1950 Cleveland Browns

1950 Cleveland Browns season
Head Coach	Paul Brown
Home Field	Cleveland Municipal Stadium
Results
Record	10–2–0
Place	1st NFL American
Playoff Finish	Won NFL Championship (1)
Timeline
Previous Season	Next Season
1949	1951

The 1950 Cleveland Browns season was the team's first season with the National Football League after playing the previous four years in the All-America Football Conference, which folded after the 1949 season. The Browns won their first NFL Championship, and their fifth consecutive championship game (the previous four having been in the AAFC).

The Browns' first NFL game was against the two-time defending champion Philadelphia Eagles. The overwhelming consensus at the time was that the Eagles would blow the Browns off the field; there were still many who thought the Browns were merely the dominant team in a minor league. However, the Browns were determined to prove they belonged. They shredded the Eagles' vaunted defense for 487 yards of total offense en route to a 35–10 blowout.

Exhibition Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	August 12, 1950	vs Green Bay Packers at Toledo	W 38–7	10,000
2	August 19, 1950	vs. Baltimore Colts at Cincinnati	W 34–7	21,000
3	August 25, 1950	vs. Detroit Lions at Akron	W 35-14	23,670
4	August 30, 1950	Chicago Bears	W 27–23	51,076
5	September 5, 1950	Pittsburgh Steelers at Buffalo	W 41–31	15,259

Regular season

Behind a potent offense that included future Hall of Famers Otto Graham, Marion Motley and Dante Lavelli, the Browns picked up right where they left off in the AAFC. After going 10–2 in the regular season, the Browns defeated the New York Giants 8–3 in a playoff game and then beat Cleveland's previous NFL tenants, the Rams (who were now in Los Angeles), 30–28, in the NFL Championship game. Since the NFL does not recognize the AAFC's records, this technically makes the Browns the most successful expansion team in league history. However, the 1950 Browns were not an expansion team in any sense of the term.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 16, 1950	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 35–10	71,237
2	September 24, 1950	at Baltimore Colts	W 31–0	15,201
3	October 1, 1950	New York Giants	L 6–0	37,647
4	October 7, 1950	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 30–17	35,590
5	October 15, 1950	Chicago Cardinals	W 34–24	33,774
6	October 22, 1950	at New York Giants	L 17–13	41,734
7	October 29, 1950	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 45–7	40,714
8	November 5, 1950	at Chicago Cardinals	W 10–7	38,456
9	November 12, 1950	San Francisco 49ers	W 34–14	28,786
10	November 19, 1950	Washington Redskins	W 20–14	21,908
11	Bye week
12	December 3, 1950	Philadelphia Eagles	W 13–7	37,490
13	December 10, 1950	at Washington Redskins	W 45–21	30,143

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
Divisional	December 17, 1950	New York Giants	W 8–3	33,054
Championship	December 24, 1950	Los Angeles Rams	W 30–28	29,751

Personnel

Roster

1950 Cleveland Browns roster
Quarterbacks 60 Otto Graham QB/DB 62 Cliff Lewis QB/DB Running Backs 74 Tony Adamle RB/LB 36 Marion Motley FB 90 Rex Bumgardner RB/DB Wide Receivers 82 Dub Jones WB/DB/RB/KR 84 Ken Carpenter FL/RB 94 Don Phelps KR/PR Tight Ends 82 Mac Speedie E/LE 56 Dante Lavelli WR/RE 42 Derrell Palmer	Offensive Linemen 76 Lou Groza LT/K 50 Jim Martin G/LB/K 32 Lin Houston 38 Weldon Humble G 34 Abe Gibron G 94 Lou Rymkus T 22 Frank Gatski C/LB Defensive Linemen 48 Forrest Grigg DT 45 John Kissell DT 53 Len Ford E/DE 52 George Young		Linebackers 70 Emerson Cole 92 Dom Moselle 24 Tommy Thompson LB/C 35 Alex Agase G 20 Hal Herring 30 Bill Willis Defensive Backs 80 Warren Lahr 85 Ken Gorgal S Special Teams 59 Horace Gillom P 76 Lou Groza LT/K		Reserve Lists N/A - Vacant

Staff/Coaches

1950 Cleveland Browns staff
	Front Office Majority Owner/CEO & President - Mickey McBride Coaches Head Coach – Paul Brown Assistant Head Coach – Blanton Collier Offensive Coaches Quarterbacks/Running Backs - Blanton Collier Offensive Guards – Fritz Heisler Offensive Tackles – Weeb Ewbank Offensive Backfield and Ends – Tim Tememario			Defensive Coaches Defensive Line – Fritz Heisler & Tim Temerario Linebackers – Blanton Collier Strength & Coditioning Athletic Trainer - Leo Murphy Equipment Manager - Morris Kono

Standings

NFL American
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
Cleveland Browns	10	2	0	.833	310	144	W-6
New York Giants	10	2	0	.833	268	150	W-6
Pittsburgh Steelers	6	6	0	.500	180	195	W-1
Philadelphia Eagles	6	6	0	.500	254	141	L-4
Chicago Cardinals	5	7	0	.417	233	287	L-1
Washington Redskins	3	9	0	.250	232	326	L-1

Postseason

NFL Championship Game

The Browns had been the AAFC's most dominant team, winning all four of its championships. The Rams, who left Cleveland after the 1945 season for Los Angeles, were making their second straight appearance in an NFL title game.

• First Quarter
  • LA-Davis 82 yard pass from Waterfield (Waterfield kick)
  • LA-Hoerner 3 yard run (Waterfield kick)
  • Cle-Dub Jones 31 yard pass from Graham (Groza kick)
• Second Quarter
  • Cle-Lavelli 35 yard pass from Graham (conversion pass failed)
• Third Quarter
  • Cle-Lavelli 39 yard pass from Graham (Groza kick)
  • LA-Hoerner 1 yard run (Waterfield kick)
  • LA-Brink 6 yard fumble return (Waterfield kick)
• Fourth Quarter
  • Cle-Bumgardner 14 yard pass from Graham (Groza kick)
  • Cle- Groza 16 yard field goal

External links

• 1950 Cleveland Browns season article at Wikipedia
• 1950 Cleveland Browns at Pro Football Reference
• 1950 Cleveland Browns Statistics at jt-sw.com
• 1950 Cleveland Browns Schedule at jt-sw.com
• 1950 Cleveland Browns at DatabaseFootball.com