1953 Cleveland Browns (NFL) |
| 1st place • Eastern Conference • 11-1-0 .917 |
| Playoff Statistics |
| Head Coach: Paul Brown |
| Howard Brinker | Ends |
| Blanton Collier | Backfield |
| Weeb Ewbank | Tackles |
| Fritz Heisler | Guards |
| SCORES | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Date | Opponent | Result | Location | Venue | Attendance | |||
| Sun | 8/23/1953 | A | San Francisco 49ers | 20-7 | W | San Francisco, CA | Kezar Stadium | 36273 | |
| Fri | 8/28/1953 | A | Los Angeles Rams | 9-27 | L | Los Angeles, CA | Memorial Coliseum | 21440 | |
| Fri | 9/4/1953 | A | Detroit Lions | 24-24 | T | Detroit, MI | Briggs Stadium | 39985 | |
| Mon | 9/7/1953 | H | Baltimore Colts | 23-21 | W | Akron, OH | Rubber Bowl | 20000 | |
| Fri | 9/11/1953 | A | Chicago Bears | 20-14 | W | Chicago, IL | Wrigley Field | 36796 | |
| Sat | 9/19/1953 | H | Green Bay Packers | 21-13 | W | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 22336 | |
| Sun | 9/27/1953 | A | Green Bay Packers | 27-0 | W | Milwaukee, WI | County Stadium | 22604 | |
| Sun | 10/4/1953 | A | Chicago Cardinals | 27-7 | W | Chicago, IL | Comiskey Park | 24374 | |
| Sat | 10/10/1953 | H | Philadelphia Eagles | 37-13 | W | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 45802 | |
| Sun | 10/18/1953 | A | Washington Redskins | 30-14 | W | Washington, DC | Griffith Stadium | 33963 | |
| Sun | 10/25/1953 | A | New York Giants | 7-0 | W | New York, NY | Polo Grounds | 30773 | |
| Sun | 11/1/1953 | H | Washington Redskins | 27-3 | W | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 47845 | |
| Sun | 11/8/1953 | H | Pittsburgh Steelers | 34-16 | W | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 35592 | |
| Sun | 11/15/1953 | H | San Francisco 49ers | 23-21 | W | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 80698 | |
| Sun | 11/22/1953 | A | Pittsburgh Steelers | 20-16 | W | Pittsburgh, PA | Forbes Field | 32904 | |
| Sun | 11/29/1953 | H | Chicago Cardinals | 27-16 | W | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 24499 | |
| Sun | 12/6/1953 | H | New York Giants | 62-14 | W | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 40235 | |
| Sun | 12/13/1953 | A | Philadelphia Eagles | 27-42 | L | Philadelphia, PA | Connie Mack Stadium | 38654 | |
| League Championship | |||||||||
| Sun | 12/27/1953 | A | Detroit Lions | 16-17 | L | Detroit, MI | Briggs Stadium | 54577 | |
| ROSTER | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | No | Pos | Ht | Wt | Age | College | GP | GS |
| Doug Atkins | 83 | LDE | 6-8 | 257 | 23 | Tennessee | 8 | 8 |
| Pete Brewster | 88 | LOE | 6-3 | 210 | 23 | Purdue | 12 | 12 |
| Ken Carpenter | 20 | LOH | 6-0 | 195 | 27 | Oregon State | 12 | 12 |
| Tom Catlin | 50 | LLB | 6-1 | 213 | 22 | Oklahoma | 12 | 12 |
| Don Colo | 70 | LDT-RDT | 6-3 | 252 | 28 | Brown | 12 | 12 |
| Gene Donaldson | 66 | LOG | 5-9 | 225 | 23 | Kentucky | 11 | 2 |
| Len Ford | 80 | RDE | 6-4 | 245 | 27 | Morgan State; Michigan | 12 | 12 |
| Frank Gatski | 52 | C | 6-2 | 233 | 32 | Marshall; Auburn | 12 | 12 |
| Abe Gibron | 64 | LOG | 5-11 | 243 | 28 | Valparaiso; Purdue | 11 | 10 |
| Horace Gillom | 84 | P-ROE | 6-1 | 221 | 32 | Ohio State; Nevada-Reno | 12 | 0 |
| Ken Gorgal | 15 | LS | 6-2 | 200 | 24 | Purdue | 12 | 12 |
| Otto Graham | 14 | QB | 6-1 | 196 | 32 | Northwestern | 12 | 11 |
| Lou Groza | 76 | LOT-K | 6-3 | 240 | 29 | Ohio State | 12 | 12 |
| Jerry Helluin | 79 | MG-RDT | 6-2 | 272 | 24 | Tulane | 6 | 4 |
| Lin Houston | 62 | ROG | 6-0 | 213 | 32 | Ohio State | 12 | 0 |
| Sherman Howard | 30 | FB-RDH | 5-11 | 193 | 29 | Iowa; Nevada-Reno | 11 | 0 |
| Harry Jagade | 32 | FB | 6-0 | 213 | 27 | Indiana | 12 | 12 |
| Tommy James | 42 | RDH | 5-10 | 184 | 30 | Ohio State | 12 | 12 |
| Dub Jones | 40 | ROH | 6-3 | 202 | 29 | Louisiana State; Tulane | 12 | 11 |
| Kenny Konz | 22 | RS | 5-10 | 184 | 25 | Louisiana State | 12 | 12 |
| Warren Lahr | 24 | LDH | 5-11 | 189 | 30 | Western Reserve | 12 | 12 |
| Dante Lavelli | 86 | ROE | 6-1 | 191 | 30 | Ohio State | 12 | 12 |
| Walt Michaels | 34 | RLB | 6-0 | 231 | 24 | Washington & Lee | 12 | 3 |
| Marion Motley | 36 | FB | 6-1 | 232 | 33 | Nevada-Reno | 12 | 0 |
| Chuck Noll | 65 | ROG | 6-1 | 218 | 21 | Dayton | 12 | 12 |
| Derrell Palmer | 72 | RDT-LDT | 6-2 | 240 | 31 | Texas Christian | 11 | 11 |
| George Ratterman | 16 | QB | 6-0 | 192 | 27 | Notre Dame | 9 | 1 |
| Ray Renfro | 26 | LOH | 6-1 | 190 | 24 | North Texas | 12 | 0 |
| Billy Reynolds | 46 | ROH | 5-11 | 195 | 22 | Pittsburgh | 12 | 1 |
| John Sandusky | 78 | ROT | 6-1 | 251 | 28 | Villanova | 12 | 12 |
| Don Steinbrunner | 74 | MG-LDT | 6-3 | 220 | 21 | Washington State | 8 | 4 |
| Tommy Thompson | 54 | RLB | 6-1 | 221 | 26 | William & Mary | 9 | 9 |
| Bill Willis | 60 | MG-RDT | 6-2 | 213 | 32 | Ohio State | 11 | 5 |
| George Young | 82 | LDE | 6-3 | 214 | 29 | Georgia | 12 | 4 |
| DRAFT LIST | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round | Overall | Player | Pos | College |
| 1 | 11 | Doug Atkins | T | Tennessee |
| 2 | 23 | Billy Reynolds | B | Pittsburgh |
| 3 | 35 | Fred Bruney | B | Ohio State |
| 3 | 37 | Gene Donaldson | G | Kentucky |
| 3 | 38 | Jim Hietikko | T | Ohio State |
| 4 | 48 | Dick Tamburo | C | Michigan State |
| 5 | 60 | Bob Van Doren | E | Southern California |
| 6 | 72 | Don Steinbrunner | E | Washington State |
| 7 | 84 | Gene Filipski | B | Villanova |
| 8 | 96 | Carlton Massey | E | Texas |
| 9 | 108 | Bob McNamara | B | Minnesota |
| 10 | 120 | Elmo Natali | B | California (Pennsylvania) |
| 11 | 132 | Dick Hilinski | T | Ohio State |
| 12 | 144 | Elmer Willhoite | G | Southern California |
| 13 | 156 | Galen Fiss | B | Kansas |
| 14 | 168 | Gern Nagler | E | Santa Clara |
| 15 | 180 | Johnny Carson | E | Georgia |
| 16 | 192 | Eric Kuykendall | B | Illinois |
| 17 | 204 | George Bean | B | Utah |
| 18 | 216 | Dick Batten | T | Pacific |
| 19 | 228 | Tom Cain | G | Colorado |
| 20 | 240 | Chuck Noll | T | Dayton |
| 21 | 252 | Bill Crockett | G | Rice |
| 22 | 264 | Byrd Looper | B | Duke |
| 23 | 276 | Ronnie Kent | B | Tulane |
| 24 | 288 | John LaBenda | T | Wittenberg |
| 25 | 300 | Jim Ellis | B | Michigan State |
| 26 | 312 | Charley Hoag | B | Kansas |
| 27 | 324 | Jack Sisco | C | Baylor |
| 28 | 336 | Ray Verkerk | T | North Texas |
| 29 | 348 | Clell Hobson | B | Alabama |
| 30 | 359 | Andy Myers | G | Tennessee |
| SCORING BY QUARTERS | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 67 | 121 | 61 | 99 | 348 |
| Opponents Totals | 31 | 45 | 42 | 44 | 162 |
| TEAM STATS | TOP | 1st Downs | FDR | FDP | FDX | 3rd Down Efficiency | 4th Down Efficiency | PEN | PENY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 213 | 79 | 122 | 12 | / % | / % | 86 | 680 | |
| Opponents Totals | 206 | 89 | 101 | 16 | / % | / % | 40 | 335 |
| SCORING | TD | X1 | X1A | PCT | FG | FGA | PCT | SAF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lou Groza | 0 | 39 | 40 | 97.5 | 23 | 26 | 88.5 | 0 | 108 |
| Ray Renfro | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54 | ||
| Otto Graham | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | ||
| Dante Lavelli | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | ||
| Ken Carpenter | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | ||
| Pete Brewster | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | ||
| Harry Jagade | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | ||
| Billy Reynolds | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Jerry Helluin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Tommy James | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Walt Michaels | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Team Totals | 40 | 39 | 40 | 97.5 | 23 | 26 | 88.5 | 0 | 348 |
| Opponents Totals | 22 | 20 | 22 | 90.9 | 2 | 13 | 15.4 | 2 | 162 |
| FIELD GOALS | MADE | ATT | PCT | BL | LG | 1-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lou Groza | 23 | 26 | 88.5 | 1 | 50 | 8/9 | 9/11 | 3/3 | 2/2 | 1/1 |
| Team Totals | 23 | 26 | 88.5 | 1 | 50 | 8/9 | 9/11 | 3/3 | 2/2 | 1/1 |
| Opponents Totals | 2 | 13 | 15.4 | 1/ | 1/ | 0/ | 0/ | 0/ |
| RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ray Renfro | 60 | 352 | 5.9 | 58t | 4 |
| Harry Jagade | 86 | 344 | 4.0 | 23 | 4 |
| Billy Reynolds | 72 | 313 | 4.3 | 16 | 3 |
| Ken Carpenter | 46 | 195 | 4.2 | 30 | 3 |
| Marion Motley | 32 | 161 | 5.0 | 34 | 0 |
| Otto Graham | 43 | 143 | 3.3 | 21 | 6 |
| Sherman Howard | 7 | 42 | 6.0 | 34 | 0 |
| Dub Jones | 31 | 28 | 0.9 | 10 | 0 |
| George Ratterman | 2 | 6 | 3.0 | 3 | 0 |
| Abe Gibron | 0 | -7 | -7L | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 379 | 1577 | 4.2 | 58t | 20 |
| Opponents Totals | 374 | 1560 | 4.2 | 56 | 11 |
| PASSING | ATT | COM | PCT | INC | YDS | Y/ATT | Y/COM | LG | TD | TD% | INT | INT% | TS | YL | NYP | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Otto Graham | 258 | 167 | 64.7 | 82 | 2722 | 10.6 | 16.3 | 70 | 11 | 4.3 | 9 | 3.5 | 245 | 2477 | 99.7 | |
| George Ratterman | 41 | 23 | 56.1 | 18 | 301 | 7.3 | 13.1 | 45 | 4 | 9.8 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 301 | 111.9 |
| Ray Renfro | 3 | 1 | 33.3 | 2 | 36 | 12.0 | 36.0 | 36t | 1 | 33.3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 36 | 119.4 | |
| Dub Jones | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 39.6 | |||
| Team Totals | 303 | 191 | 63.0 | 103 | 3059 | 10.1 | 16.0 | 70 | 16 | 5.3 | 9 | 3.0 | 245 | 2814 | 101.9 | |
| Opponents Totals | 389 | 164 | 42.2 | 200 | 2271 | 5.8 | 13.8 | 77t | 10 | 2.6 | 25 | 6.4 | 256 | 2015 | 43.3 |
| RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dante Lavelli | 45 | 783 | 17.4 | 55t | 6 |
| Ray Renfro | 39 | 722 | 18.5 | 70 | 4 |
| Pete Brewster | 32 | 632 | 19.8 | 45 | 4 |
| Dub Jones | 24 | 373 | 15.5 | 58 | 0 |
| Harry Jagade | 20 | 193 | 9.7 | 37 | 0 |
| Billy Reynolds | 9 | 120 | 13.3 | 55 | 0 |
| Ken Carpenter | 9 | 109 | 12.1 | 32 | 2 |
| Horace Gillom | 7 | 80 | 11.4 | 23 | 0 |
| Marion Motley | 6 | 47 | 7.8 | 23 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 191 | 3059 | 16.0 | 70 | 16 |
| Opponents Totals | 164 | 2271 | 13.8 | 77t | 10 |
| INTERCEPTIONS | INT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warren Lahr | 5 | 119 | 23.8 | 42 | 0 |
| Tommy James | 5 | 21 | 4.2 | 11 | 0 |
| Kenny Konz | 5 | 15 | 3.0 | 9 | 0 |
| Ken Gorgal | 4 | 25 | 6.3 | 19 | 0 |
| Tommy Thompson | 2 | 13 | 6.5 | 8 | 0 |
| Walt Michaels | 1 | 34 | 34.0 | 34t | 1 |
| Tom Catlin | 1 | 16 | 16.0 | 16 | 0 |
| Sherman Howard | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 3 | 0 |
| Len Ford | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 25 | 246 | 9.8 | 42 | 1 |
| Opponents Totals | 9 | 94 | 10.4 | 28t | 1 |
| PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | BL | TB | I20 | RYDS | NYDS | NET |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horace Gillom | 63 | 2760 | 43.8 | 67 | 0 | 4 | 156 | 2524 | 40.1 | |
| Team Totals | 63 | 2760 | 43.8 | 67 | 0 | 4 | 156 | 2524 | 40.1 | |
| Opponents Totals | 72 | 2934 | 40.8 | 61 | 0 | 5 | 175 | 2659 | 36.9 |
| PUNT RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Billy Reynolds | 18 | 111 | 6.2 | 28 | 0 | |
| Ray Renfro | 17 | 53 | 3.1 | 16 | 0 | |
| Ken Carpenter | 6 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Dub Jones | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 7 | 0 | |
| Kenny Konz | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 4 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 43 | 175 | 4.1 | 28 | 0 | |
| Opponents Totals | 35 | 156 | 4.5 | 17 | 0 |
| KICKOFF RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ken Carpenter | 16 | 367 | 22.9 | 40 | 0 | |
| Billy Reynolds | 4 | 74 | 18.5 | 21 | 0 | |
| Marion Motley | 3 | 60 | 20.0 | 22 | 0 | |
| Walt Michaels | 2 | 40 | 20.0 | 22 | 0 | |
| Don Steinbrunner | 1 | 23 | 23.0 | 23 | 0 | |
| Gene Donaldson | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 7 | 0 | |
| Sherman Howard | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 6 | 0 | |
| Chuck Noll | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | |
| George Young | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 30 | 579 | 19.3 | 40 | 0 | |
| Opponents Totals | 46 | 1114 | 24.2 | 49 | 0 |
| FUMBLES | NO | LOST | OWN | OPP | REC | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pete Brewster | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ken Carpenter | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tom Catlin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Don Colo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Len Ford | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Horace Gillom | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ken Gorgal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Otto Graham | 8 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| Lou Groza | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jerry Helluin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 42 | 1 |
| Tommy James | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 37 | 1 |
| Dub Jones | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Kenny Konz | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Dante Lavelli | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Walt Michaels | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Marion Motley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ray Renfro | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Billy Reynolds | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| John Sandusky | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Bill Willis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| George Young | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 27 | 15 | 12 | 16 | 28 | 79 | 2 |
| Opponents Totals | 25 | 16 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 0 |
| In Memoriam |
| NFL Boxscores |
| NFL Game Officials |
| NFL Training Camps |
| NFL Roster Limits |
| Pro Football Hall of Fame |
| Super Bowl |
| Privacy Policy |
| ©2006-2025 Pro Football Archives. All Rights Reserved. |
| Last Updated: August 29, 2025 |