1973 Cleveland Browns season

1973 Cleveland Browns season
Owner	Art Modell
General manager	Harold Sauerbrei
Head coach	Nick Skorich
Home stadium	Cleveland Municipal Stadium
Radio partner	WHK
Results
Record	7–5–2
Division place	3rd AFC Central
Playoffs	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	RB Greg Pruitt DT Jerry Sherk CB Clarence Scott
←  1972 Browns seasons 1974  →

The 1973 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 24th season with the National Football League. After a solid 1972 season, which included a playoff appearance, the Browns got off to a solid start, winning three of their first four games on the way to a 7-3-1 start. However, the Browns did not win another game the rest of the season and settled for third place with a 7-5-2 record.

Offseason

Draft

Main article: 1973 NFL Draft

1973 Cleveland Browns draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	16	Steve Holden	WR	Arizona St
1	22	Pete Adams	OG	USC
2	30	Greg Pruitt  *	RB	Oklahoma
2	47	Jim Stienke	DB	Texas St
3	67	Bob Crum	DE	Arizona
4	93	Andy Dorris	DE	New Mexico St
4	100	Randy Mattingly	QB	Evansville
6	150	Van Green	DB	Shaw
9	228	Curtis Wester	OG	Texas A&M-Commerce
10	256	Tommy Humphrey	C	Abilene Christian
11	281	Carl Barisich	DT	Princeton
12	306	Stan Simmons	TE	Lewis & Clark
13	334	Jim Romaniszyn	LB	Edinboro
14	359	Robert Popelka	DB	SMU
15	384	Dave Sullivan	WR	Virginia
16	412	George Greenfield	RB	Murray St
17	437	Robert McClowry	C	Michigan St
Made roster    †    Pro Football Hall of Fame     *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

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Personnel

Staff / coaches

1973 Cleveland Browns staff

Front office Owner and President – Art Modell Executive Vice President/General Manager – Harold Sauerbrei Head coaches Head Coaches – Nick Skorich Offensive coaches Wide Receivers – Fran Polsfoot Offensive line – Jerry Smith

Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator - Howard Brinker Defensive Line - Dick Modzelewski Secondary / Defensive Backs – Richie McCabe Special teams coaches Special Teams – Al Tabor Athletic Trainer - Leo Murphy

Final roster

1973 Cleveland Browns roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 13 Don Horn 15 Mike Phipps 17 Brian Sipe Running backs (RB) 30 Ken Brown 37 Hugh McKinnis 44 Leroy Kelly 34 Greg Pruitt 35 Bo Scott FB Wide receivers (WR) 88 Steve Holden 43 Fair Hooker 26 Billy Lefear 25 Frank Pitts 42 Gloster Richardson 48 Dave Sullivan Tight ends (TE) 83 Chip Glass 89 Milt Morin 85 Ken Smith

Offensive linemen (OL) 63 Joe Carollo T 64 Jim Copeland G 61 Bob DeMarco C 65 John Demarie G 73 Doug Dieken T 66 Gene Hickerson G 78 Bob McKay T Defensive linemen (DL) 74 Carl Barisich DT 84 Bob Briggs DE 71 Walter Johnson DT 80 Joe Jones DE 81 Nick Roman DE 72 Jerry Sherk DT

Linebackers (LB) 52 Billy Andrews OLB 60 Bob Babich 50 John Garlington OLB 53 Mel Long LB 59 Charlie Hall OLB 56 Jim Romaniszyn Defensive backs (DB) 23 Cliff Brooks 27 Thom Darden FS 28 Ben Davis CB 22 Clarence Scott CB 20 Jim Stienke CB 29 Walt Sumner CB Special teams (ST) 12 Don Cockroft K/P

Practice squad Vacant - noneReserve -- Bob McClowry C Rookies in italics

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	August 6	San Francisco 49ers	L 16–27	0–1	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	65,707
2	August 11	at Los Angeles Rams	T 21–21	0–1–1	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	54,385
3	August 19	Cincinnati Bengals	W 24–6	1–1–1	Ohio Stadium	73,421
4	August 25	vs. Atlanta Falcons	W 20–17	2–1–1	Neyland Stadium	40,831
5	September 1	Detroit Lions	L 13–16	2–2–1	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	64,088
6	September 8	vs. New York Giants	L 10–21	2–3–1	Rubber Bowl	30,751

Regular season schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 16	Baltimore Colts	W 24–14	1–0	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	74,303	Recap
2	September 23	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 6–33	1–1	Three Rivers Stadium	49,396	Recap
3	September 30	New York Giants	W 12–10	2–1	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	76,065	Recap
4	October 7	Cincinnati Bengals	W 17–10	3–1	Cleveland Browns Stadium	70,805	Recap
5	October 15	Miami Dolphins	L 9–17	3–2	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	72,070	Recap
6	October 21	Houston Oilers	W 42–13	4–2	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	61,146	Recap
7	October 28	San Diego Chargers	T 16–16	4–2–1	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	68,244	Recap
8	November 4	at Minnesota Vikings	L 3–26	4–3–1	Metropolitan Stadium	45,590	Recap
9	November 11	at Houston Oilers	W 23–13	5–3–1	Houston Astrodome	37,230	Recap
10	November 18	at Oakland Raiders	W 7–3	6–3–1	Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum	47,398	Recap
11	November 25	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 21–16	7–3–1	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	67,773	Recap
12	December 2	at Kansas City Chiefs	T 20–20	7–3–2	Arrowhead Stadium	70,296	Recap
13	December 9	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 17–34	7–4–2	Riverfront Stadium	58,266	Recap
14	December 16	at Los Angeles Rams	L 17–30	7–5–2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	73,948	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total Colts 0 7 7 0 14 • Browns 7 10 7 0 24 Date: September 16 Location: Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 74,303 Game weather: 64 °F (18 °C); wind 9 mph (14 km/h)

Scoring summary Q1 CLE Pitts 26 yard pass from Phipps (Cockroft kick) CLE 7–0 Q2 BAL Speyrer 33 yard pass from Jones (Hunt kick) Tie 7–7 Q2 CLE Cockroft 14 yard field goal CLE 10–7 Q2 CLE Scott 45 yard interception return (Cockroft kick) CLE 17–7 Q3 BAL Hendricks 2 yard blocked punt return (Hunt kick) CLE 17–14 Q3 CLE Pitts 8 yard pass from Phipps (Cockroft kick) CLE 24–14

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Week 3

1 2 3 4 Total Giants 0 10 0 0 10 • Browns 0 0 6 6 12 Date: September 30 Location: Cleveland Municipal Stadium Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 76,065 Game weather: 62 °F (17 °C); wind 9 mph (14 km/h)

Scoring summary Q2 NYG Gogolak 20 yard field goal NYG 3–0 Q2 NYG Tucker 20 yard pass from Snead (Gogolak kick) NYG 10–0 Q3 CLE Cockroft 11 yard field goal NYG 10–3 Q3 CLE Cockroft 27 yard field goal NYG 10–6 Q4 CLE Cockroft 30 yard field goal NYG 10–9 Q4 CLE Cockroft 10 yard field goal CLE 12–10

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Week 4

1 2 3 4 Total Bengals 3 0 0 7 10 • Browns 0 7 7 3 17 Date: October 7 Location: Cleveland Municipal Stadium Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 70,805 Game weather: 60 °F (16 °C); wind 4 mph (6.4 km/h)

Scoring summary Q1 CIN Muhlmann 38 yard field goal CIN 3–0 Q2 CLE Kelly 3 yard run (Cockroft kick) CLE 7–3 Q3 CLE Kelly 7 yard run (Cockroft kick) CLE 14–3 Q4 CIN Curtis 60 yard pass from Anderson (Muhlmann kick) CLE 14–10 Q4 CLE Cockroft 24 yard field goal CLE 17–10

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Week 6

1 2 3 4 Total Oilers 0 0 13 0 13 • Browns 14 14 0 14 42 Date: October 21 Location: Cleveland Municipal Stadium Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 51 °F (11 °C); wind 6 mph (9.7 km/h)

Scoring summary Q1 CLE Kelly 8 yard run (Cockroft kick) CLE 7–0 Q1 CLE Phipps 1 yard run (Cockroft kick) CLE 14–0 Q2 CLE Hooker 21 yard pass from Phipps (Cockroft kick) CLE 21–0 Q2 CLE Pitts 3 yard pass from Phipps (Cockroft kick) CLE 28–0 Q3 HOU Hinton 34 yard pass from Pastorini (Butler kick) CLE 28–7 Q3 HOU Butler 9 yard field goal CLE 28–10 Q3 HOU Butler 31 yard field goal CLE 28–13 Q4 CLE Phipps 13 yard run (Cockroft kick) CLE 35–13 Q4 CLE Scott 2 yard pass from Horn (Cockroft kick) CLE 42–13

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Week 8

1 2 3 4 Total Browns 3 0 0 0 3 • Vikings 3 6 7 10 26 Date: November 4 Location: Metropolitan Stadium Game start: 1:00 p.m. CST Game weather: 27 °F (−3 °C); wind 11 mph (18 km/h)

Scoring summary Q1 CLE Don Cockroft 27 yard field goal CLE 3–0 Q1 MIN Fred Cox 16 yard field goal Tied 3–3 Q2 MIN Fred Cox 23 yard field goal MIN 6–3 Q2 MIN Fred Cox 33 yard field goal MIN 9–3 Q3 MIN Oscar Reed 3 yard rush (Cox kick) MIN 16–3 Q4 MIN Stu Voigt 7 yard pass from Fran Tarkenton (Cox kick) MIN 23–3 Q4 MIN Fred Cox 41 yard field goal MIN 26–3

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Week 9

1 2 3 4 Total • Browns 17 0 3 3 23 Oilers 0 3 3 7 13 Date: November 11 Location: Houston Astrodome Game start: 2:00 p.m. EST Game weather: Indoors (dome)

Scoring summary Q1 CLE Cockroft 30 yard field goal CLE 3–0 Q1 CLE Phipps 1 yard run (Cockroft kick) CLE 10–0 Q1 CLE Pruitt 53 yard run (Cockroft kick) CLE 17–0 Q2 HOU Butler 27 yard field goal CLE 17–3 Q3 HOU Butler 46 yard field goal CLE 17–6 Q3 CLE Cockroft 22 yard field goal CLE 20–6 Q4 CLE Cockroft 45 yard field goal CLE 23–6 Q4 HOU Alston 39 yard pass from Dickey (Butler kick) CLE 23–13

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Week 10

1 2 3 4 Total • Browns 0 7 0 0 7 Raiders 0 0 0 3 3 Date: November 18 Location: Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Game start: 4:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 53 °F (12 °C); wind 18 mph (29 km/h)

Scoring summary Q2 CLE Hooker 7 yard pass from Phipps (Cockroft kick) CLE 7–0 Q4 OAK Blanda 23 yard field goal CLE 7–3

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Week 11

1 2 3 4 Total Steelers 7 3 3 3 16 • Browns 7 7 0 7 21 Date: November 25 Location: Cleveland Municipal Stadium Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game weather: 50 °F (10 °C); wind 15 mph (24 km/h)

Scoring summary Q1 PIT Shanklin 9 yard pass from Gilliam (Gerela kick) PIT 7–0 Q1 CLE Phipps 1 yard run (Cockroft kick) Tie 7–7 Q2 CLE Pruitt 15 yard pass from Phipps (Cockroft kick) CLE 14–7 Q2 PIT Gerela 24 yard field goal CLE 14–10 Q3 PIT Gerela 14 yard field goal CLE 14–13 Q4 PIT Gerela 20 yard field goal PIT 16–14 Q4 CLE Pruitt 19 yard run (Cockroft kick) CLE 21–16

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Standings

AFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Cincinnati Bengals	10	4	0	.714	4–2	8–3	286	231	W6
Pittsburgh Steelers	10	4	0	.714	4–2	7–4	347	210	W2
Cleveland Browns	7	5	2	.571	4–2	6–3–2	234	255	L2
Houston Oilers	1	13	0	.071	0–6	1–10	199	447	L6

References

1. "1973 NFL Draft Listing – Pro-Football-Reference.com". Archived from the original on May 31, 2009. Retrieved July 23, 2009.
2. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
3. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
4. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
5. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
6. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
7. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
8. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
9. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 19, 2015.

External links

• 1973 Cleveland Browns at Pro Football Reference
• 1973 Cleveland Browns Statistics at jt-sw.com
• 1973 Cleveland Browns Schedule at jt-sw.com
• 1973 Cleveland Browns ^[usurped] at DatabaseFootball.com