1981 Cleveland Browns (NFL) |
| 4th place • American Football Conference • Central Division • 5-11-0 .313 |
| Head Coach: Sam Rutigliano |
| Dave Adolph | Linebackers |
| Len Fontes | Defensive Backs |
| Jim Garrett | Offensive Backs |
| Paul Hackett | Quarterbacks |
| Rod Humeniuk | Offensive Line |
| Rich Kotite | Receivers |
| John Petercuskie | Special Teams |
| Tom Pratt | Defensive Line |
| Marty Schottenheimer | Defensive Coordinator |
| SCORES | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Date | Opponent | Result | Location | Venue | Attendance | ||||
| Sat | 8/1/1981 | N | Atlanta Falcons | 24 | 10 | W | Canton, OH | Fawcett Stadium | 23921 | |
| Sat | 8/8/1981 | H | Pittsburgh Steelers | 31 | 35 | L | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 78610 | |
| Sat | 8/15/1981 | A | Buffalo Bills | 13 | 10 | W | Orchard Park, NY | Rich Stadium | 32306 | |
| Sat | 8/22/1981 | H | Buffalo Bills | 20 | 31 | L | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 41495 | |
| Sat | 8/29/1981 | A | Green Bay Packers | 18 | 35 | L | Green Bay, WI | Lambeau Field | 56191 | |
| Mon | 9/7/1981 | H | San Diego Chargers | 14 | 44 | L | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 78904 | |
| Sun | 9/13/1981 | H | Houston Oilers | 3 | 9 | L | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 79483 | |
| Sun | 9/20/1981 | A | Cincinnati Bengals | 20 | 17 | W | Cincinnati, OH | Riverfront Stadium | 52170 | |
| Sun | 9/27/1981 | H | Atlanta Falcons | 28 | 17 | W | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 78283 | |
| Sun | 10/4/1981 | A | Los Angeles Rams | 16 | 27 | L | Anaheim, CA | Anaheim Stadium | 63924 | |
| Sun | 10/11/1981 | A | Pittsburgh Steelers | 7 | 13 | L | Pittsburgh, PA | Three Rivers Stadium | 53250 | |
| Sun | 10/18/1981 | H | New Orleans Saints | 20 | 17 | W | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 76059 | |
| Sun | 10/25/1981 | H | Baltimore Colts | 42 | 28 | W | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 78986 | |
| Sun | 11/1/1981 | A | Buffalo Bills | 13 | 22 | L | Orchard Park, NY | Rich Stadium | 78226 | |
| Sun | 11/8/1981 | A | Denver Broncos | 20 | 23 | L | OT | Denver, CO | Mile High Stadium | 74859 |
| Sun | 11/15/1981 | A | San Francisco 49ers | 15 | 12 | W | San Francisco, CA | Candlestick Park | 52455 | |
| Sun | 11/22/1981 | H | Pittsburgh Steelers | 10 | 32 | L | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 77958 | |
| Sun | 11/29/1981 | H | Cincinnati Bengals | 21 | 41 | L | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 75186 | |
| Thu | 12/3/1981 | A | Houston Oilers | 13 | 17 | L | Houston, TX | Astrodome | 44502 | |
| Sat | 12/12/1981 | H | New York Jets | 13 | 14 | L | Cleveland, OH | Cleveland Stadium | 56866 | |
| Sun | 12/20/1981 | A | Seattle Seahawks | 21 | 42 | L | Seattle, WA | Kingdome | 51435 | |
| ROSTER | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | No | Pos | Ht | Wt | Age | College | GP | GS |
| Willis Adams | 80 | WR | 6-2 | 200 | 25 | Navarro JC; Houston | 7 | 0 |
| Lyle Alzado | 77 | RDE | 6-3 | 254 | 32 | Yankton | 15 | 15 |
| Dick Ambrose | 52 | RILB | 6-0 | 228 | 28 | Virginia | 16 | 16 |
| Matt Bahr | 9 | K | 5-10 | 175 | 25 | Penn State | 11 | 0 |
| Autry Beamon | 23 | FS | 6-1 | 190 | 28 | East Texas A&M | 14 | 4 |
| Ron Bolton | 28 | LCB | 6-2 | 170 | 31 | Norfolk State | 16 | 16 |
| Henry Bradley | 91 | NT | 6-2 | 262 | 28 | Alcorn State | 16 | 16 |
| Thomas Brown | 97 | LDE | 6-4 | 240 | 24 | Baylor | 16 | 4 |
| Clinton Burrell | 49 | FS | 6-1 | 192 | 25 | Louisiana State | 2 | 2 |
| Steve Cox | 15 | P-K | 6-4 | 195 | 23 | Arkansas | 16 | 0 |
| Thom Darden | 27 | FS | 6-2 | 195 | 31 | Michigan | 13 | 10 |
| Joe DeLamielleure | 64 | ROG | 6-3 | 253 | 30 | Michigan State | 16 | 16 |
| Tom DeLeone | 54 | C | 6-2 | 252 | 31 | Ohio State | 8 | 8 |
| Doug Dieken | 73 | LOT | 6-5 | 253 | 32 | Illinois | 16 | 16 |
| Hanford Dixon | 29 | RCB | 5-11 | 190 | 23 | Southern Mississippi | 16 | 14 |
| Ricky Feacher | 83 | WR | 5-10 | 174 | 27 | Mississippi Valley State | 16 | 7 |
| Judson Flint | 20 | CB | 6-0 | 201 | 24 | California (Pennsylvania); Memphis | 16 | 0 |
| Elvis Franks | 94 | RDE | 6-4 | 265 | 24 | Morgan State | 16 | 1 |
| Danny Fulton | 86 | WR | 6-2 | 183 | 25 | Nebraska; Nebraska-Omaha | 5 | 0 |
| Don Goode | 50 | LOLB | 6-2 | 240 | 30 | Kansas | 16 | 16 |
| Dino Hall | 26 | RB | 5-7 | 165 | 26 | Rowan | 12 | 0 |
| Marshall Harris | 90 | LDE | 6-6 | 261 | 26 | Texas Christian | 15 | 12 |
| Calvin Hill | 35 | RB | 6-3 | 228 | 34 | Yale | 14 | 0 |
| Bruce Huther | 58 | LILB | 6-1 | 220 | 27 | New Hampshire | 16 | 2 |
| Bob Jackson | 68 | LOG | 6-5 | 253 | 28 | Duke | 16 | 14 |
| Robert Jackson | 56 | LILB | 6-1 | 230 | 27 | Trinity Valley CC; Texas A&M | 14 | 14 |
| Dave Jacobs | 10 | K | 5-7 | 153 | 24 | Syracuse | 5 | 0 |
| Eddie Johnson | 51 | LB | 6-1 | 225 | 22 | Louisville | 16 | 0 |
| Lawrence Johnson | 48 | RCB | 5-11 | 203 | 24 | Wisconsin | 16 | 2 |
| Dave Logan | 85 | WR | 6-4 | 221 | 27 | Colorado | 14 | 14 |
| Clay Matthews | 57 | ROLB | 6-2 | 242 | 25 | Southern California | 16 | 16 |
| Paul McDonald | 16 | QB | 6-2 | 185 | 23 | Southern California | 12 | 0 |
| Cleo Miller | 30 | RB | 5-11 | 214 | 30 | Arkansas-Pine Bluff | 12 | 3 |
| Matt Miller | 71 | OT | 6-6 | 270 | 25 | Colorado | 16 | 0 |
| Cleo Montgomery | 24 | RB | 5-9 | 183 | 25 | Abilene Christian | 4 | 0 |
| Ozzie Newsome | 82 | TE | 6-2 | 228 | 25 | Alabama | 16 | 16 |
| McDonald Oden | 84 | TE | 6-4 | 228 | 23 | Tennessee State | 16 | 0 |
| Greg Pruitt | 34 | RB | 5-10 | 190 | 30 | Oklahoma | 15 | 6 |
| Mike Pruitt | 43 | FB | 6-0 | 225 | 27 | Purdue | 16 | 15 |
| Cody Risien | 63 | ROT | 6-7 | 275 | 24 | Texas A&M | 16 | 16 |
| Mike Robinson | 92 | DE | 6-4 | 270 | 25 | Oklahoma State; Arizona | 10 | 0 |
| Reggie Rucker | 33 | WR | 6-2 | 190 | 34 | Boston University | 14 | 11 |
| Clarence Scott | 22 | SS | 6-0 | 190 | 32 | Kansas State | 16 | 16 |
| Henry Sheppard | 65 | LOG | 6-6 | 263 | 29 | Southern Methodist | 9 | 2 |
| Jerry Sherk | 72 | NT | 6-4 | 250 | 33 | Grays Harbor JC; Oklahoma State | 15 | 0 |
| Brian Sipe | 17 | QB | 6-1 | 190 | 32 | Grossmont JC; San Diego State | 16 | 16 |
| Gerry Sullivan | 79 | C | 6-4 | 250 | 29 | Illinois | 16 | 8 |
| Rick Trocano | 12 | QB | 6-0 | 188 | 22 | Pittsburgh | 6 | 0 |
| Curtis Weathers | 55 | LB | 6-5 | 230 | 25 | Mississippi | 13 | 0 |
| Charles White | 25 | RB | 5-10 | 190 | 23 | Southern California | 16 | 8 |
| DRAFT LIST | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Round | Overall | Player | Pos | College |
| 1 | 22 | Hanford Dixon | DB | Southern Mississippi |
| 4 | 92 | Mike Robinson | DE | Arizona |
| 5 | 134 | Steve Cox | K | Arkansas |
| 6 | 160 | Ron Simmons | DT | Florida State |
| 7 | 187 | Eddie Johnson | LB | Louisville |
| 9 | 244 | Randy Schleusener | G | Nebraska |
| 10 | 271 | Dean Prater | DE | Oklahoma State |
| 11 | 298 | Larry Friday | DB | Mississippi State |
| 12 | 325 | Kevin McGill | T | Oregon |
| SCORING BY QUARTERS | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | OT | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 31 | 109 | 55 | 81 | 0 | 276 |
| Opponents Totals | 89 | 103 | 82 | 98 | 3 | 375 |
| TEAM STATS | TOP | 1st Downs | FDR | FDP | FDX | 3rd Down Efficiency | 4th Down Efficiency | PEN | PENY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Totals | 30:59 | 364 | 131 | 196 | 37 | 92/225 40.9% | / % | 109 | 971 |
| Opponents Totals | 29:01 | 299 | 119 | 157 | 23 | 78/212 36.8% | / % | 100 | 870 |
| SCORING | TD | X1 | X1A | PCT | FG | FGA | PCT | SAF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Bahr | 0 | 22 | 22 | 100.0 | 13 | 20 | 65.0 | 0 | 61 |
| Mike Pruitt | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | ||
| Ozzie Newsome | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | ||
| Dave Logan | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | ||
| Greg Pruitt | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | ||
| Dave Jacobs | 0 | 9 | 10 | 90.0 | 4 | 12 | 33.3 | 0 | 21 |
| Ricky Feacher | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | ||
| Calvin Hill | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Cleo Miller | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | ||
| Reggie Rucker | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Brian Sipe | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Charles White | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| Steve Cox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | |
| (Team) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | ||
| Team Totals | 32 | 31 | 32 | 96.9 | 17 | 33 | 51.5 | 1 | 276 |
| Opponents Totals | 45 | 40 | 45 | 88.9 | 21 | 34 | 61.8 | 1 | 375 |
| FIELD GOALS | MADE | ATT | PCT | BL | LG | 1-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matt Bahr | 13 | 20 | 65.0 | 1 | 39 | 3/3 | 5/5 | 5/9 | 0/2 | 0/1 |
| Dave Jacobs | 4 | 12 | 33.3 | 3 | 35 | 0/0 | 2/3 | 2/6 | 0/1 | 0/2 |
| Steve Cox | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/1 | |
| Team Totals | 17 | 33 | 51.5 | 4 | 39 | 3/3 | 7/8 | 7/15 | 0/3 | 0/4 |
| Opponents Totals | 21 | 34 | 61.8 | 1/1 | 8/12 | 6/9 | 5/11 | 1/1 |
| RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Pruitt | 247 | 1103 | 4.5 | 21 | 7 |
| Charles White | 97 | 342 | 3.5 | 26 | 1 |
| Cleo Miller | 52 | 165 | 3.2 | 13 | 2 |
| Brian Sipe | 38 | 153 | 4.0 | 22 | 1 |
| Greg Pruitt | 31 | 124 | 4.0 | 15 | 0 |
| Calvin Hill | 4 | 23 | 5.8 | 9 | 0 |
| Ozzie Newsome | 2 | 20 | 10.0 | 14 | 0 |
| Paul McDonald | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 0 |
| Ricky Feacher | 1 | -1 | -1.0 | -1 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 474 | 1929 | 4.1 | 26 | 11 |
| Opponents Totals | 516 | 2078 | 4.0 | 79t | 14 |
| PASSING | ATT | COM | PCT | INC | YDS | Y/ATT | Y/COM | LG | TD | TD% | INT | INT% | TS | YL | NYP | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brian Sipe | 567 | 313 | 55.2 | 229 | 3876 | 6.8 | 12.4 | 62 | 17 | 3.0 | 25 | 4.4 | 34 | 310 | 3566 | 68.2 |
| Paul McDonald | 57 | 35 | 61.4 | 20 | 463 | 8.1 | 13.2 | 46 | 4 | 7.0 | 2 | 3.5 | 6 | 43 | 420 | 95.9 |
| Team Totals | 624 | 348 | 55.8 | 249 | 4339 | 7.0 | 12.5 | 62 | 21 | 3.4 | 27 | 4.3 | 40 | 353 | 3986 | 70.7 |
| Opponents Totals | 469 | 275 | 58.6 | 179 | 3512 | 7.5 | 12.8 | 60t | 28 | 6.0 | 15 | 3.2 | 29 | 223 | 3289 | 88.7 |
| RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ozzie Newsome | 69 | 1002 | 14.5 | 62 | 6 | 0 | |||
| Greg Pruitt | 65 | 636 | 9.8 | 33 | 4 | 0 | |||
| Mike Pruitt | 63 | 442 | 7.0 | 21 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Dave Logan | 31 | 497 | 16.0 | 40t | 4 | 0 | |||
| Ricky Feacher | 29 | 654 | 22.6 | 48 | 3 | 0 | |||
| Reggie Rucker | 27 | 532 | 19.7 | 49 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Charles White | 27 | 219 | 8.1 | 21 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Calvin Hill | 17 | 150 | 8.8 | 23 | 2 | 0 | |||
| Cleo Miller | 16 | 139 | 8.7 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Dan Fulton | 2 | 38 | 19.0 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Willis Adams | 1 | 24 | 24.0 | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| McDonald Oden | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 348 | 4339 | 12.5 | 62 | 21 | ||||
| Opponents Totals | 275 | 3512 | 12.8 | 60t | 28 |
| INTERCEPTIONS | INT | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clarence Scott | 4 | 46 | 11.5 | 26 | 0 |
| Thom Darden | 3 | 68 | 22.7 | 45 | 0 |
| Judson Flint | 2 | 33 | 16.5 | 33 | 0 |
| Clay Matthews | 2 | 14 | 7.0 | 8 | 0 |
| Ron Bolton | 1 | 3 | 3.0 | 3 | 0 |
| Don Goode | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 |
| Dick Ambrose | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Logan | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 15 | 165 | 11.0 | 45 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 27 | 347 | 12.9 | 82t | 1 |
| PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | LG | BL | TB | I20 | RYDS | NYDS | NET |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Cox | 68 | 2884 | 42.4 | 66 | 2 | 12 | 11 | 253 | 2391 | 34.2 |
| Team Totals | 70 | 2884 | 41.2 | 66 | 2 | 12 | 11 | 253 | 2391 | 34.2 |
| Opponents Totals | 78 | 3173 | 40.7 | 59 | 0 | 6 | 20 | 369 | 2684 | 34.4 |
| PUNT RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dino Hall | 33 | 6 | 248 | 7.5 | 40 | 0 |
| Cleo Montgomery | 17 | 0 | 121 | 7.1 | 17 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 50 | 6 | 369 | 7.4 | 40 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 30 | 4 | 253 | 8.4 | 34 | 0 |
| KICKOFF RETURNS | NO | FC | YDS | AVG | LG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dino Hall | 36 | 0 | 813 | 22.6 | 48 | 0 |
| Cleo Montgomery | 14 | 0 | 334 | 23.9 | 38 | 0 |
| Charles White | 12 | 0 | 243 | 20.3 | 32 | 0 |
| Greg Pruitt | 3 | 0 | 82 | 27.3 | 30 | 0 |
| Cleo Miller | 3 | 0 | 35 | 11.7 | 22 | 0 |
| Thomas Brown | 2 | 0 | 17 | 8.5 | 10 | 0 |
| Eddie Johnson | 1 | 0 | 7 | 7.0 | 7 | 0 |
| Matt Miller | 1 | 0 | 6 | 6.0 | 6 | 0 |
| Team Totals | 72 | 0 | 1537 | 21.3 | 48 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 45 | 1156 | 25.7 | 88 | 0 |
| SACKS | NO | YDS |
|---|---|---|
| Lyle Alzado | 8.5 | |
| Clay Matthews | 5.0 | |
| Don Goode | 3.5 | |
| Thomas Brown | 3.0 | |
| Robert Jackson | 2.0 | |
| Mike Robinson | 2.0 | |
| Marshall Harris | 2.0 | |
| Clarence Scott | 1.0 | |
| Elvis Franks | 1.0 | |
| Team Totals | 29.0 | 223.0 |
| Opponents Totals | 40.0 | 353.0 |
| FUMBLES | NO | LOST | OWN | OPP | REC | YDS | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lyle Alzado | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Dick Ambrose | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Autry Beamon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Ron Bolton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Henry Bradley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Thomas Brown | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Thom Darden | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Dino Hall | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Calvin Hill | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Robert Jackson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Eddie Johnson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Clay Matthews | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 0 |
| Paul McDonald | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Cleo Montgomery | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Greg Pruitt | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Mike Pruitt | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Mike Robinson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Clarence Scott | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Brian Sipe | 10 | 4 | 0 | 4 | -39 | 0 | |
| Gerry Sullivan | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Charles White | 8 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 38 | 27 | 11 | 20 | 31 | -18 | 0 |
| Opponents Totals | 31 | 20 | 10 | 26 | 36 | 2 |
| Player Deaths |
| NFL Boxscores |
| NFL Game Officials |
| NFL Training Camps |
| NFL Roster Limits |
| Pro Football Hall of Fame |
| Super Bowl Scores |
| Privacy Policy |
| ©2006-2025 Pro Football Archives. All Rights Reserved. |
| Last Updated: November 15, 2025 |