1973 Cleveland Browns season

1973 Cleveland Browns season
OwnerArt Modell
General managerHarold Sauerbrei
Head coachNick Skorich
Home stadiumCleveland Municipal Stadium
Results
Record7–5–2
Division place3rd AFC Central
PlayoffsDid not qualify
Pro BowlersRB Greg Pruitt
DT Jerry Sherk
CB Clarence Scott

The 1973 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 24th season with the National Football League. After a solid 1972 season, which included a playoff appearance, the Browns got off to a solid start, winning three of their first four games on the way to a 7-3-1 start. However, the Browns did not win another game the rest of the season and settled for third place with a 7-5-2 record.

The team did not wear their brown jerseys for any 1973 game, preseason or regular season.[1]

Offseason

Draft

Main article: 1973 NFL draft
1973 Cleveland Browns draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 16 Steve Holden  WR Arizona St
1 22 Pete Adams  OG USC
2 30 Greg Pruitt *  RB Oklahoma
2 47 Jim Stienke  DB Texas St
3 67 Bob Crum  DE Arizona
4 93 Andy Dorris  DE New Mexico St
4 100 Randy Mattingly  QB Evansville
6 150 Van Green  DB Shaw
9 228 Curtis Wester  OG Texas A&M-Commerce
10 256 Tommy Humphrey  C Abilene Christian
11 281 Carl Barisich  DT Princeton
12 306 Stan Simmons  TE Lewis & Clark
13 334 Jim Romaniszyn  LB Edinboro
14 359 Robert Popelka  DB SMU
15 384 Dave Sullivan  WR Virginia
16 412 George Greenfield  RB Murray St
17 437 Robert McClowry  C Michigan St
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[2]

Personnel

Staff / coaches

1973 Cleveland Browns staff

Front office

  • Owner and President – Art Modell
  • Executive Vice President/General Manager – Harold Sauerbrei

Head coaches

  • Head Coaches – Nick Skorich

Offensive coaches

  • Wide Receivers – Fran Polsfoot
  • Offensive line – Jerry Smith
 Defensive coaches
  • Defensive Coordinator - Howard Brinker
  • Defensive Line - Dick Modzelewski
  • Secondary / Defensive Backs – Richie McCabe

Special teams coaches

  • Special Teams – Al Tabor
  • Athletic Trainer - Leo Murphy


Final roster

1973 Cleveland Browns roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

  • 88 Steve Holden
  • 43 Fair Hooker
  • 25 Frank Pitts
  • 42 Gloster Richardson
  • 48 Dave Sullivan

Tight ends (TE)

  • 83 Chip Glass
  • 89 Milt Morin
  • 85 Ken Smith
 Offensive linemen (OL)
  • 63 Joe Carollo T
  • 64 Jim Copeland C/G
  • 61 Bob DeMarco C
  • 65 John Demarie G
  • 73 Doug Dieken T
  • 66 Gene Hickerson G
  • 67 Chuck Hutchison G
  • 78 Bob McKay T
  • 62 Chris Morris T

Defensive linemen (DL)

  • 74 Carl Barisich DT
  • 84 Bob Briggs DE
  • 71 Walter Johnson DT
  • 80 Joe Jones DE
  • 81 Nick Roman DE
  • 72 Jerry Sherk DT
  • 87 Lester Sims DE
 Linebackers (LB)
  • 60 Bob Babich MLB
  • 50 John Garlington OLB
  • 53 Mel Long OLB
  • 59 Charlie Hall OLB
  • 56 Jim Romaniszyn OLB

Defensive backs (DB)

  • 23 Clifford Brooks CB
  • 27 Thom Darden FS
  • 28 Ben Davis CB
  • 21 Van Green FS
  • 22 Clarence Scott CB
  • 20 Jim Stienke CB
  • 29 Walt Sumner SS

Special teams (ST)

  • 12 Don Cockroft K/P

Reserve

  • 69 Pete Adams G (IR)
  • 52 Billy Andrews LB (IR)
  • 94 Bob McClowry C
  • 68 Bubba Pena G (IR)


Rookies in italics

Preseason

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 August 6 San Francisco 49ers L 16–27 0–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 65,707
2 August 11 at Los Angeles Rams T 21–21 0–1–1 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 54,385
3 August 19 Cincinnati Bengals W 24–6 1–1–1 Ohio Stadium 73,421
4 August 25 vs. Atlanta Falcons W 20–17 2–1–1 Neyland Stadium 40,831
5 September 1 Detroit Lions L 13–16 2–2–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 64,088
6 September 8 vs. New York Giants L 10–21 2–3–1 Rubber Bowl 30,751

Regular season schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 September 16 Baltimore Colts W 24–14 1–0 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 74,303 Recap
2 September 23 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 6–33 1–1 Three Rivers Stadium 49,396 Recap
3 September 30 New York Giants W 12–10 2–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 76,065 Recap
4 October 7 Cincinnati Bengals W 17–10 3–1 Cleveland Browns Stadium 70,805 Recap
5 October 15 Miami Dolphins L 9–17 3–2 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 72,070 Recap
6 October 21 Houston Oilers W 42–13 4–2 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 61,146 Recap
7 October 28 San Diego Chargers T 16–16 4–2–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 68,244 Recap
8 November 4 at Minnesota Vikings L 3–26 4–3–1 Metropolitan Stadium 45,590 Recap
9 November 11 at Houston Oilers W 23–13 5–3–1 Houston Astrodome 37,230 Recap
10 November 18 at Oakland Raiders W 7–3 6–3–1 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 47,398 Recap
11 November 25 Pittsburgh Steelers W 21–16 7–3–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 67,773 Recap
12 December 2 at Kansas City Chiefs T 20–20 7–3–2 Arrowhead Stadium 70,296 Recap
13 December 9 at Cincinnati Bengals L 17–34 7–4–2 Riverfront Stadium 58,266 Recap
14 December 16 at Los Angeles Rams L 17–30 7–5–2 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 73,948 Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Season summary

Week 1

Team 1 234Total
Colts 0 770 14
• Browns 7 1070 24
Scoring summary
Q1CLEPitts 26 yard pass from Phipps (Cockroft kick)CLE 7–0
Q2BALSpeyrer 33 yard pass from Jones (Hunt kick)Tie 7–7
Q2CLECockroft 14 yard field goalCLE 10–7
Q2CLEScott 45 yard interception return (Cockroft kick)CLE 17–7
Q3BALHendricks 2 yard blocked punt return (Hunt kick)CLE 17–14
Q3CLEPitts 8 yard pass from Phipps (Cockroft kick)CLE 24–14

[3]

Week 2

Week 3

Team 1 234Total
Giants 0 1000 10
• Browns 0 066 12
  • Date: September 30
  • Location: Cleveland Municipal Stadium
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game attendance: 76,065
  • Game weather: 62 °F (17 °C); wind 9 mph (14 km/h)
Scoring summary
Q2NYGGogolak 20 yard field goalNYG 3–0
Q2NYGTucker 20 yard pass from Snead (Gogolak kick)NYG 10–0
Q3CLECockroft 11 yard field goalNYG 10–3
Q3CLECockroft 27 yard field goalNYG 10–6
Q4CLECockroft 30 yard field goalNYG 10–9
Q4CLECockroft 10 yard field goalCLE 12–10

[4]

Week 4

Team 1 234Total
Bengals 3 007 10
• Browns 0 773 17
  • Date: October 7
  • Location: Cleveland Municipal Stadium
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST
  • Game attendance: 70,805
  • Game weather: 60 °F (16 °C); wind 4 mph (6.4 km/h)
Scoring summary
Q1CINMuhlmann 38 yard field goalCIN 3–0
Q2CLEKelly 3 yard run (Cockroft kick)CLE 7–3
Q3CLEKelly 7 yard run (Cockroft kick)CLE 14–3
Q4CINCurtis 60 yard pass from Anderson (Muhlmann kick)CLE 14–10
Q4CLECockroft 24 yard field goalCLE 17–10

[5]

Week 5

Week 6

Team 1 234Total
Oilers 0 0130 13
• Browns 14 14014 42
Scoring summary
Q1CLEKelly 8 yard run (Cockroft kick)CLE 7–0
Q1CLEPhipps 1 yard run (Cockroft kick)CLE 14–0
Q2CLEHooker 21 yard pass from Phipps (Cockroft kick)CLE 21–0
Q2CLEPitts 3 yard pass from Phipps (Cockroft kick)CLE 28–0
Q3HOUHinton 34 yard pass from Pastorini (Butler kick)CLE 28–7
Q3HOUButler 9 yard field goalCLE 28–10
Q3HOUButler 31 yard field goalCLE 28–13
Q4CLEPhipps 13 yard run (Cockroft kick)CLE 35–13
Q4CLEScott 2 yard pass from Horn (Cockroft kick)CLE 42–13

[6]

Week 7

Week 8

Team 1 234Total
Browns 3 000 3
• Vikings 3 6710 26
  • Date: November 4
  • Location: Metropolitan Stadium
  • Game start: 1:00 p.m. CST
  • Game weather: 27 °F (−3 °C); wind 11 mph (18 km/h)
Scoring summary
Q1CLEDon Cockroft 27 yard field goalCLE 3–0
Q1MINFred Cox 16 yard field goalTied 3–3
Q2MINFred Cox 23 yard field goalMIN 6–3
Q2MINFred Cox 33 yard field goalMIN 9–3
Q3MINOscar Reed 3 yard rush (Cox kick)MIN 16–3
Q4MINStu Voigt 7 yard pass from Fran Tarkenton (Cox kick)MIN 23–3
Q4MINFred Cox 41 yard field goalMIN 26–3

[7]

Week 9

Team 1 234Total
• Browns 17 033 23
Oilers 0 337 13
Scoring summary
Q1CLECockroft 30 yard field goalCLE 3–0
Q1CLEPhipps 1 yard run (Cockroft kick)CLE 10–0
Q1CLEPruitt 53 yard run (Cockroft kick)CLE 17–0
Q2HOUButler 27 yard field goalCLE 17–3
Q3HOUButler 46 yard field goalCLE 17–6
Q3CLECockroft 22 yard field goalCLE 20–6
Q4CLECockroft 45 yard field goalCLE 23–6
Q4HOUAlston 39 yard pass from Dickey (Butler kick)CLE 23–13

[8]

Week 10

Team 1 234Total
• Browns 0 700 7
Raiders 0 003 3
Scoring summary
Q2CLEHooker 7 yard pass from Phipps (Cockroft kick)CLE 7–0
Q4OAKBlanda 23 yard field goalCLE 7–3

[9]

Week 11

Team 1 234Total
Steelers 7 333 16
• Browns 7 707 21
Scoring summary
Q1PITShanklin 9 yard pass from Gilliam (Gerela kick)PIT 7–0
Q1CLEPhipps 1 yard run (Cockroft kick)Tie 7–7
Q2CLEPruitt 15 yard pass from Phipps (Cockroft kick)CLE 14–7
Q2PITGerela 24 yard field goalCLE 14–10
Q3PITGerela 14 yard field goalCLE 14–13
Q4PITGerela 20 yard field goalPIT 16–14
Q4CLEPruitt 19 yard run (Cockroft kick)CLE 21–16

[10]

Week 12

Week 13

Week 14

Standings

AFC Central
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Cincinnati Bengals 10 4 0 .714 4–2 8–3 286 231 W6
Pittsburgh Steelers 10 4 0 .714 4–2 7–4 347 210 W2
7 5 2 .571 4–2 6–3–2 234 255 L2
Houston Oilers 1 13 0 .071 0–6 1–10 199 447 L6

References

  1. ^ "The Gridiron Uniform Database". www.gridiron-uniforms.com. Retrieved May 12, 2025.
  2. ^ "1973 NFL Draft Listing – Pro-Football-Reference.com". Archived from the original on May 31, 2009. Retrieved July 23, 2009.
  3. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
  4. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  5. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 9, 2015.
  6. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  7. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 6, 2015.
  8. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  9. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  10. ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
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