1973 Cleveland Browns season Owner Art Modell Head coach Nick Skorich Home field Cleveland Municipal Stadium Local radio WHK Results Record 7–5–2 Division place 3rd AFC Central Playoff finish Did not qualify Pro Bowlers None
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 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 Webster 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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Roster 1973 Cleveland Browns roster Quarterbacks Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
Offensive linemen Defensive linemen
74 Carl Barisich 84 Bob Briggs DE71 Walter Johnson DT80 Joe Jones DE53 Mel Long81 Nick Roman DE72 Jerry Sherk DT Linebackers Defensive backs
Special teams
Reserve lists
Practice squad
Rookies in italics
Exhibition schedule Week Date Opponent Result Attendance 1 August 6, 1973 San Francisco 49ers L 27–16 65,707 2 August 11, 1973 at Los Angeles Rams T 21–21 54,385 3 August 19, 1973 vs. Cincinnati Bengals at Columbus, Ohio W 24–6 73,421 4 August 25, 1973 vs. Atlanta Falcons at Knoxville W 20–17 40,831 5 September 1, 1973 Detroit Lions L 16–13 64,088 6 September 8, 1973 vs. New York Giants at Akron L 21–10 30,751
Regular season schedule Week Date Opponent Result Attendance 1 September 16, 1973 Baltimore Colts W 24–14 74,303 2 September 23, 1973 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 33–6 49,396 3 September 30, 1973 New York Giants W 12–10 76,065 4 October 7, 1973 Cincinnati Bengals W 17–10 70,805 5 October 15, 1973 Miami Dolphins L 17–9 72,070 6 October 21, 1973 Houston Oilers W 42–13 61,146 7 October 28, 1973 San Diego Chargers T 16–16 68,244 8 November 4, 1973 at Minnesota Vikings L 26–3 45,590 9 November 11, 1973 at Houston Oilers W 23–13 37,230 10 November 18, 1973 at Oakland Raiders W 7–3 47,398 11 November 25, 1973 Pittsburgh Steelers W 21–16 67,773 12 December 2, 1973 at Kansas City Chiefs T 20–20 70,296 13 December 9, 1973 at Cincinnati Bengals L 34–17 58,266 14 December 16, 1973 at Los Angeles Rams L 30–17 73,948
Season summary Week 1 1 2 3 4 Total Colts 0 7 7 0 14 • Browns 7 10 7 0 24
Date: September 16Location: Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio Game start: 1:00 p.m. ESTGame attendance: 74,303Game weather: 64°F; wind 9 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 2 Week 3 1 2 3 4 Total Giants 0 10 0 0 10 • Browns 0 0 6 6 12
Date: September 30Location: Cleveland Municipal StadiumGame start: 1:00 p.m. ESTGame attendance: 76,065Game weather: 62°F; wind 9 Scoring summary Q2 NYG Gogolak 20 yard field goalNYG 3–0 Q2 NYG Tucker 20 yard pass from Snead (Gogolak kick) NYG 10–0 Q3 CLE Cockroft 11 yard field goalNYG 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 7Location: Cleveland Municipal StadiumGame start: 1:00 p.m. ESTGame attendance: 70,805Game weather: 60°F; wind 4 Scoring summary Q1 CIN Muhlmann 38 yard field goalCIN 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 5 Week 6 1 2 3 4 Total Oilers 0 0 13 0 13 • Browns 14 14 0 14 42
Date: October 21Location: Cleveland Municipal StadiumGame start: 1:00 p.m. ESTGame weather: 51°F; wind 6 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 7 Week 8 1 2 3 4 Total Browns 3 0 0 0 3 • Vikings 3 6 7 10 26
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 11Location: Houston AstrodomeGame start: 2:00 p.m. ESTGame weather: Indoors (dome) Scoring summary Q1 CLE Cockroft 30 yard field goalCLE 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 18Location: Oakland–Alameda County ColiseumGame start: 4:00 p.m. ESTGame weather: 53°F; wind 18 Scoring summary Q2 CLE Hooker 7 yard pass from Phipps (Cockroft kick) CLE 7–0 Q4 OAK Blanda 23 yard field goalCLE 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 25Location: Cleveland Municipal StadiumGame start: 1:00 p.m. ESTGame weather: 50°F; wind 15 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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Week 12 Week 13 Week 14 Standings AFC Central
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