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1951 Cleveland Browns season

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1951 Cleveland Browns season
OwnerMickey McBride
General managerPaul Brown
Head coachPaul Brown
Home fieldCleveland Stadium
Local radioWERE
Results
Record11–1
Division place1st NFL American
Playoff finishLost NFL Championship
(at Rams) 17–24
Pro BowlersKen Carpenter, HB
Dante Lavelli, E
Lou Groza, LT
Tony Adamle, LB
Len Ford, DE
Otto Graham, QB
Dub Jones, HB
Bill Willis, LB
AP All-ProsLen Ford
Otto Graham
Dub Jones
Bill Willis

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

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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

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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

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1951 Cleveland Browns roster

Quarterbacks 

Halfbacks

Fullbacks 

Ends

Guards 

Tackles

Centers


Assistants

Rookies in italics (2)
34 Active, 0 Inactive

NFL American Conference
CHC
CLE
NYG
PHI
PIT
WAS
National Conference
BAL
CHB
DET
GB
LA
NYY
SF

Preseason

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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 at Detroit Lions L 20–21 2–1 Briggs Stadium 35,165
4 September 9 at Chicago 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

Regular season schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 September 30 at San Francisco 49ers L 10–24 0–1 Kezar Stadium 52,219 Recap
2 October 7 at Los 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 at Chicago 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 at New 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 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 28–0 10–1 Forbes Field 24,229 Recap
12 December 16 at Philadelphia Eagles W 24–9 11–1 Shibe Park 16,263 Recap

Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

Playoffs

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Round Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
Championship December 23 at Los Angeles Rams L 17–24 0–1 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 57,540 Recap

Standings

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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.
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
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Awards and records

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References

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  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 December 4, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
  3. ^ "Art Donovan career stats". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on October 16, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
  4. ^ "Walt Michaels career stats". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on December 21, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
  5. ^ "Art Spinney career stats". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on January 12, 2014. Retrieved November 14, 2013.
  6. ^ "Fred Williams career stats". Pro Football Reference. Archived from the original on November 15, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2013.

Further reading

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  • Jonathan Knight, The Browns Bible: The Complete Game-by-Game History of the Cleveland Browns. Kent, OH: Black Squirrel Books, 2013.
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