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1961 Cleveland Browns
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Record: 8-5-1, Finished 3rd in NFL East Division
NFL Season Summary
Scored 319 points (22.8/g), 6th of 14 in the NFL.
Allowed 270 points (19.3/g), 5th.
Differential of 49 points (3.5/g), 5th.
Expected W-L: 8.4-5.6.
Takeaway/Giveaway Differential +5 (0.4/g), 4th.
Coached by Paul Brown (8-5-1)
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1961 Statistics / Starters & Roster / Games & Schedule / Team Draftees
Starters
Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE · Hide Non-primary Starters| Pos | Age | Yrs | GS | Summary of Player Stats | Drafted (tm/rnd/yr) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Offensive Starters | Complete Team Stats | |||||
| QB | Milt Plum* | 26 | 4 | 13 | 177 for 302, 2,416 yards, 18 td, 10 int, & 24 rushes for -17 yards and 1 td | Cleveland Browns / 2nd / 17th pick / 1957 |
| HB | Bobby Mitchell | 26 | 3 | 0 | 101 rushes for 548 yards, 5 td, & 32 catches for 368 yards and 3 td | Cleveland Browns / 7th / 84th pick / 1958 |
| HB | Tom Watkins | 24 | Rook | 0 | 43 rushes for 209 yards, 0 td, & 4 catches for 66 yards and 1 td | Oakland Raiders / 8th / 57th pick / 1961 |
| FB | Jim Brown*+ | 25 | 4 | 14 | 305 rushes for 1,408 yards, 8 td, & 46 catches for 459 yards and 2 td | Cleveland Browns / 1st / 6th pick / 1957 |
| FL | Ray Renfro | 32 | 9 | 0 | 48 catches for 834 yards, 6 td | Cleveland Browns / 4th / 48th pick / 1952 |
| SE | Rich Kreitling | 25 | 2 | 0 | 21 catches for 229 yards, 3 td | Cleveland Browns / 1st / 11th pick / 1959 |
| SE | Bobby Crespino | 23 | Rook | 0 | 2 catches for 62 yards, 1 td | Cleveland Browns / 1st / 10th pick / 1961 |
| TE | Gern Nagler | 29 | 8 | 0 | 19 catches for 241 yards, 1 td | Cleveland Browns / 14th / 167th pick / 1953 |
| LT | Dick Schafrath | 24 | 2 | 0 | 1 fumble recovered | Cleveland Browns / 2nd / 23rd pick / 1959 |
| LG | Jim Ray Smith*+ | 29 | 5 | 0 | Cleveland Browns / 6th / 64th pick / 1954 |
|
| C | John Morrow* | 28 | 5 | 0 | 1 fumble recovered | Los Angeles Rams / 28th / 336th pick / 1956 |
| RG | John Wooten | 25 | 2 | 0 | Cleveland Browns / 5th / 53rd pick / 1959 |
|
| RT | Mike McCormack* | 31 | 10 | 0 | New York Yanks / 3rd / 34th pick / 1951 |
|
| Defensive Starters | ||||||
| LDE | Jim Houston | 24 | 1 | 0 | 0 interceptions, 1 fumble recovered | Cleveland Browns / 1st / 8th pick / 1960 |
| LDT | Bob Gain* | 32 | 9 | 0 | 0 interceptions, 1 fumble recovered | Green Bay Packers / 1st / 5th pick / 1951 |
| RDT | Floyd Peters | 25 | 2 | 0 | 0 interceptions, 3 fumbles recovered | Baltimore Colts / 8th / 93rd pick / 1958 |
| RDT | Larry Stephens | 23 | 1 | 0 | Cleveland Browns / 2nd / 18th pick / 1960 |
|
| RDE | Paul Wiggin | 27 | 4 | 0 | 0 interceptions, 2 fumbles recovered | Cleveland Browns / 6th / 73rd pick / 1956 |
| LLB | Vince Costello | 29 | 4 | 0 | 0 interceptions, 1 fumble recovered | |
| LLB | Galen Fiss | 30 | 5 | 0 | 1 interception, 3 fumbles recovered | Cleveland Browns / 13th / 155th pick / 1953 |
| MLB | Dave Lloyd | 25 | 2 | 0 | 0 interceptions, 2 fumbles recovered | Cleveland Browns / 4th / 47th pick / 1959 |
| RLB | Walt Michaels | 32 | 10 | 0 | 2 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered | Cleveland Browns / 7th / 86th pick / 1951 |
| LCB | Bernie Parrish | 25 | 2 | 0 | 7 interceptions, 1 fumble recovered | Cleveland Browns / 9th / 108th pick / 1958 |
| RCB | Jim Shofner | 26 | 3 | 0 | 5 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered | Cleveland Browns / 1st / 13th pick / 1958 |
| LS | Don Fleming | 24 | 1 | 0 | 3 interceptions, 2 fumbles recovered | Chicago Cardinals / 28th / 327th pick / 1959 |
| RS | Bobby Franklin | 25 | 1 | 0 | 2 interceptions, 0 fumbles recovered | Cleveland Browns / 11th / 127th pick / 1960 |
| Special Teams Starters | ||||||
| K | Lou Groza | 37 | 15 | 0 | 16 of 23 field goals & 37 of 38 extra points | |
| P | Sam Baker | 32 | 8 | 0 | 53 punts for a 43.3 average, 0 blocked | Los Angeles Rams / 11th / 133rd pick / 1952 |
| PR | Bobby Mitchell | 26 | 3 | 0 | 14 punt returns for a 11.7 average and 1 td | Cleveland Browns / 7th / 84th pick / 1958 |
| KR | Bobby Mitchell | 26 | 3 | 0 | 16 kick returns for a 26.8 average and 1 td | Cleveland Browns / 7th / 84th pick / 1958 |
| Age | Pos | G | GS | Wt | Ht | College/Univ | BirthDate | Yrs | Drafted (tm/rnd/yr) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Baker | 32 | K-FB | 14 | 0 | 217 | 6-2 | Oregon State | 11/12/1929 | 8 | Los Angeles Rams / 11th / 133rd pick / 1952 |
| Johnny Brewer | 24 | TE-LB-DE | 14 | 0 | 230 | 6-4 | Mississippi | 3/8/1937 | Rook | Cleveland Browns / 4th / 41st pick / 1960 |
| Jim Brown*+ | 25 | FB | 14 | 14 | 232 | 6-2 | Syracuse | 2/17/1936 | 4 | Cleveland Browns / 1st / 6th pick / 1957 |
| Leon Clarke | 28 | E-FL | 13 | 0 | 232 | 6-4 | USC | 1/10/1933 | 5 | Los Angeles Rams / 2nd / 14th pick / 1956 |
| Vince Costello | 29 | LB | 14 | 0 | 230 | 6-0 | Ohio | 8/4/1932 | 4 | |
| Bobby Crespino | 23 | SE-TE | 13 | 0 | 225 | 6-5 | Mississippi | 1/11/1938 | Rook | Cleveland Browns / 1st / 10th pick / 1961 |
| Len Dawson | 26 | QB | 7 | 1 | 190 | 6-0 | Purdue | 6/20/1935 | 4 | Pittsburgh Steelers / 1st / 5th pick / 1957 |
| Charley Ferguson | 22 | WR-TE | 12 | 0 | 217 | 6-5 | Tennessee State | 11/13/1939 | Rook | |
| Ross Fichtner | 23 | DB | 13 | 0 | 185 | 6-0 | Purdue | 10/26/1938 | 1 | Cleveland Browns / 3rd / 33rd pick / 1960 |
| Galen Fiss | 30 | LB | 13 | 0 | 227 | 6-0 | Kansas | 7/10/1931 | 5 | Cleveland Browns / 13th / 155th pick / 1953 |
| Don Fleming | 24 | DB | 14 | 0 | 188 | 6-0 | Florida | 6/11/1937 | 1 | Chicago Cardinals / 28th / 327th pick / 1959 |
| Bobby Franklin | 25 | DB | 14 | 0 | 182 | 5-11 | Mississippi | 10/5/1936 | 1 | Cleveland Browns / 11th / 127th pick / 1960 |
| Bob Gain* | 32 | DT-DE-MG-T | 14 | 0 | 256 | 6-3 | Kentucky | 6/21/1929 | 9 | Green Bay Packers / 1st / 5th pick / 1951 |
| Lou Groza | 37 | T-C-DT-K | 14 | 0 | 240 | 6-3 | Ohio State | 1/25/1924 | 15 | |
| Jim Houston | 24 | LB-DE | 14 | 0 | 240 | 6-3 | Ohio State | 11/3/1937 | 1 | Cleveland Browns / 1st / 8th pick / 1960 |
| Rich Kreitling | 25 | E | 13 | 0 | 208 | 6-2 | Auburn,Illinois | 3/13/1936 | 2 | Cleveland Browns / 1st / 11th pick / 1959 |
| Errol Linden | 24 | T | 10 | 0 | 258 | 6-5 | Houston | 10/21/1937 | Rook | Detroit Lions / 10th / 135th pick / 1961 |
| Dave Lloyd | 25 | LB-C | 14 | 0 | 247 | 6-3 | Georgia,Texas Tech | 11/9/1936 | 2 | Cleveland Browns / 4th / 47th pick / 1959 |
| Mike McCormack* | 31 | T-DG-DT | 14 | 0 | 246 | 6-4 | Kansas | 6/21/1930 | 10 | New York Yanks / 3rd / 34th pick / 1951 |
| Walt Michaels | 32 | LB | 14 | 0 | 231 | 6-0 | Washington & Lee | 10/16/1929 | 10 | Cleveland Browns / 7th / 86th pick / 1951 |
| Bobby Mitchell | 26 | FL-HB-WR | 14 | 0 | 192 | 6-0 | Illinois | 6/6/1935 | 3 | Cleveland Browns / 7th / 84th pick / 1958 |
| John Morrow* | 28 | C-G | 14 | 0 | 244 | 6-3 | Michigan | 4/27/1933 | 5 | Los Angeles Rams / 28th / 336th pick / 1956 |
| Gern Nagler | 29 | E | 13 | 0 | 190 | 6-2 | Santa Clara | 2/23/1932 | 8 | Cleveland Browns / 14th / 167th pick / 1953 |
| Ed Nutting | 22 | T | 4 | 0 | 246 | 6-4 | Georgia Tech | 2/8/1939 | Rook | Cleveland Browns / 2nd / 27th pick / 1961 |
| Bernie Parrish | 25 | DB | 14 | 0 | 194 | 5-11 | Florida | 4/29/1936 | 2 | Cleveland Browns / 9th / 108th pick / 1958 |
| Floyd Peters | 25 | DT | 13 | 0 | 254 | 6-4 | San Francisco State | 5/21/1936 | 2 | Baltimore Colts / 8th / 93rd pick / 1958 |
| Milt Plum* | 26 | QB | 14 | 13 | 205 | 6-1 | Penn State | 1/20/1935 | 4 | Cleveland Browns / 2nd / 17th pick / 1957 |
| Preston Powell | 25 | FB | 12 | 0 | 225 | 6-2 | Grambling State | 9/23/1936 | Rook | Cleveland Browns / 7th / 97th pick / 1961 |
| Duane Putnam | 33 | G | 14 | 0 | 228 | 6-0 | Pacific | 9/5/1928 | 9 | Los Angeles Rams / 6th / 66th pick / 1952 |
| Ray Renfro | 32 | HB-FL | 14 | 0 | 190 | 6-1 | North Texas | 11/7/1929 | 9 | Cleveland Browns / 4th / 48th pick / 1952 |
| Dick Schafrath | 24 | T-G-DE | 13 | 0 | 253 | 6-3 | Ohio State | 3/21/1937 | 2 | Cleveland Browns / 2nd / 23rd pick / 1959 |
| Jim Shofner | 26 | DB | 14 | 0 | 191 | 6-2 | TCU | 12/18/1935 | 3 | Cleveland Browns / 1st / 13th pick / 1958 |
| Jim Ray Smith*+ | 29 | G-T-DE | 14 | 0 | 241 | 6-3 | Baylor | 2/27/1932 | 5 | Cleveland Browns / 6th / 64th pick / 1954 |
| Larry Stephens | 23 | DE-DT | 14 | 0 | 250 | 6-3 | Texas | 9/24/1938 | 1 | Cleveland Browns / 2nd / 18th pick / 1960 |
| Tom Watkins | 24 | HB | 10 | 0 | 195 | 6-0 | Iowa State | 10/23/1937 | Rook | Oakland Raiders / 8th / 57th pick / 1961 |
| Paul Wiggin | 27 | DE | 14 | 0 | 242 | 6-3 | Stanford | 11/18/1934 | 4 | Cleveland Browns / 6th / 73rd pick / 1956 |
| John Wooten | 25 | G | 14 | 0 | 235 | 6-2 | Colorado | 12/5/1936 | 2 | Cleveland Browns / 5th / 53rd pick / 1959 |
| Team Total | 26.8 | 14 | 223.1 | 6-2.1 | 3.8 |