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1981 Cleveland Browns season
| 1981 Cleveland Browns season |
|---|
| Art Modell |
| Sam Rutigliano |
| Cleveland Municipal Stadium |
| 5–11 |
| 4th AFC Central |
| Did not qualify |
| TE Ozzie Newsome |
The 1981 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 32nd season with the National Football League. In a highly disappointing season filled with a number of key injuries at different stretches during the campaign, the Browns finished the year with five straight losses for their longest losing streak since 1975 in a skid that saw them lose seven of their final eight games.
The Browns had a similar kind of season in 1981—eight of the games were decided by six points or less, and five were decided by three points or less. Sipe threw more interceptions (25) than TDs (17), his completion rate fell to just over 55 percent and his quarterback rating plummeted to 68.2. FB Mike Pruitt rushed for more than 1,000 yards (1,103) for the third straight year in 1981, and caught 63 passes for the second season in a row. Tight end Ozzie Newsome set a team record (since broken) for receptions with 69 and had the second-most receiving yards in Browns history at the time with 1,002.
HB Greg Pruitt established a personal best with 65 catches.
Ironically, through 2024 the 1981 Browns are the only team since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 to have beaten both eventual Super Bowl participants, the Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers and the AFC Champion Cincinnati Bengals, while finishing with a losing record.
The following were selected in the 1981 NFL draft.
| Round | Overall | Player | Position | School/Club team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 | Hanford Dixon | Defensive back | Southern Miss |
| 4 | 92 | Mike Robinson | Defensive end | Arizona |
| 5 | 134 | Steve Cox | Punter | Arkansas |
| 6 | 160 | Ron Simmons | Defensive tackle | Florida State |
| 7 | 187 | Eddie Johnson | Linebacker | Louisville |
| 9 | 244 | Randy Schleusener | Guard | Nebraska |
| 10 | 271 | Dean Prater | Defensive end | Oklahoma State |
| 11 | 298 | Larry Friday | Defensive back | Mississippi State |
| 12 | 325 | Kevin McGill | Offensive tackle | Oregon |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 | Column 4 | Column 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Front office |
President and Owner – Art Modell Assistant to the President – Peter Hadhazy Head coaches
Head Coach – Sam Rutigliano Offensive coaches
Quarterbacks – Paul Hackett Running Backs – Jim Garrett Receivers – Rich Kotite Offensive Line – Rod Humenuik | | | Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Marty Schottenheimer Defensive Line – Tom Pratt Linebackers – Dave Adolph Defensive Backs - Len Fontes Special teams coaches
Special Teams – John Petercuskie Strength and conditioning
Strength and Conditioning – Dave Redding Director of Pro Personnel - Allan Webb Film Coordinator - Ed Ulinski Athletic Trainer - Leo Murphy |
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 | Column 4 | Column 5 | Column 6 | Column 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterbacks (QB) | ||||||
| 16 Paul McDonald | ||||||
| 17 Brian Sipe | ||||||
| 12 Rick Trocano | ||||||
| Running backs (RB) |
24 Gary Davis 26 Dino Hall 35 Calvin Hill 30 Cleo Miller 34 Greg Pruitt 43 Mike Pruitt 25 Charles White Wide receivers (WR)
83 Ricky Feacher 86 Danny Fulton 85 Dave Logan 33 Reggie Rucker Tight ends (TE)
82 Ozzie Newsome 84 McDonald Oden | | Offensive linemen (OL) 75 Ray Bloch T 64 Joe DeLamielleure G 73 Doug Dieken T
68 Robert Jackson G 71 Matt Miller T 63 Cody Risien T 65 Henry Sheppard G 79 Gerry Sullivan C Defensive linemen (DL)
77 Lyle Alzado DE 91 Henry Bradley NT 97 Thomas Brown DE 94 Elvis Franks DE 92 Mike Robinson DE 72 Jerry Sherk NT | | Linebackers (LB) 52 Dick Ambrose ILB 50 Don Goode OLB 58 Bruce Huther ILB
56 Robert Jackson ILB 51 Eddie Johnson ILB
57 Clay Matthews OLB Defensive backs (DB)
24 Autry Beamon FS 28 Ron Bolton CB 27 Thom Darden FS 29 Hanford Dixon CB 20 Judson Flint CB 48 Lawrence Johnson CB 22 Clarence Scott SS Special teams (ST)
9 Matt Bahr K 15 Steve Cox P | | Reserve
80 Willis Adams WR (IR) 49 Clinton Burrell S (IR) 53 Bill Cowher LB (IR) 54 Tom DeLeone C (IR) 41 Larry Friday S (IR) 90 Marshall Harris DE (IR) 70 Kevin McGill T (IR) 69 Joel Patten T (IR) 55 Curtis Weathers LB (IR) Rookies in italics |
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| .mw-parser-output .tooltip-dotted{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}September 7 | San Diego Chargers | L 14–44 | 0–1 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 78,904 | Recap | |
| September 13 | Houston Oilers | L 3–9 | 0–2 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 79,483 | Recap | |
| September 20 | at Cincinnati Bengals | W 20–17 | 1–2 | Riverfront Stadium | 52,170 | Recap | |
| September 27 | Atlanta Falcons | W 28–17 | 2–2 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 78,283 | Recap | |
| October 4 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 16–27 | 2–3 | Anaheim Stadium | 63,924 | Recap | |
| October 11 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 7–13 | 2–4 | Three Rivers Stadium | 53,255 | Recap | |
| October 18 | New Orleans Saints | W 20–17 | 3–4 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 76,059 | Recap | |
| October 25 | Baltimore Colts | W 42–28 | 4–4 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 78,986 | Recap | |
| November 1 | at Buffalo Bills | L 13–22 | 4–5 | Rich Stadium | 78,266 | Recap | |
| November 8 | at Denver Broncos | L 20–23 (OT) | 4–6 | Mile High Stadium | 74,859 | Recap | |
| November 15 | at San Francisco 49ers | W 15–12 | 5–6 | Candlestick Park | 52,455 | Recap | |
| November 22 | Pittsburgh Steelers | L 10–32 | 5–7 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 77,958 | Recap | |
| November 29 | Cincinnati Bengals | L 21–41 | 5–8 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 75,186 | Recap | |
| December 3 | at Houston Oilers | L 13–17 | 5–9 | Houston Astrodome | 44,502 | Recap | |
| December 12 | New York Jets | L 13–14 | 5–10 | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 56,866 | Recap | |
| December 20 | at Seattle Seahawks | L 21–42 | 5–11 | Kingdome | 51,435 | Recap | |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |
| AFC Central | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Bengals(1) | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 4–2 | 10–2 | 421 | 304 | W2 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 3–3 | 5–7 | 356 | 297 | L3 |
| Houston Oilers | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 4–2 | 6–6 | 281 | 355 | W1 |
| Cleveland Browns | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 1–5 | 2–10 | 276 | 375 | L5 |
- 1981 Cleveland Browns at Pro Football Reference
- 1981 Cleveland Browns Statistics at jt-sw.com
- 1981 Cleveland Browns Schedule at jt-sw.com
- 1981 Cleveland Browns at DatabaseFootball.com
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