1964 Cleveland Browns season

Last updated

1964 Cleveland Browns season
Owner Art Modell
General manager Harold Sauerbrei
Head coach Blanton Collier
Home field Cleveland Stadium
Local radio WERE
Results
Record10–3–1
Division place1st NFL Eastern
Playoff finishWon NFL Championship
(vs. Colts) 27–0
Pro Bowlers FB Jim Brown
DE Bill Glass
OLB Jim Houston
DT Dick Modzelewski
QB Frank Ryan
T Dick Schafrath
SE Paul Warfield

The 1964 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 19th season, and 15th season with the National Football League. The Browns won the NFL Championship, despite having not made the playoffs in six seasons. [1]

Contents

Regular season

The regular season was a success with the Browns finishing with a regular season record of 10–3–1. They were coached by Blanton Collier who had replaced Paul Brown the previous season. The team had a tremendous amount of heart, which was demonstrated by the fact that they had key commanding wins throughout the season. For instance, they swept their arch rival New York Giants, who the previous year had edged them out as the eastern conference champion. Not only did they win both times that they played against the Giants but both wins were very convincing, the first being a 42–20 home victory and the second being a 52–20 away victory. The second victory over the Giants was a clutch, season ending game that clinched the eastern conference title. Many of the Browns' wins during the regular season were in a very commanding manner, with a 37–21 win over the Detroit Lions being a prime example. The win over the Lions carried extra significance due to the fact that the Lions had been the team that knocked them out of the conference champion hunt the previous season by beating them 38–10 in the second to last regular season game.

The Browns were led by Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown who had a stellar regular season, rushing for 1,446 yards with a 5.2 yards/carry average. Although they had a great rushing game, the Browns had a very balanced offense, choosing not to just hand the ball to Brown on every play. The quarterback of the team was Frank Ryan who had a decent season throwing for 2,404 yards and 25 touchdowns while throwing 19 interceptions. The top receivers of the team were Paul Warfield and Gary Collins, the second of whom would become a legend by catching three touchdowns in the championship game against the heavily favored Baltimore Colts. [2] [3]

Championship Game

Leading into the game, the Browns were huge underdogs. Most experts had them losing by double digits. Baltimore was so heavily favored that after the Browns won the game, Sports Illustrated had to scramble to find a picture of a Browns player to put on its cover. Baltimore had the league's best offense and had a league best record of 12–2. They were stacked with future Hall of Famers such as Johnny Unitas, Lenny Moore, and John Mackey. The Browns though, were unfazed by the apparent talent disparity and Jim Brown was reported stating before the game, "we're going to kick their [butt] today." The game-time temperature that day was 34 degrees and felt much colder in 15- to 25-mph winds whipping under gray December sky. The Municipal Stadium crowd of 79,544 was the second largest in NFL title-game history at the time. The Browns knew that if they wanted to be in the game they had to make a statement early on, and they did just that. Galen Fiss, the Browns team captain, broke up a screen pass from Unitas to Moore, sending Moore airborne for a loss. The Browns tenacity on defense is what got them to the half time score of 0–0. Brown's running back Ernie Green reported after the game about half time, "We cleaned ourselves and sat down, and it seemed like something came over all of us. I think we all kind of looked at each other and concluded, 'Hey, we can beat these guys.'" Not only did the Browns "beat" the Colts in the second half, They destroyed them, scoring 27 unanswered points. Gary Collins became a Cleveland Browns legend by catching three touch down passes, the third one being a 51-yarder with Colts defender Bobby Boyd all over him. The biggest story of the game was how well Cleveland's defense played against Baltimore's heralded offense. Cleveland was able to hold Unitas to just 95 yards while intercepting him twice. [4]

Lasting value

This was the last major sports championship won by a Cleveland-based team until 2016, when the Cleveland Cavaliers, a team that was formed in 1970, defeated the defending champion Golden State Warriors in a seven-game NBA Finals. Not only is it remembered in Cleveland but ESPN ranks the '64 title game as the second-greatest NFL postseason upset, behind only Joe Namath's guaranteed win over the Colts in Super Bowl III four seasons later.

Offseason

1964 draft class

1964 Cleveland Browns Draft
RoundSelectionPlayerPositionCollege
1 11 Paul Warfield Wide receiver Ohio State
226 Billy Truax Defensive end LSU
454Don ShackelfordTackle Pacific
567Dick KleinTackle Wichita State
795 Sammy Odom Linebacker Northwestern (LA) State
8110 Leroy Kelly Running back Morgan State
9123John BriscoeLinebacker Arizona
10135Bobby RobinsonGuard Mississippi
138 Dick Van Raaphorst Kicker Ohio State
11151Eddie VersprilleFullback Alabama
12166Ed MitchellTackle Southern
13179Bob MeehanGuard Syracuse
14194Terry SiegRunning back Virginia
15207John HoutmanTackle Michigan
16222 Sid Williams End Southern
17235Larry BartolameolliTackle Western Michigan
18250 Sherman Lewis Defensive back Michigan State
19263Jim HigginsGuardXavier
20278Dave ArcherTackle Syracuse

[5]

Exhibition schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultScoreRecordStadiumAttendanceTime (ET)Local TVRadio
1August 9at San Francisco 49ers L7–260–1 Kezar Stadium
27,404
4:30 PM EDT WGAR–AM
2August 15at Los Angeles Rams W56–311–1 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
43,183
11:00 PM EDT WEWS-TV WERE–AM
3August 22vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (at  Akron)W42–72–1 Rubber Bowl
27,255
8:00 PM EDTWERE–AM
4August 28at Detroit Lions W35–143–1 Tiger Stadium
36,946
8:00 PM EDTWEWS-TVWGAR–AM
5September 5 Green Bay Packers W20–174–1 Cleveland Stadium
83,736
9:00 PM EDTWGAR–AM

Notes:

a All times are Eastern time.

There was a doubleheader on September 5, 1964, Giants vs Lions and Packers vs Browns.

Regular season schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultScoreRecordStadiumAttendanceTime (ET)NetworkRadioRecap
1September 13at Washington Redskins W27–131–0 District of Columbia Stadium
47,577
1:30 PM EDT CBS WGAR–AM Recap
2September 20 St. Louis Cardinals T33–331–0–1 Cleveland Stadium
76,954
1:30 PM EDTCBSWGAR–AM Recap
3September 27at Philadelphia Eagles W28–202–0–1 Franklin Field
60,671
1:30 PM EDTCBSWGAR–AM Recap
4October 4 Dallas Cowboys W27–63–0–1Cleveland Stadium
72,062
1:30 PM EDTCBSWGAR–AM Recap
5October 10 Pittsburgh Steelers L7–233–1–1Cleveland Stadium
80,530
8:00 PM EDT Sports Network Incorporated (SNI) WERE–AM Recap
6October 18at Dallas CowboysW20–164–1–1 Cotton Bowl
37,456
2:30 PM EDTCBSWERE–AM Recap
7October 25 New York Giants W42–205–1–1Cleveland Stadium
81,050
1:30 PM EST CBSWERE–AM Recap
8November 1Pittsburgh SteelersW30–176–1–1 Pitt Stadium
49,568
1:30 PM ESTCBSWERE–AM Recap
9November 8Washington RedskinsW34–247–1–1Cleveland Stadium
76,385
1:30 PM ESTCBSWERE–AM Recap
10November 15 Detroit Lions W37–218–1–1Cleveland Stadium
83,064
1:30 PM ESTCBSWERE–AM Recap
11November 22vs. Green Bay Packers (at  Milwaukee)L21–288–2–1 Milwaukee County Stadium
48,065
2:00 PM ESTCBSWERE–AM Recap
12November 29Philadelphia EaglesW38–249–2–1Cleveland Stadium
79,289
1:30 PM ESTCBSWERE–AM Recap
13December 6at St. Louis Cardinals L19–289–3–1 Busch Stadium
31,585
2:00 PM ESTCBSWERE–AM Recap
14December 12at New York GiantsW52–2010–3–1 Yankee Stadium
63,007
2:00 PM ESTCBSWERE–AM Recap
Note: a All times are Eastern time. (UTC–4; UTC–5 starting October 25)

Game summaries

Week 1: at Washington Redskins

Cleveland Browns 27, Washington Redskins 13
1234Total
Browns0137727
Redskins0100313

[6]

Week 2: vs. St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis Cardinals 33, Cleveland Browns 33
1234Total
Cardinals103101033
Browns61071033

[7]

Week 3: at Philadelphia Eagles

Cleveland Browns 28, Philadelphia Eagles 20
1234Total
Browns7014728
Eagles760720

[8]

Week 4: vs. Dallas Cowboys

Cleveland Browns 27, Dallas Cowboys 6
1234Total
Cowboys06006
Browns767727

[9]

Week 5: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh Steelers 23, Cleveland Browns 7
1234Total
Steelers1067023
Browns07007

[10]

Week 6: at Dallas Cowboys

Cleveland Browns 20, Dallas Cowboys 16
1234Total
Browns760720
Cowboys0610016

[11]

Week 7: vs. New York Giants

Cleveland Browns 42, New York Giants 20
1234Total
Giants607720
Browns0772842

[12]

Week 8: at Pittsburgh Steelers

Cleveland Browns 30, Pittsburgh Steelers 17
1234Total
Browns010101030
Steelers0100717

[13]

Week 9: vs. Washington Redskins

Cleveland Browns 34, Washington Redskins 24
1234Total
Redskins0371424
Browns01314734

[14]

Week 10: vs. Detroit Lions

Cleveland Browns 37, Detroit Lions 21
1234Total
Lions1470021
Browns71371037

[15]

Week 11: at Green Bay Packers

Green Bay Packers 28, Cleveland Browns 21
1234Total
Browns1400721
Packers7014728

[16]

Week 12: vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Cleveland Browns 38, Philadelphia Eagles 24
1234Total
Eagles3071424
Browns71410738

[17]

Week 13: at St. Louis Cardinals

St. Louis Cardinals 28, Cleveland Browns 19
1234Total
Browns3331019
Cardinals0217028

[18]

Week 14: at New York Giants

Cleveland Browns 52, New York Giants 20
1234Total
Browns32121752
Giants0701320

[19]

Game Officials

WeekOpponentRefereeUmpireHead LinesmanBack JudgeField Judge
1at Washington (23) Harry Brubaker(18) Tony Sacco(8) Grover Klemmer (29) Stan Jaworowski (32) Jim Tunney
2 St. Louis (7) Tom Bell (20) Frank Sinkovitz (30) George Murphy(25) Tom Kelleher (34) Fritz Graf
3at Philadelphia (52) George Rennix(51) Lou Palazzi (28) Bill Schleibaum(24) Bruce Alford (10) Charles Sweeney
4 Dallas (56) Norm Schachter (4) James Beiersdorfer(26) Ed Marion (33) Art Holst(27) Herm Rohrig
5 Pittsburgh
6at Dallas () Bill Downes(4) James Beiersdorfer() Sam Cooperman() Armen Terzian () Joe Gonzales
7 New York (56) Norm Schachter
8at Pittsburgh
9 Washington (52) George Rennix
10 Detroit (55) Tony Skovar
11vs. Green Bay (at Milwaukee)
12 Philadelphia (3) Jim Pace
13at St. Louis
14at New York

Playoffs

RoundDateOpponentResultScoreStadiumAttendanceTime (ET)NetworkLocal RadioNational RadioRecap
NFL Championship GameDecember 27 Baltimore Colts W27–0 Cleveland Stadium
79,544
1:30 PM EST CBS WERE–AM CBS Recap

Notes:

a All times are EASTERN time.

1964 NFL Championship Game: vs. Baltimore Colts

1964 NFL Championship Game: Cleveland Browns 27, Baltimore Colts 0
1234Total
Colts00000
Browns00171027

[20]

Officials

RoundOpponentRefereeUmpireHead LinesmanBack JudgeField JudgeAlternates
1964 NFL Championship Game Baltimore (56) Norm Schachter (57) Joe Connell(30) George Murphy(25) Tom Kelleher (16) Mike Lisetski(52) George Rennix, (29) Stan Jaworowski

Standings

NFL Eastern Conference
WLTPCTCONFPFPASTK
Cleveland Browns 1031.7699–2–1415293W1
St. Louis Cardinals 932.7508–2–2357331W4
Philadelphia Eagles 680.4296–6312313L1
Washington Redskins 680.4295–7307305L2
Dallas Cowboys 581.3854–7–1250289W1
Pittsburgh Steelers 590.3575–7253315L1
New York Giants 2102.1672–8–2241399L4
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Personnel

Staff

1964 Cleveland Browns staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches


Strength and conditioning

  • Trainer - Leo Murphy
  • Equipment manager - Morrie Kono


Roster

1964 Cleveland Browns roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Rookies in italics

[21]

Media

Radio

Flagship stationPlay-by-playColor commentator
WERE–AM 1300 (main)
WGAR–AM 1220 (backup)
Gib Shanley Jim Graner

Pre season TV

Local TVPlay-by-playColor commentator
WEWS-TV 5 Ken Coleman Warren Lahr

Awards and records

Milestones

1965 NFL Pro Bowl (1964 NFL season), January 10, 1965

Pro Bowl

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References

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  3. "Team History". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on June 12, 2012. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
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