1965 Cleveland Browns

1965 Cleveland Browns season
Head Coach	Blanton Collier
Home Field	Cleveland Stadium
Results
Record	11–3–0
Place	1st NFL Eastern
Playoff Finish	Lost NFL Championship
Timeline
Previous Season	Next Season
1964	1966

The 1965 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 16th season with the National Football League.

With an NFL-best 11-3 mark, the 1965 club finished just a shade better than the '64 team (10-3-1). And, like they had in 1964, the Browns went back to the NFL Championship Game. Only this time, they lost 23-12 to the Green Bay Packers in the last title contest held before the advent of the Super Bowl. It would be the first of three straight NFL crowns for the Packers, who went on after the later two titles to capture victories in the first two Super Bowls as well.

With his partner at wide receiver, Paul Warfield, the 1964 rookie sensation, missing almost all of the season with a broken collarbone, Gary Collins stepped up and led the Browns with 10 touchdown receptions, just less than half of the team's total of 23.

Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown, in what would turn out to be his final year before his unexpected retirement in the offseason, rushed for 1,544 yards, 98 more than the year before, and exceeded his TD total by 10 by scoring 17 times. Quarterback Frank Ryan, who had thrown 25 TD passes in both 1963 and '64, had just 18 in 1965 with 13 interceptions. His yardage was down considerably, too, to 1,751, as was his rating (75.3).

The Browns had a stretch in which they won nine of 10 games, something the 1964 team didn't come close to matching. And whereas the 1964 team needed to capture its regular-season finale to clinch the Eastern Conference title, the '65 Browns claimed the championship with several weeks left, which explains why they were clobbered 42-7 in the next-to-last game by a Los Angeles Rams team that finished last in the Western Conference at 4-10. The Browns rested a lot of their starters and were just trying to get out of that game with no injuries. They went through the motions.

Thus, the Browns could have very easily been 12-2. However, there was no such explanation for the Browns' only other one-sided loss, a 49-13 home decision to the Cardinals. Although the Cards finished tied with the Philadelphia Eagles for next-to-last place in the East at 5-9, they were arguably the Browns' fiercest rival throughout the entire 1960s.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round	Overall	Player	Position	School/Club Team
2	17	Jim Garcia	Tackle	Purdue
2	22	Gerry Bussell	Defensive Back	Georgia Tech
2	27	Walter Johnson	Defensive Tackle	Cal State-Los Angeles
3	32	Bo Scott	Running Back	Ohio State
3	41	Bobby Maples	Linebacker	Baylor
5	69	Bill Irwin	Tackle	Mississippi
6	72	Arnie Simkus	Tackle	Michigan
6	83	Corwyn Aldredge	Wide Receiver	Northwestern State (LA)
7	97	Dale Lindsey	Linebacker	Western Kentucky
8	111	Mike Howell	Defensive Back	Grambling
9	125	Gary Lane	Quarterback	Missouri
10	139	Pat Screen	Quarterback	LSU
11	153	Ollie Cordill	Back	Memphis State
12	167	Justin Canale	Guard	Mississippi State
13	181	Henry Pickett	Back	Baylor
14	195	Dan Simrell	Quarterback	Toledo
15	209	Larry Gagner	Tackle	Florida
16	223	Mel Anthony	Fullback	Michigan
17	237	John Boyette	Tackle	Clemson
18	251	Dick Arrington	Guard	Notre Dame
19	265	Ed Orazen	Guard	Ohio State
20	279	Frank Goldberg	Linebacker	Central Michigan

Exhibition schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	August 6, 1965	vs. College All-Stars (at Chicago)	W 24–16	68,000
2	August 15, 1965	at San Francisco 49ers	W 37–21	22,000
3	August 22, 1965	at Los Angeles Rams	L 21–19	29,508
4	August 29, 1965	at Detroit Lions	W 28–14	28,803
5	September 4, 1965	Green Bay Packers	L 30–14	83,118
6	September 11, 1965	vs. Pittsburgh Steelers at Akron	W 28–16	23,162

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 19, 1965	at Washington Redskins	W 17–7	48,208
2	September 26, 1965	St. Louis Cardinals	L 49–13	80,161
3	October 3, 1965	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 35–17	60,759
4	October 9, 1965	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 24–19	80,187
5	October 17, 1965	Dallas Cowboys	W 23–17	80,432
6	October 24, 1965	at New York Giants	W 38–14	62,864
7	October 31, 1965	Minnesota Vikings	L 27–17	83,505
8	November 7, 1965	Philadelphia Eagles	W 38–34	72,807
9	November 14, 1965	New York Giants	W 34–21	82,426
10	November 21, 1965	at Dallas Cowboys	W 24–17	76,251
11	November 28, 1965	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 42–21	42,757
12	December 5, 1965	Washington Redskins	W 24–16	77,765
13	December 12, 1965	at Los Angeles Rams	L 42–7	49,048
14	December 19, 1965	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 27–24	29,348

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
NFL Championship	January 2, 1966	at Green Bay Packers	L 23–12	50,852

Standings

NFL Eastern
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
Cleveland Browns	11	3	0	.786	363	325	W-1
New York Giants	7	7	0	.500	270	338	L-1
Dallas Cowboys	7	7	0	.500	325	280	W-3
Washington Redskins	6	8	0	.429	257	301	W-1
Philadelphia Eagles	5	9	0	.357	363	359	L-1
St. Louis Cardinals	5	9	0	.357	296	309	L-6
Pittsburgh Steelers	2	12	0	.143	202	397	L-7

Personnel

Roster

1965 Cleveland Browns roster
Quarterbacks 11 Jim Ninowski 13 Frank Ryan Running Backs 32 Jim Brown FB 36 Charley Scales 37 Jamie Caleb 44 Leroy Kelly KR/PR 48 Ernie Green Wide Receivers 27 Walter Roberts KR/PR 42 Paul Warfield 85 Clifton McNeil 86 Gary Collins P 87 Tom Hutchinson Tight Ends 41 Ralph Smith 83 Johnny Brewer		Offensive Linemen 56 John Morrow C 60 John Wooten G 62 Dale Memmelaar G 66 Gene Hickerson G 70 John Brown T 73 Monte Clark T 77 Dick Schafrath T Defensive Linemen 69 Jim Kanicki DT 71 Walter Johnson DT 74 Dick Modzelewski DT 80 Bill Glass DE 81 Jim Garcia DE 84 Paul Wiggin DE		Linebackers 35 Galen Fiss OLB 38 Stan Sczurek OLB 50 Vince Costello MLB 51 Dale Lindsey MLB 67 Sid Williams OLB 82 Jim Houston OLB/DE Defensive Backs 20 Ross Fichtner S 23 Larry Benz S 24 Bobby Franklin S 30 Bernie Parrish CB 34 Mike Howell CB 40 Erich Barnes CB 49 Walter Beach CB Special Teams 76 Lou Groza K Rookies in italics

Staff/Coaches

1965 Cleveland Browns staff
	Front Office Majority Owner/CEO & President - Art Modell Minority Owner - Al Lerner Coaches Head Coach – Blanton Collier Offensive Coaches Quartebacks/Running Backs/Tight Ends - Dub Jones Offensive Line – Fritz Heisler Offensive Backfield and Ends – Paul Bixler			Defensive Coaches Defensive Line – Nick Skorich Linebackers – Ed Ulinski Strength & Coditioning Athletic Trainer - Leo Murphy Equipment Manager - Morris Kono

External links

• 1965 Cleveland Browns article at Wikipedia
• 1965 Cleveland Browns Statistics at jt-sw.com
• 1965 Cleveland Browns Schedule at jt-sw.com
• 1965 Cleveland Browns at DatabaseFootball.com
• 1965 Season Results at Cleveland Browns.com