1973 Cleveland Browns season

NFL team season November 2022 March 2026 Cleveland Browns 1973 Nick Skorich Art Modell Harold Sauerbrei Cleveland Municipal Stadium 7–5–2 3rd AFC Central Did not qualify RB Greg PruittDT Jerry SherkCB Clarence Scott Browns seasons 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. To date, the 1973 Browns along with the Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos, and Green Bay Packers are the last teams to record 2 ties in a single season. Overtime for regular season games was introduced the following year, and the occurrence of tie games decreased. The team did not wear their brown jerseys for any 1973 game, preseason or regular season.The Gridiron Uniform Database https://www.gridiron-uniforms.com/GUD/controller/controller.php?action=teams-season&team_id=CLE&year=1973 2025-05-12 www.gridiron-uniforms.com Offseason Draft 1973 NFL draft 1973 Cleveland Browns 1 16 Steve Holden WR Arizona St 1 22 Pete Adams OG USC 2 30 Greg Pruitt RB Oklahoma yes yes 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 yes 16 412 George Greenfield RB Murray St 17 437 Robert McClowry C Michigan St 1973 NFL Draft Listing – Pro-Football-Reference.com https://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1973.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20090531154014/http://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1975.htm 2009-05-31 live 2009-07-23 Personnel Staff / coaches 1973 Cleveland Browns Owner and President – Art Modell Executive Vice President/General Manager – Harold Sauerbrei Head Coaches – Nick Skorich Wide Receivers – Fran Polsfoot Offensive line – Jerry Smith Defensive Coordinator - Howard Brinker Defensive Line - Dick Modzelewski Secondary / Defensive Backs – Richie McCabe Special Teams – Al Tabor Athletic Trainer - Leo Murphy Final roster 1973 Cleveland Browns 13 Don Horn 15 Mike Phipps 17 Brian Sipe 30 Ken Brown running back 44 Leroy Kelly 26 Billy Lefear 37 Hugh McKinnis 34 Greg Pruitt y 35 Bo Scott 88 Steve Holden American football y 43 Fair Hooker 25 Frank Pitts 42 Gloster Richardson 48 Dave Sullivan American football y 83 Chip Glass American football 89 Milt Morin 85 Ken Smith tight end y 63 Joe Carollo American football T 64 Jim Copeland American football 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 American football, born 1949 T 74 Carl Barisich y DT 84 Bob Briggs American football DE 71 Walter Johnson defensive tackle DT 80 Joe Jones defensive end DE 81 Nick Roman DE 72 Jerry Sherk DT 87 Lester Sims no DE 60 Bob Babich linebacker MLB 50 John Garlington OLB 53 Mel Long OLB 59 Charlie Hall linebacker OLB 56 Jim Romaniszyn y OLB 23 Clifford Brooks CB 27 Thom Darden FS 28 Ben Davis American football CB 21 Van Green y FS 22 Clarence Scott CB 20 Jim Stienke y CB 29 Walt Sumner SS 12 Don Cockroft K/P 69 Pete Adams y G IR 52 Billy Andrews LB IR 94 Bob McClowry y no C 68 Bubba Pena G IR Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 August 6, 1973 San Francisco 49ers L 16–27 0–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 65,707 2 August 11, 1973 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, 1973 vs. Atlanta Falcons W 20–17 2–1–1 Neyland Stadium 40,831 5 September 1, 1973 Detroit Lions L 13–16 2–2–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 64,088 6 September 8, 1973 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, 1973 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 Colts 0 7 7 0 Browns 7 10 7 0 September 16 Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio 1:00 p.m. EST 74,303 64 F; wind 9 mph on yes Q1 CLE Pitts 26 yard pass from Phipps (Cockroft kick) CLE 7–0 Q2 BAL Speyrer 33 yard pass from Jones (Hunt kick) Tie 7–7 Q2 CLE Cockroft 14 yard field goal CLE 10–7 Q2 CLE Scott 45 yard interception return (Cockroft kick) CLE 17–7 Q3 BAL Hendricks 2 yard blocked punt return (Hunt kick) CLE 17–14 Q3 CLE Pitts 8 yard pass from Phipps (Cockroft kick) CLE 24–14 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 5, 2015. Week 2 April 2015 Week 3 Giants 0 10 0 0 Browns 0 0 6 6 September 30 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 1:00 p.m. EST 76,065 62 F; wind 9 mph on yes Q2 NYG Gogolak 20 yard field goal NYG 3–0 Q2 NYG Tucker 20 yard pass from Snead (Gogolak kick) NYG 10–0 Q3 CLE Cockroft 11 yard field goal NYG 10–3 Q3 CLE Cockroft 27 yard field goal NYG 10–6 Q4 CLE Cockroft 30 yard field goal NYG 10–9 Q4 CLE Cockroft 10 yard field goal CLE 12–10 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 6, 2015. Week 4 Bengals 3 0 0 7 Browns 0 7 7 3 October 7 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 1:00 p.m. EST 70,805 60 F; wind 4 mph on yes Q1 CIN Muhlmann 38 yard field goal CIN 3–0 Q2 CLE Kelly 3 yard run (Cockroft kick) CLE 7–3 Q3 CLE Kelly 7 yard run (Cockroft kick) CLE 14–3 Q4 CIN Curtis 60 yard pass from Anderson (Muhlmann kick) CLE 14–10 Q4 CLE Cockroft 24 yard field goal CLE 17–10 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 9, 2015. Week 5 April 2015 Week 6 Oilers 0 0 13 0 Browns 14 14 0 14 October 21 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 1:00 p.m. EST 51 F; wind 6 mph on yes Q1 CLE Kelly 8 yard run (Cockroft kick) CLE 7–0 Q1 CLE Phipps 1 yard run (Cockroft kick) CLE 14–0 Q2 CLE Hooker 21 yard pass from Phipps (Cockroft kick) CLE 21–0 Q2 CLE Pitts 3 yard pass from Phipps (Cockroft kick) CLE 28–0 Q3 HOU Hinton 34 yard pass from Pastorini (Butler kick) CLE 28–7 Q3 HOU Butler 9 yard field goal CLE 28–10 Q3 HOU Butler 31 yard field goal CLE 28–13 Q4 CLE Phipps 13 yard run (Cockroft kick) CLE 35–13 Q4 CLE Scott 2 yard pass from Horn (Cockroft kick) CLE 42–13 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 13, 2015. Week 7 April 2015 Week 8 Browns 3 0 0 0 Vikings 3 6 7 10 November 4 Metropolitan Stadium 1:00 p.m. CST 27 F; wind 11 mph on yes Q1 CLE Don Cockroft 27 yard field goal CLE 3–0 Q1 MIN Fred Cox 16 yard field goal Tied 3–3 Q2 MIN Fred Cox 23 yard field goal MIN 6–3 Q2 MIN Fred Cox 33 yard field goal MIN 9–3 Q3 MIN Oscar Reed 3 yard rush (Cox kick) MIN 16–3 Q4 MIN Stu Voigt 7 yard pass from Fran Tarkenton (Cox kick) MIN 23–3 Q4 MIN Fred Cox 41 yard field goal MIN 26–3 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved May 6, 2015. Week 9 Browns 17 0 3 3 Oilers 0 3 3 7 November 11 Houston Astrodome 2:00 p.m. EST Indoors (dome) yes Q1 CLE Cockroft 30 yard field goal CLE 3–0 Q1 CLE Phipps 1 yard run (Cockroft kick) CLE 10–0 Q1 CLE Pruitt 53 yard run (Cockroft kick) CLE 17–0 Q2 HOU Butler 27 yard field goal CLE 17–3 Q3 HOU Butler 46 yard field goal CLE 17–6 Q3 CLE Cockroft 22 yard field goal CLE 20–6 Q4 CLE Cockroft 45 yard field goal CLE 23–6 Q4 HOU Alston 39 yard pass from Dickey (Butler kick) CLE 23–13 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 19, 2015. Week 10 Browns 0 7 0 0 Raiders 0 0 0 3 November 18 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 4:00 p.m. EST 53 F; wind 18 mph on yes Q2 CLE Hooker 7 yard pass from Phipps (Cockroft kick) CLE 7–0 Q4 OAK Blanda 23 yard field goal CLE 7–3 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 19, 2015. Week 11 Steelers 7 3 3 3 Browns 7 7 0 7 November 25 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 1:00 p.m. EST 50 F; wind 15 mph on yes Q1 PIT Shanklin 9 yard pass from Gilliam (Gerela kick) PIT 7–0 Q1 CLE Phipps 1 yard run (Cockroft kick) Tie 7–7 Q2 CLE Pruitt 15 yard pass from Phipps (Cockroft kick) CLE 14–7 Q2 PIT Gerela 24 yard field goal CLE 14–10 Q3 PIT Gerela 14 yard field goal CLE 14–13 Q4 PIT Gerela 20 yard field goal PIT 16–14 Q4 CLE Pruitt 19 yard run (Cockroft kick) CLE 21–16 yes Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved April 19, 2015. Week 12 April 2015 Week 13 April 2015 Week 14 April 2015 Standings References External links 1973 Cleveland Browns at Pro Football Reference 1973 Cleveland Browns Statistics at jt-sw.com 1973 Cleveland Browns Schedule at jt-sw.com 1973 Cleveland Browns at DatabaseFootball.com Cleveland Category:Cleveland Browns seasons Cleveland Browns