–134–1Cleveland Municipal Stadium56,947 Recap
6November 4at Chicago Cardinals W 34–175–1 Comiskey Park 19,742 Recap
7November 11 Philadelphia Eagles W 20–176–1Cleveland Municipal Stadium36,571 Recap
8November 18at New York GiantsW 10–07–1 Polo Grounds 52,215 Recap
9November 25 Chicago Bears W 42–218–1Cleveland Municipal Stadium40,969 Recap
10December 2Chicago CardinalsW 49–289–1Cleveland Municipal Stadium30,550 Recap
11December 9at Pittsburgh SteelersW 28–010–1 Forbes Field 24,229 Recap
12December 16at Philadelphia EaglesW 24–911–1 Shibe Park 16,263 Recap

Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

Playoffs

RoundDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendanceRecap
Championship December 23at Los Angeles Rams L 17–240–1 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 57,540 Recap

Standings

NFL American Conference
WLTPCTCONFPFPASTK
Cleveland Browns 1110.9179–0331152W11
New York Giants 921.8187–2–1254161W4
Washington Redskins 570.4174–5183296L1
Pittsburgh Steelers 471.3643–5–1183235W1
Philadelphia Eagles 480.3333–6234264L2
Chicago Cardinals 390.2500–8210287W1

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

Awards and records

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">1951 Los Angeles Rams season</span> NFL team season

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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.
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