| 1951 Cleveland Browns season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Mickey McBride |
| General manager | Paul Brown |
| Head coach | Paul Brown |
| Home stadium | Cleveland Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 11–1 |
| Division place | 1stNFL American |
| Playoffs | LostNFL Championship (atRams) 17–24 |
| All-Pros | Len Ford Otto Graham Dub Jones Bill Willis |
| Pro Bowlers | Ken Carpenter, HB Dante Lavelli, E Lou Groza, LT Tony Adamle, LB Len Ford, DE Otto Graham, QB Dub Jones, HB Bill Willis, LB |
The1951 Cleveland Browns season was the team's second season with theNational Football League.Dub Jones set an NFL record with six touchdowns in one game versus the Chicago Bears.[1]
Cleveland won the NFL championship in 1950, its first year in the league after four seasons in the defunctAll-America Football Conference. Head coachPaul Brown made a number of roster moves in the offseason, including bringing infullbackChick Jagade,endBob Oristaglio anddefensive backsDon Shula andCarl Taseff.
| 1951 Cleveland Browns draft | |||||
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | Ken Konz * | Halfback | LSU | Career delayed by service in theKorean 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 onePro Bowl during career | |||||
| 1951 Cleveland Browns roster | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterbacks Running backs
Receivers
| Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
| Linebackers
Defensive backs
| Reserve list
Head Coach Assistants
rookies in italics | |||
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 17 | College All-Stars | W 38–7 | 1–0 | Soldier Field | 92,180 |
| 2 | August 25 | New York Yanks | W 52–0 | 2–0 | Rubber Bowl | 25,820 |
| 3 | September 4 | atDetroit Lions | L 20–21 | 2–1 | Briggs Stadium | 35,165 |
| 4 | September 9 | atChicago Bears | W 32–21 | 3–1 | Wrigley Field | 67,342 |
| 5 | September 14 | Los Angeles Rams | W 7–6 | 4–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 38,851 |
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 30 | atSan Francisco 49ers | L 10–24 | 0–1 | Kezar Stadium | 52,219 | Recap |
| 2 | October 7 | atLos Angeles Rams | W 38–23 | 1–1 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 67,186 | Recap |
| 3 | October 14 | Washington Redskins | W 45–0 | 2–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 33,968 | Recap |
| 4 | October 21 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 17–0 | 3–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 32,409 | Recap |
| 5 | October 28 | New York Giants | W 14–13 | 4–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 56,947 | Recap |
| 6 | November 4 | atChicago Cardinals | W 34–17 | 5–1 | Comiskey Park | 19,742 | Recap |
| 7 | November 11 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 20–17 | 6–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 36,571 | Recap |
| 8 | November 18 | atNew York Giants | W 10–0 | 7–1 | Polo Grounds | 52,215 | Recap |
| 9 | November 25 | Chicago Bears | W 42–21 | 8–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 40,969 | Recap |
| 10 | December 2 | Chicago Cardinals | W 49–28 | 9–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 30,550 | Recap |
| 11 | December 9 | atPittsburgh Steelers | W 28–0 | 10–1 | Forbes Field | 24,229 | Recap |
| 12 | December 16 | atPhiladelphia Eagles | W 24–9 | 11–1 | Shibe Park | 16,263 | Recap |
Note: Intra-conference opponents are inbold text.
| Round | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Championship | December 23 | atLos Angeles Rams | L 17–24 | 0–1 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 57,540 | Recap |
| 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 | |
| NFL National Conference | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | STK | ||
| Los Angeles Rams | 8 | 4 | 0 | .667 | 7–2 | 392 | 261 | W1 | |
| San Francisco 49ers | 7 | 4 | 1 | .636 | 5–2–1 | 255 | 205 | W3 | |
| Detroit Lions | 7 | 4 | 1 | .636 | 5–4–1 | 336 | 259 | L1 | |
| Chicago Bears | 7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | 6–2 | 286 | 282 | L1 | |
| Green Bay Packers | 3 | 9 | 0 | .250 | 1–8 | 254 | 375 | L7 | |
| New York Yanks | 1 | 9 | 2 | .100 | 1–7–2 | 241 | 382 | L2 | |
