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1976 Cleveland Browns

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1976 Cleveland Browns season
Head Coach Forrest Gregg
Home Field Cleveland Stadium
Results
Record 9–5–0
Place 3rd AFC Central
Playoff Finish did not qualify
Timeline
Previous Season Next Season
1975 1977

The 1976 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 27th season with the National Football League. The Browns were coached by second year coach Forrest Gregg, and ended their season with a record of 9–5, being third in their division. The team's top draft choice was running back Mike Pruitt. Brian Sipe firmly took control at quarterback. Sipe had been inserted into the lineup after a Mike Phipps injury in the season-opening win against the New York Jets on September 12. After a 1–3 start brought visions of another disastrous year, the Browns jolted the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers with an 18–16 victory on October 10. Third-string quarterback Dave Mays helped lead the team to that victory, while defensive end Joe "Turkey" Jones' pile-driving sack of quarterback Terry Bradshaw fueled the heated rivalry between the two teams. That win was the first of eight in the next nine weeks, helping put the Browns in contention for the AFC playoffs. A loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the regular season finale cost them a share of the division title, but running back Greg Pruitt continued his outstanding play by rushing for exactly 1000 yards, his second-straight four-digit season.

Offseason[]

NFL Draft[]

The following were selected in the 1976 NFL Draft.

Round Overall Player Position School/Club Team
1 7 Mike Pruitt Running Back Purdue
3 65 Dave Logan Wide Receiver Colorado
4 97 Gene Swick Quarterback Toledo
4 99 Mike St. Clair Defensive End Grambling
5 130 Henry Sheppard Guard SMU
7 189 Steve Cassidy Defensive Tackle LSU
9 242 James Reed Running Back Mississippi
9 261 Craig Nagel Quarterback Purdue
10 271 Doug Kleber Offensive Tackle Illinois
11 297 Doug Celek Defensive End Kent State
13 354 Brian Murray Offensive Tackle Arizona
14 381 Joe Smalzer Tight End Illinois
15 408 Luther Philyaw Defensive Back Loyola(CA)
16 438 Chris Lorenzen Defensive Tackle Arizona State
17 464 Tom Fleming Wide Receiver Dartmouth

[1]

Exhibition schedule[]

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 July 31 Baltimore {at Lincoln, NE} L 21–0
20,304
2 August 7 Atlanta {at Stillwater, OK} W 31–7
24,227
3 August 16 Minnesota W 31–7
44,336
4 August 23 at Philadelphia W 21–17
20,600
5 August 29 New England W 30–27
36,016
6 September 3 at Buffalo L 28–10
37,951

Regular season schedule[]

Week Date Opponent Results Stadium Att.[2]
Score Record
1 September 12 NY Jets W 38–17 1–0 Cleveland Stadium 67,496
2 September 19 at Pittsburgh L 14–31 1–1 Three Rivers Stadium 49,169
3 September 26 at Denver L 13–44 1–2 Mile High Stadium 62,775
4 October 3 Cincinnati L 24–45 1–3 Cleveland Stadium 75,817
5 October 10 Pittsburgh W 18–16 2–3 Cleveland Stadium 76,411
6 October 17 at Atlanta W 20–17 3–3 Atlanta Stadium 33,364
7 October 24 San Diego W 21–17 4–3 Cleveland Stadium 60,018
8 October 31 at Cincinnati L 6–21 4–4 Riverfront Stadium 54,776
9 November 7 at Houston W 21–7 5–4 Astrodome 39,828
10 November 14 Philadelphia W 24–3 6–4 Cleveland Stadium 62,120
11 November 21 at Tampa Bay W 24–7 7–4 Tampa Stadium 36,930
12 November 28 Miami W 17–13 8–4 Cleveland Stadium 74,715
13 December 5 Houston W 13–10 9–4 Cleveland Stadium 56,025
14 December 12 at Kansas City L 14–39 9–5 Arrowhead Stadium 34,340

Standings[]

AFC Central
W L T PCT PF PA STK
Pittsburgh Steelers 10 4 0 .714 342 138 W-9
Cincinnati Bengals 10 4 0 .714 335 210 W-1
Cleveland Browns 9 5 0 .643 267 287 L-1
Houston Oilers 5 9 0 .357 222 273 L-2

Personnel[]

Staff / Coaches[]

1976 Cleveland Browns final staff
Front Office
  • Owner and President – Art Modell
  • Executive Vice President/General Manager – Harold Sauerbrai

Head Coaches

Offensive Coaches

  • Running Backs – George Sefcik
  • Wide Receivers – Raymond Berry
  • Offensive line – Rod Humenuik
   Defensive Coaches
  • Defensive Coordinator - Dick Modzelewski
  • Linebackers – Walt Corey
  • Secondary / Defensive Backs – Billy Kinard

Special Teams Coaches

  • Special Teams – Al Tabor
  • Film Coordinator - Ed Ulinski
  • Athletic Trainer - Leo Murphy


Roster[]

1976 Cleveland Browns roster
Quarterbacks

Running Backs

  • 30 Cleo Miller FB
  • 34 Greg Pruitt
  • 35 Brian Duncan
  • 38 Larry Poole
  • 43 Mike Pruitt FB

Wide Receivers

  • 33 Reggie Rucker
  • 42 Paul Warfield
  • 80 Willie Miller
  • 83 Ricky Feacher
  • 85 Dave Logan
  • 88 Steve Holden

Tight Ends

  • 81 Oscar Roan
  • 84 Gary Parris
 Offensive Linemen
  • 54 Tom DeLeone C
  • 61 Al Dennis G
  • 63 Barry Darrow T
  • 65 Henry Sheppard G
  • 68 Robert E. Jackson G
  • 69 Pete Adams G
  • 73 Doug Dieken T
  • 79 Gerry Sullivan T/C

Defensive Linemen

  • 64 Joe Jones DE
  • 66 Earl Edwards DT
  • 70 Mack Mitchell DE
  • 71 Walter Johnson DT
  • 72 Jerry Sherk DT
  • 74 Mike St. Clair DE
 Linebackers
  • 50 John Garlington OLB
  • 52 Dick Ambrose ILB
  • 55 Dave Graf ILB
  • 59 Charlie Hall OLB
  • 60 Bob Babich ILB
  • 86 Gerald Irons OLB

Defensive Backs

  • 20 Tony Peters CB/SS
  • 21 Van Green CB/S
  • 22 Clarence Scott CB
  • 23 Bill Craven S
  • 24 Terry Brown SS
  • 27 Thom Darden FS
  • 28 Ron Bolton CB
  • 49 Neal Craig SS

Special Teams

  • 12 Don Cockroft K/P

Rookies in italics

[3]

Notes and references[]

  1. ↑ 1976 NFL Draft Listing – Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 2009-07-25. Retrieved on 2009-07-23.
  2. ↑ Cleveland Browns History – 1976.. Retrieved on 2010-10-24.
  3. ↑ 1976 Cleveland Browns Starters, Roster, & Players.

External links[]

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