1977 Cleveland Browns season
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The 1977 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 28th season with the National Football League. After a 6–4 start, the Browns lost their final four games of the season, to finish with a disappointing 6–8 record. With one game left in the season, head coach Forrest Gregg was fired and replaced by Dick Modzelewski.
Offseason
NFL Draft
The following were selected in the 1977 NFL draft.
Round | Selection | Player | Position | College | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 17 | Robert L. Jackson | Linebacker | Texas A&M | |
2 | 46 | Tom Skladany | Punter | Ohio State | |
4 | 102 | Oliver Davis | Defensive back | Tennessee State | |
4 | 110 | Mickey Sims | Defensive tackle | South Carolina State | |
7 | 173 | Kenny Randle | Wide receiver | SMU | |
7 | 184 | Blane Smith | Linebacker | Purdue | |
7 | 188 | Bob Lingenfelter | Offensive tackle | Nebraska | |
8 | 213 | Bill Armstrong | Defensive back | Wake Forest | |
9 | 240 | Daryl Brown | Defensive back | Tufts | |
10 | 269 | Tom Burkett | Offensive tackle | North Carolina | |
11 | 296 | Charles Nash | Wide receiver | Arizona | |
12 | 325 | Leo Tierney | Center | Georgia Tech |
[1]
Personnel
Staff / Coaches
Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
| Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
|
Roster
1977 Cleveland Browns roster | ||||||
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Quarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
| Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
| Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
| Reserve lists
rookies in italics |
[2]
Preseason
Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Attendance |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | August 8 | Washington Redskins | L 14–16 | 0–1 | 32,554 |
2 | August 13 | at Minnesota Vikings | L 33–34 | 0–2 | 45,379 |
3 | August 19 | St. Louis Cardinals | W 19–10 | 1–2 | 31,308 |
4 | August 25 | Chicago Bears | W 14–7 | 2–2 | 36,598 |
5 | September 3 | at Green Bay Packers | W 19–14 | 3–2 | 53,180 |
6 | September 9 | at Detroit Lions | L 20–24 | 3–3 | 49,168 |
Schedule
Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | September 18 | at Cincinnati Bengals | W 13–3 | 1–0 | Riverfront Stadium | 52,847 | Recap |
2 | September 26 | New England Patriots | W 30–27 | 2–0 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 76,418 | Recap |
3 | October 2 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 14–28 | 2–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 80,588 | Recap |
4 | October 9 | Oakland Raiders | L 10–26 | 2–2 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 80,236 | Recap |
5 | October 16 | at Houston Oilers | W 24–23 | 3–2 | Houston Astrodome | 47,888 | Recap |
6 | October 23 | at Buffalo Bills | W 27–16 | 4–2 | Rich Stadium | 60,905 | Recap |
7 | October 30 | Kansas City Chiefs | W 44–7 | 5–2 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 60,381 | Recap |
8 | November 6 | Cincinnati Bengals | L 7–10 | 5–3 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 81,932 | Recap |
9 | November 13 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 31–35 | 5–4 | Three Rivers Stadium | 47,055 | Recap |
10 | November 20 | at New York Giants | W 21–7 | 6–4 | Giants Stadium | 72,576 | Recap |
11 | November 27 | Los Angeles Rams | L 0–9 | 6–5 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 70,352 | Recap |
12 | December 4 | at San Diego Chargers | L 14–37 | 6–6 | San Diego Stadium | 37,312 | Recap |
13 | December 11 | Houston Oilers | L 15–19 | 6–7 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 30,898 | Recap |
14 | December 18 | at Seattle Seahawks | L 19–20 | 6–8 | Kingdome | 61,583 | Recap |
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |
Game summaries
Week 1
The 1977 season started with a league rival and an impressive win.
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Browns | 3 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
Bengals | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
at Riverfront Stadium • Cincinnati, Ohio
- Date: September 18, 1977
- Game time: 1:00 p.m.
- Game weather: 74 °F (23 °C) • Wind 12 mph (19 km/h)
- Game attendance: 52,847
- Referee: Bob Frederic
- TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy and John Brodie
- Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information | ||
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Scoring summary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Week 2
The Cleveland Browns had not hosted nor been in a Monday Night Football game since the 1973 season, when they lost at home against the Miami Dolphins. The Cleveland Stadium was sold out that beautiful night along the lakefront and the crowd looked forward to a great game. Indeed, the game went into overtime, and with a little more than 10 minutes left in over time, Don Cockroft kicked a 35-yard field goal to end the game with a win for the Browns. Howard Cosell said that it was one of the most exciting finishes to a Monday Night Football game that he ever witnessed.
Week 3 vs Steelers
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Steelers | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
Browns | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
- Date: October 2
- Game time: 1:00 p.m.
- Game weather: 55 °F (13 °C)
- Game attendance: 80,588
- Referee: Fred Silva
- TV announcers (NBC): Curt Gowdy and Merlin Olsen
- Box Score
Game information | ||
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Week 5
The Browns beat the Oilers 24–23 on another Cockroft last-second field goal. Toni Fritsch kicks a 37-yarder with 4:28 left to give Houston a 23–21 lead, but running back Greg Pruitt leads the Browns on their final scoring drive with three runs and a 13-yard third-down completion to Cleo Miller. Cockroft's six points lift him past Jim Brown to the no. 2 spot (behind Lou Groza) on the Browns' all-time scoring list.
Week 7
Scoring their most points in 9 years, the Browns broke a team record with 34 first downs while rolling up 526 yards (322 rushing) in a rout over the Kansas City Chiefs 44-7. Greg Pruitt rushed for 153 yards. Brian Sipe threw for 200 yards and tight end Gary Parris caught two touchdown passes.
Standings
AFC Central | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
Pittsburgh Steelers(3) | 9 | 5 | 0 | .643 | 4–2 | 7–5 | 276 | 243 | W1 |
Houston Oilers | 8 | 6 | 0 | .571 | 3–3 | 6–6 | 299 | 230 | W2 |
Cincinnati Bengals | 8 | 6 | 0 | .571 | 3–3 | 6–5 | 238 | 235 | L1 |
Cleveland Browns | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 2–4 | 5–7 | 269 | 267 | L4 |
References
- ^ "1977 NFL Draft Listing – Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on May 31, 2009. Retrieved July 23, 2009.
- ^ "1977 Cleveland Browns Starters, Roster, & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
External links
- 1977 Cleveland Browns at Pro Football Reference
- 1977 Cleveland Browns Statistics at jt-sw.com
- 1977 Cleveland Browns Schedule at jt-sw.com
- 1977 Cleveland Browns at DatabaseFootball.com