1951 Cleveland Browns season

1951 Cleveland Browns season
Head coach Paul Brown
Home field Cleveland Stadium
Results
Record 11–1–0
Division place 1st NFL American
Playoff finish Lost NFL Championship

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 

Halfbacks

 Fullbacks 

Ends

 Guards 

Tackles

Centers

Head Coach 

Assistants

Rookies in italics (2)
34 Active, 0 Inactive

NFL American Conference
CHC
CLE
NYG
PHI
PIT
WAS
National Conference
BAL
CHI
DET
GB
LAR
NYY
SFO

Exhibition schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 August 17, 1951 vs College All-Stars at Chicago W 38–7
92,180
2 August 25, 1951 vs. New York Yanks at Akron W 34–7
25,820
3 September 4, 1951 at Detroit Lions L 20–21
35,165
4 September 9, 1951 at Chicago Bears W 32–21
67,342
5 September 14, 1951 Los Angeles Rams W 7–6
38,851

Regular season schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 30, 1951 at San Francisco 49ers L 24–10
52,219
2 October 7, 1951 at Los Angeles Rams W 38–23
67,186
3 October 14, 1951 Washington Redskins W 45–0
33,968
4 October 21, 1951 Pittsburgh Steelers W 17–0
32,409
5 October 28, 1951 New York Giants W 14–13
56,947
6 November 4, 1951 at Chicago Cardinals W 34–17
19,742
7 November 11, 1951 Philadelphia Eagles W 20–17
36,571
8 November 18, 1951 at New York Giants W 10–0
52,215
9 November 25, 1951 Chicago Bears W 42–21
40,969
10 December 2, 1951 Chicago Cardinals W 49–28
30,550
11 December 9, 1951 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 28–0
24,229
12 December 16, 1951 at Philadelphia Eagles W 24–9
16,263

Playoffs

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
Championship December 23, 1951 at Los Angeles Rams L 24–17
57,540

Standings

NFL American Conference
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.

Awards and records

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 November 14, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Art Donovan career stats". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on November 14, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Walt Michaels career stats". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on November 14, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Art Spinney career stats". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on November 14, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Fred Williams career stats". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on November 14, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
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