1966 Cleveland Browns

1966 Cleveland Browns season
Head Coach	Blanton Collier
Home Field	Cleveland Stadium
Results
Record	9–5–0
Place	T-2nd NFL Eastern
Playoff Finish	did not qualify
Timeline
Previous Season	Next Season
1965	1967

The 1966 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 17th season with the National Football League, and 21st overall.

Even though they finished just 9-5, their worst record since 1962, and failed to make the playoffs for the first time since '63, there was a lot to like about the 1966 Browns.

Season summary

Save for a devastating 16-6 upset loss to a Pittsburgh Steelers team that would finish just 5-8-1, the Browns offense scored points in bunches. In later years, Browns players from that era said the 1966 team had the best offense -- even better than the one in 1964, when the club won the NFL championship -- and there's evidence to support that contention. The flurry of points started in the opener when the Browns blew out the Washington Redskins 38-14. It continued in a stretch of five straight games in which they lost 34-28 to the St. Louis Cardinals, beat the New York Giants 28-7, routed the Steelers 41-10, turned back the Dallas Cowboys 30-21 and crushed the expansion Atlanta Falcons 49-17.

Then, as they were finishing the season, the Browns outscored the Giants 49-40 and walloped the Cardinals 38-10.

The Browns scored 403 points in all, averaging a healthy 28.8 per contest. Even in the game that eventually did in their playoff chances -- a 33-21 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the next-to-last week -- they were able to score a decent amount of points. Quarterback Frank Ryan was as good - or better - than he was in any of his previous three seasons as the full-time starter, including 1964, when he helped lead the Browns to the NFL championship. He threw for a career-high 2,974 yards and had better than a 2-to-1 ratio of touchdown passes (29) to interceptions (14). He also posted his second-best quarterback rating at 88.2.

NFL Draft

The following were selected in the 1966 NFL Draft.

Round	Overall	Player	Position	School/Club Team
1	14	Milt Morin	Tight End	Massachusetts
2	29	Rick Norton	Quarterback	Kentucky
4	61	Pete Duranko	Defensive End	Notre Dame
5	74	Randy Schultz	Running Back	Northern Iowa
5	78	Dan Fulford	End	Auburn
6	90	Jim Battle	Tackle	Saginaw Valley
6	93	Fred Hoaglin	Center	Pittsburgh
7	109	Leroy Carter	Flanker	Grambling
8	123	Tom Talaga	End	Notre Dame
9	139	Jack Gregory	Defensive End	Delta St.
10	153	Monte Ledbetter	Wide Receiver	Northwestern St. (LA)
11	169	Tony Fire	Tackle	Bowling Green
11	183	Rich Czap	Tackle	Nebraska
13	199	Jim Boudreaux	Tackle	Louisiana Tech
14	213	Pete Lammons	Tight End	Texas
15	229	Bob Ellis	Defensive End	Massachusetts
16	243	David Ray	Kicker	Alabama
17	259	Gene Modzelewski	Tackle	New Mexico St.
18	273	Charlie Harraway	Running Back	San Jose St.
19	289	Karl Singer	Tackle	Purdue
20	303	Joe Petro	Defensive Back	Temple

Exhibition schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	August 6, 1966	at Los Angeles Rams	L 6–16	63,285
2	August 14, 1966	at San Francisco 49ers	W 28–17	27,867
3	August 20, 1966	at Atlanta Falcons	W 42–3	48,548
4	August 26, 1966	Baltimore Colts	L 24–17	83,418
5	September 3, 1966	vs. Pittsburgh Steelers at Birmingham	W 13–10	23,590

Regular season schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 11, 1966	at Washington Redskins	W 38–14	48,643
2	September 18, 1966	Green Bay Packers	L 21–20	83,943
3	September 25, 1966	St. Louis Cardinals	L 34–28	74,814
4	October 2, 1966	at New York Giants	W 28–7	62,916
5	October 8, 1966	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 41–10	82,687
6	Bye week
7	October 23, 1966	Dallas Cowboys	W 30–21	84,721
8	October 30, 1966	at Atlanta Falcons	W 49–17	57,235
9	November 6, 1966	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 16–6	39,690
10	November 13, 1966	Philadelphia Eagles	W 27–7	77,698
11	November 20, 1966	Washington Redskins	W 14–3	78,466
12	November 24, 1966	at Dallas Cowboys	L 26–14	75,504
13	December 4, 1966	New York Giants	W 49–40	61,651
14	December 11, 1966	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 33–21	58,074
15	December 17, 1966	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 38–10	47,721

Standings

NFL Eastern
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
Dallas Cowboys	10	3	1	.769	445	239	W-1
Cleveland Browns	9	5	0	.643	403	259	W-1
Philadelphia Eagles	9	5	0	.643	326	340	W-1
St. Louis Cardinals	8	5	1	.615	264	265	L-3
Washington Redskins	7	7	0	.500	351	355	L-1
Pittsburgh Steelers	5	8	1	.385	316	347	W-2
Atlanta Falcons	3	11	0	.214	204	437	L-1
New York Giants	1	12	1	.077	263	501	L-8

Personnel

Roster

1966 Cleveland Browns roster
Quarterbacks 11 Jim Ninowski 13 Frank Ryan 15 Gary Lane Running Backs 31 Charley Harraway 33 Randy Schultz 36 Nick Pietrosante FB 44 Leroy Kelly KR/PR 48 Ernie Green FB Wide Receivers 27 Walter Roberts KR/PR 42 Paul Warfield 85 Clifton McNeil 86 Gary Collins P Tight Ends 41 Ralph Smith 89 Milt Morin		Offensive Linemen 54 Fred Hoaglin C 56 John Morrow C 60 John Wooten G 61 Joe Bob Isbell G 66 Gene Hickerson G 70 John Brown T 73 Monte Clark T 77 Dick Schafrath T 79 Jim Battle T Defensive Linemen 69 Jim Kanicki DT 71 Walter Johnson DT 74 Dick Modzelewski DT 78 Frank Parker DT 80 Bill Glass DE 84 Paul Wiggin DE		Linebackers 35 Galen Fiss OLB 50 Vince Costello MLB 51 Dale Lindsey MLB 67 Sid Williams OLB 82 Jim Houston OLB 83 Johnny Brewer OLB Defensive Backs 20 Ross Fichtner S 22 Bobby Franklin S 24 Ernie Kellerman 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

1966 Cleveland Browns staff
	Front Office Majority Owner/CEO & President - Art Modell Minority Owner - Al Lerner Coaching Staff Head Coach – Blanton Collier Offensive Coaches Quartebacks/Running Backs - Dub Jones Offensive Guards – Fritz Heisler Offensive Tackles – Ed Ulinski Offensive Backfield and Ends – Bob Nussbaumer			Defensive Coaches Defensive Line – Nick Skorich Linebackers – Ed Ulinski Strength & Conditioning Athletic Trainer - Leo Murphy Equipment Manager - Morris Kono

External links

• Season summary and stats at Cleveland Browns.com