1970 Cleveland Browns

1970 Cleveland Browns season
Head Coach	Blanton Collier
Home Field	Cleveland Stadium
Results
Record	7–7–0
Place	2nd AFC Central
Playoff Finish	did not qualify
Timeline
Previous Season	Next Season
1969	1971

The 1970 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 21st season with the National Football League.

Season summary

The merger between the NFL and AFL was complete, with the leagues now playing each other in the regular season for the first time. This was the last step in a four-year process that began in January 1967 with the champions from both leagues playing in Super Bowl I.

To finish the merger, the Browns, along with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Colts, agreed to move in 1970 from the NFL to the old AFL, renamed the AFC, to balance the leagues, now called conferences (NFC and AFC), at 13 clubs each. The merger had hit a stalemate when none of the NFL teams initially wanted to jump to what many of the old-line NFL people felt was an inferior league overall.

Concerning just the Browns themselves, there was the situation involving Blanton Collier. Although no one except maybe the man himself knew it at the start of the season, this was going to be the last year for the venerable head coach. Collier, who had been on the job since 1963 and had guided the Browns to the NFL championship a year later, would announce his retirement shortly before the 1970 season ended.

Paul Warfield trade to Dolphins

Realizing quarterback Bill Nelsen's aching knees were on borrowed time, the Browns had made a blockbuster trade with the Miami Dolphins on the eve of the 1970 NFL Draft to get the rights to select the man they felt would be their passer of the future, Mike Phipps. But it came at a steep price, for they had to give up Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Paul Warfield in the process. That loss, coupled with Nelsen's physical condition and the unfamiliarity with the personnel on the former AFL clubs they were playing for the first time, took the starch out of what had been a good offense going all the way back to 1963. The result was the Browns scored 65 less points than they had the year before, and 108 less than two seasons before.

Along with that, the defense, though it gave up 35 fewer points than it had in 1969, just couldn't make up the difference, led to the Browns finishing 7-7, only the second non-winning mark in club history. In spite of that, the season started well for the Browns, as they opened 3-1 and then were 4-2.

First Monday Night Football game

The Browns beat Joe Namath and the New York Jets 31-21 at Cleveland Stadium in the opener in the first Monday Night Football game in history, and, three games later, edged Cincinnati 30-27 in Bengals head coach Paul Brown's first official visit to Cleveland since being fired by the Browns eight years before.

Personnel

Staff

1970 Cleveland Browns final staff
	Front Office Owner - Art Modell General Manager - Harold Sauerbrei Equipment Manager - Morrie Kono Assistant Equipment Manager - Bob Glenn Head Coaches Head Coach – Blanton Collier Offensive Coaches Offensive Coordinator - Nick Skorich Offensive Line - Fritz Heisler Offensive Backs - Howard Keys Wide Receivers - Bob Nussbaumer			Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator - Howard Brinker Defensive Line - Dick Modzelewski Linebackers - Ed Ulinski Special Teams Coaches Strength and Conditioning Trainer - Leo Murphy

Roster

1970 Cleveland Browns roster
	Quarterbacks 11 Don Gault 15 Mike Phipps 16 Bill Nelsen Running backs 26 Reece Morrison PR 27 Randy Minniear 30 Ken Brown 35 Bo Scott FB 36 Steve Engel 44 Leroy Kelly Wide receivers 41 Dave Jones 43 Fair Hooker 85 Homer Jones KR 86 Gary Collins Tight ends 83 Chip Glass 89 Milt Morin		Offensive linemen 54 Fred Hoaglin C 55 Chuck Reynolds C 60 Al Jenkins G 62 Joe Taffoni T 64 Jim Copeland G 65 John Demarie G 66 Gene Hickerson G 78 Bob McKay T 77 Dick Schafrath T Defensive linemen 70 Joe Righetti DT 71 Walter Johnson DT 72 Jerry Sherk DT 75 William Yanchar DT 80 Joe Jones DE 81 Jack Gregory DE 88 Ron Snidow DE		Linebackers 50 John Garlington OLB 51 Dale Lindsey MLB 52 Billy Andrews OLB 53 Tom Beutler OLB 56 Bob Matheson MLB 59 Rudy Kuechenberg OLB 82 Jim Houston OLB Defensive backs 20 Freddie Summers CB/S 23 Rickey Stevenson CB/S 24 Ernie Kellerman S 28 Ben Davis CB 29 Walt Sumner CB 33 Tom Schoen S 34 Mike Howell S 40 Erich Barnes CB Special teams 12 Don Cockroft K/P		Reserve lists Practice/Taxi Squad Rookies in italics

Offseason

NFL Draft

The following were selected in the 1970 NFL Draft.

Round	Overall	Player	Position	School/Club Team
1	3	Mike Phipps	Quarterback	Purdue
1	21	Bob McKay	Tackle	Texas
2	36	Turkey Jones	Defensive End	Tennessee State
2	47	Jerry Sherk	Defensive Tackle	Oklahoma State
4	99	Ricky Stevenson	Defensive Back	Arizona
5	125	Steve Engel	Running Back	Colorado
6	151	Mike Cilek	Quarterback	Iowa
7	177	Craig Wycinski	Guard	Michigan State
8	203	Honester Davidson	Defensive Back	Bowling Green
9	229	Geoff Brown	Linebacker	Pittsburgh
10	255	William Yanchar	Defensive Tackle	Purdue
11	281	Gene Benner	Wide Receiver	Maine
12	307	Jerry Sanders	Kicker	Texas Tech
13	333	Larry Roberts	Running Back	Central Missouri
14	359	Jim Tharpe	Linebacker	Lincoln (MO)
15	385	Guy Homoly	Defensive Back	Illinois State
16	410	John Redebaugh	Tight End	Bemidji State
17	436	Charles Tabb	Running Back	McMurry

Exhibition schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	August 8, 1970	at Los Angeles Rams	L 17–30	71,559
2	August 15, 1970	vs. San Francisco 49ers at Tampa	W 17–10	41,851
3	August 22, 1970	vs. Kansas City Chiefs at Memphis	L 13–16	31,532
4	August 29, 1970	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 24–31	57,112
5	September 5, 1970	Minnesota Vikings	L 21–24	83,043
6	September 12, 1970	at New York Giants	W 30–29	62,461

Regular season

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Attendance
Sept. 21	NY Jets	W 31–21	1–0	85,703
Sept. 27	at San Francisco	L 34–31	1–1	37,502
Oct. 3	Pittsburgh	W 15–7	2–1	84,349
Oct. 11	Cincinnati	W 30–27	3–1	83,520
Oct. 18	Detroit	L 41–24	3–2	83,577
Oct. 25	at Miami	W 28–0	4–2	75,313
Nov. 1	San Diego	L 27–10	4–3	80,047
Nov. 8	at Oakland	L 23–20	4–4	54,463
Nov. 15	at Cincinnati	L 14–10	4–5	60,007
Nov. 22	Houston	W 28–14	5–5	74,723
Nov. 29	at Pittsburgh	L 28–9	5–6	50,214
Dec. 7	at Houston	W 21–10	6–6	50,582
Dec. 12	Dallas	L 6–2	6–7	75,458
Dec. 20	at Denver	W 27–13	7–7	51,001

Game summaries

Week 2: at San Francisco 49ers

Week 2: Cleveland Browns at San Francisco 49ers;– Game summary 1 2 3 4 Total Browns 7 10 7 7 31 49ers 14 7 0 13 34 at Kezar Stadium, San Francisco, California Date: September 27 Game time: 4:00 p.m. EDT/1:00 p.m. PDT Game weather: 72 °F (23 °C) TV: NBC Pro Football Reference Game information First quarter SF – Ken Willard 5 yard pass from John Brodie, (Bruce Gossett kick). 49ers 7-0. CLE – Bo Scott 3 yard rush, (Don Cockroft kick), Tied 7-7. SF - Mel Phillips 35 yard interception return, (Bruce Gossett kick). 49ers 14-7. Second quarter CLE – Don Cockroft 20 yard field goal. 49ers 14-10. SF – Jimmy Thomas 15 yard pass from John Brodie (Bruce Gossett kick). 49ers 21-10. CLE – Fair Hooker 8 yard pass from Bill Nelsen (Don Cockroft kick), 49ers 21-17. Third quarter CLE – Leroy Kelly 33 yard rush, (Don Cockroft kick), Browns 24-21. Fourth quarter SF - Ken Willard 9 yard rush, (kick failed), 49ers 27-24. CLE - Leroy Kelly 8 yard rush, (Don Cockroft kick), Browns 31-27. SF – Jimmy Thomas 61 yard pass from John Brodie (Bruce Gossett kick). 49ers 34-31. Top passers ATL – Bill Nelsen – 14/25, 308 yards, TD, INT SF – John Brodie – 20/31, 277 yards, 3 TDs Top rushers ATL - Leroy Kelly - 16 rushes, 74 yards, 2 TDs SF – Ken Willard – 22 rushes, 105 yards, TD Top receivers ATL - Fair Hooker - 4 receptions, 157 yards, TD SF – Jimmy Thomas – 4 receptions, 78 yards, 2 TDs

Standings

AFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
Cincinnati Bengals	8	6	0	.571	312	255	W-7
Cleveland Browns	7	7	0	.500	286	265	W-1
Pittsburgh Steelers	5	9	0	.357	210	272	L-3
Houston Oilers	3	10	1	.231	217	352	L-3

External links

• 1970 Cleveland Browns season article at Wikipedia
• 1970 Cleveland Browns Statistics at jt-sw.com
• 1970 Cleveland Browns Schedule at jt-sw.com
• 1970 Cleveland Browns at DatabaseFootball.com