# 1951 Cleveland Browns season

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.

## 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 | 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) 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) |
| 8 | 88 | Art Spinney * | End | Boston College | 2× Pro Bowl (1959, 1960) |
| 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) |
| 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 ||||||

## Preseason

| 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

| 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

| 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

NFL American Conference :
| viewtalkedit | 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 :
| viewtalkedit | 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

* Otto Graham, NFL MVP