| 1951 Cleveland Browns season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Paul Brown |
| Home field | Cleveland Stadium |
| Local radio | WERE |
| Results | |
| Record | 11–1 |
| Division place | 1st NFL American |
| Playoff finish | Lost NFL Championship (at Rams) 24–17 |
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
| 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
| Quarterbacks
Halfbacks
| Fullbacks
Ends
| Guards
Tackles
Centers
| Head Coach Assistants
Rookies in italics (2) | ||||||
Exhibition schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 17, 1951 | vs College All-Stars at Chicago | W 38–7 | |
| 2 | August 25, 1951 | vs. New York Yanks at Akron | W 52–0 | |
| 3 | September 4, 1951 | at Detroit Lions | L 20–21 | |
| 4 | September 9, 1951 | at Chicago Bears | W 32–21 | |
| 5 | September 14, 1951 | Los Angeles Rams | W 7–6 |
Regular season schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 30, 1951 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 24–10 | 0-1 | |
| 2 | October 7, 1951 | at Los Angeles Rams | W 38–23 | 1-1 | |
| 3 | October 14, 1951 | Washington Redskins | W 45–0 | 2-1 | |
| 4 | October 21, 1951 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 17–0 | 3-1 | |
| 5 | October 28, 1951 | New York Giants | W 14–13 | 4-1 | |
| 6 | November 4, 1951 | at Chicago Cardinals | W 34–17 | 5-1 | |
| 7 | November 11, 1951 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 20–17 | 6-1 | |
| 8 | November 18, 1951 | at New York Giants | W 10–0 | 7-1 | |
| 9 | November 25, 1951 | Chicago Bears | W 42–21 | 8-1 | |
| 10 | December 2, 1951 | Chicago Cardinals | W 49–28 | 9-1 | |
| 11 | December 9, 1951 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | W 28–0 | 10-1 | |
| 12 | December 16, 1951 | at Philadelphia Eagles | W 24–9 | 11-1 |
Playoffs
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Championship | December 23, 1951 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 24–17 |
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
- Otto Graham, NFL MVP
References
- ^ The Best Show in Football:The 1946–1955 Cleveland Browns, p.226, Andy Piascik, Taylor Trade Publishing, 2007, ISBN 978-1-58979-360-6
- ^ "Ken Konz career stats". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on November 14, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
- ^ "Art Donovan career stats". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on November 14, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
- ^ "Walt Michaels career stats". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on November 14, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
- ^ "Art Spinney career stats". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on November 14, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
- ^ "Fred Williams career stats". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on November 14, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2013.