1946 Cleveland Browns season

The Browns' first game, against the Miami Seahawks, took place on a warm late-summer evening in September. The crowd was the second-largest ever for a professional football game.[25] The game was well-attended in part because of team owner Arthur B. McBride's promotion of the new team, but also because the Browns' two black players helped draw a large African-American crowd.[26] Miami's team, drawn mainly from the Southern United States, was overmatched by Cleveland.[27] The score was 27–0 at halftime and the final was 44–0.[28] Browns end Mac Speedie scored the team's first points on a 19-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Cliff Lewis.[28] Otto Graham came in at quarterback in the second quarter and threw a touchdown to Dante Lavelli. Placekicker Lou Groza kicked three field goals, and the Browns had two defensive touchdowns.[28] Miami never advanced past the Browns' 39-yard line.[29]

In their second game, the Browns faced the Chicago Rockets at Soldier Field before a crowd of 51,962 people, an attendance record for a professional football game in Chicago.[28] It was the first of many games during which Cleveland's two black players, Marion Motley and Bill Willis, endured racially charged verbal and physical abuse.[30] Some of their white teammates, including Lou Rymkus, retaliated by dealing their own cheap shots.[30] Motley opened the scoring with a 20-yard run for a touchdown, the first in his career.[31] Lou Groza added two field goals in the third quarter, and halfback Don Greenwood ran for a 41-yard touchdown to make the final score 20–6. Chicago's only points came on a touchdown run by Billy Hillenbrand on the first play of the fourth quarter.[32] Motley later said that racism on the field stopped after opponents saw how well he and Willis played: "They found out that while they were calling us niggers and alligator bait, I was running for touchdowns and Willis was knocking the shit out of them. So they stopped calling us names and started trying to catch up with us."[31]

The Browns next played the Buffalo Bisons in Buffalo, New York. Just over 30,000 people watched the game; while this was a lower total than the Browns' previous two games, it set a professional football attendance record in Buffalo.[33] Playing in 80-degree heat, Browns quarterback Otto Graham threw two touchdowns in the first quarter to John Yonakor and Marion Motley.[33] Cleveland scored for a third time in the first quarter when Cliff Lewis, substituting for Graham, pitched a lateral to Gaylon Smith, who ran it in for a touchdown.[33] After neither team scored in the second and third quarters, the Browns added a fourth touchdown on Chet Adams' fumble return.[33] Al Dekdebrun, Buffalo's second-string quarterback, fumbled at the Bisons' 34-yard line and Adams picked it up and ran for a touchdown.[33] The Bisons were held scoreless despite having more first downs than the Browns. The team played without its primary rushing threat, Steve Juzwik, who was sidelined with a pulled leg muscle.[33]

Cleveland got off to a strong start against the New York Yankees, scoring two touchdowns in the first nine minutes.[34] Interceptions by Don Greenwood and center Mike Scarry set up the scores.[34] The Yankees came back with a touchdown of their own later in the first quarter after recovering a Graham fumble at Cleveland's 14-yard line.[34] Neither team scored in the second and third quarters, but the Browns added to their lead in the fourth.[34] Lou Groza kicked a field goal and Edgar "Special Delivery" Jones ran up the middle for a 43-yard touchdown with less than three minutes left in the game.[34] The final score was 24–7; it was the Yankees' first loss of the season and left the Browns as the only unbeaten and untied team in the AAFC.[34] After the game, Yankees coach Ray Flaherty criticized his team for losing to a "Podunk team with a high school coach".[35] The threat of bad weather kept attendance down, but the gross ticket receipts of $138,673 still marked the third-best take for a professional football game in history.[34]

The Browns won their fifth game in a row against the Brooklyn Dodgers, 26–7.[36] Halfback Don Greenwood scored two touchdowns, one in the first quarter and another in the second. Tommy Colella added a third touchdown in the final quarter on a four-yard rush.[36] Groza added a field goal and made all of his extra points, bringing his season scoring total to 38 and his string of consecutive extra points without a miss to 17.[36] Edgar "Special Delivery" Jones intercepted a pass thrown by Dodgers quarterback Glenn Dobbs, and Lou Saban intercepted two more.[36] Both of Saban's interceptions led to Browns scores.[36] The Browns' defense held the Dodgers to just 37 yards of rushing.[36] Bob Steuber, a Browns halfback, suffered a rib injury in the game and was expected to be out for two weeks.[36]

The Browns won their second matchup against the Yankees 7–0 amid a heavy downpour.[35] The weather kept attendance to 34,252, but raised Cleveland's season attendance total over 300,000 people including its preseason game at the Akron Rubber Bowl.[37] The only score of the game came in the third quarter, when quarterback Otto Graham passed to Dante Lavelli for a 33-yard touchdown.[37] Cleveland won despite being outplayed by the Yankees statistically. The Yankees had 10 first downs to the Browns' five, and had 237 yards of total offense to just 67 yards for the Browns.[37] Cleveland was held to just 24 yards of rushing, and Marion Motley, the team's star fullback, rushed for minus eight yards in six attempts.[37] The Yankees threatened to tie the game at the end of the fourth quarter, driving to the Cleveland 16-yard line. New York's pass attempts failed, however, giving the Browns the victory.[37] It was Cleveland's sixth win in a row.[37]

The Browns next beat the Los Angeles Dons 31–14 in Cleveland to extend their winning streak to seven games.[38] The crowd of 71,134 people who attended the game on a sunny October day was a professional football record.[38] Cleveland got off to a slow start, falling behind 7–3 at halftime. The Browns' only score in the first half came on a 49-yard Lou Groza field goal, then the fourth-longest kick in professional football history.[38] A flurry of scoring at the end of the third quarter and in the fourth quarter, however, won Cleveland the game.[38] Otto Graham passed 36 yards to end Dante Lavelli and then ran in a touchdown with less than three minutes left in the third.[38] It was the first of four touchdowns in 14 minutes of play.[38] Fullback Marion Motley ran in two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, one of them a 68-yard run that tied an AAFC record for a rush from scrimmage.[38] The Browns won despite a strong ground attack by the Dons, who gained 274 yards of rushing.[38] The Dons had 21 first downs compared to Cleveland's 10.[38] Groza made all of his extra point attempts, extending his streak to 22 in a row.[38]

The Browns suffered their first defeat of the season at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers before a crowd of 70,385 in Cleveland.[39] The 49ers led throughout the game, helped by three touchdown passes from left-handed quarterback Frankie Albert.[40] Albert's main target was Alyn Beals, a former Santa Clara University star who caught two of his passes for touchdowns.[39] Kicker Joe Vetrano added to the 49ers lead with a pair of field goals in the first half.[39] Don Greenwood ran for a Browns touchdown in the second quarter, but the extra point was botched. The snap was high and went into kicker Lou Groza's arms. He tried to run with the ball but suffered a back injury when he was tackled short of the end zone.[39] Cliff Lewis was also injured in the second quarter, twisting his knee badly. He was taken to a hospital.[39] The Browns ran only 24 offensive plays in the first half, and the 49ers were ahead by 14 points by halftime.[39] Despite losing 34–20, the Browns matched the 49ers statistically, with 338 total yards to San Francisco's 357.[39] Marion Motley, who had been the AAFC's leading rusher before the game, was held to 22 yards.[39]

Cleveland next lost its second straight game, against the Los Angeles Dons in Los Angeles.[40] The Dons opened the scoring on the first play from scrimmage after the Browns kicked off. Chuck Fenenbock ran the ball 75 yards for a touchdown.[41] Cleveland came back to build a 16–7 lead at halftime, but Groza missed his first extra point in 24 tries after Bill Lund ran for a touchdown in the second quarter.[40][41] The missed extra point proved to be the difference in the game. Los Angeles went back on top in the fourth quarter with a Dale Gentry run for a touchdown and a field goal by Joe Aquirre with just 18 seconds left and won by one point, 17–16.[41] A fumble by Browns halfback Ray Terrell at the Los Angeles 35-yard line in the fourth quarter gave the Dons the ball and led to Aquirre's game-winning field goal.[41] Cleveland's running game stalled for the second game in a row; the team gained only 43 yards rushing.[41] Bill Willis, the Browns' defensive star, sat out the entire game with a strep infection. Two other Browns players, Bob Steuber and Alex Kapter, suffered leg injuries and were helped off the field.[41]

The Browns won their rematch with San Francisco 14–7 two weeks after losing to the 49ers at home.[40] Cleveland rebounded from two poor rushing games. Runs by halfback Bill Lund and fullback Marion Motley set up touchdowns in the first half. Lund had a series of successful carries that set up the first touchdown in the first quarter, a short pass to Dante Lavelli from Otto Graham.[42] Motley's 64-yard run in the second quarter was followed by a three-yard touchdown run by Gaylon Smith.[42] Lund, however, turned his ankle in the first quarter and did not return to the game. Motley also suffered a pulled leg muscle in the second quarter and played sparingly thereafter.[42] The 49ers came back in the fourth quarter with strong rushing from fullback Norm Standlee and Earle Parsons.[42] Frankie Albert scored the team's lone touchdown on a one-yard run.[42] San Francisco threatened to tie the game, reaching the Cleveland 19-yard line with five minutes to play, but the Browns defense stood firm and stopped the advance.[42] The win put the Browns two games ahead of the 49ers in the AAFC's western conference with four games to play.[42]

Cleveland beat the Rockets 51–14 at home before a crowd of 60,457, the fourth time during the season that attendance at Cleveland Stadium surpassed 60,000 people.[43] The Browns led from start to finish, and Lavelli and Speedie had two touchdown receptions each.[43] Graham's four touchdown passes helped the Browns reach an AAFC scoring record.[44] Bud Schwenk made his first appearance in the fourth quarter of the game, substituting for Graham as the game turned into a blowout.[44] He threw for a fifth touchdown, a 20-yard pass to Bill Lund.[44] Edgar Jones added to Cleveland's scoring with a touchdown run in the first quarter, and center Frank Gatski scored the team's final touchdown in the fourth quarter after intercepting a pass and running it back 36 yards.[44] It was the only touchdown of Gatski's 12-year career.[43] Groza made a 51-yard field goal, the longest of the year in either the National Football League or AAFC, and kicked through six of the team's seven extra points.[43][44] The seventh extra point was blocked, only the second time he missed a conversion in 33 tries.[44] The Rockets managed two touchdowns, the first by Elroy Hirsch on an 81-yard drive in the second quarter and the second on a 76-yard punt return in the third quarter.[44]

Cleveland clinched first place in the AAFC's western division and earned a spot in the championship game by beating the Bisons 42–17.[43] The Browns fell behind 10–7 in the first quarter, but subsequently scored 35 unanswered points.[43] Edgar Jones scored two touchdowns, while Motley ran 76 yards for another score.[43] Al Akins and Bud Schwenk had their only touchdowns of the season, playing in the fourth quarter after the Browns amassed a large lead.[43] Despite the Browns' large margin of victory, the game was evenly matched; Cleveland's scores came mostly on breakaway plays.[45] The Bisons had 19 first downs, nine more than the Browns, although the Browns out-gained the Bisons with 455 total yards.[43][45] The game was marred by numerous penalties against both teams for unnecessary roughness, and the Bisons' kicker Lou Zontini and Browns halfback Ray Terrell were ejected after getting into a fight at midfield in the second quarter.[45] A total of 37,054 people attended the game, the lowest figure for a Browns home game at that point in the season.[45]

Despite traveling without key players Marion Motley and Bill Willis because of Florida's segregation laws, Cleveland beat Miami in a shutout for the second time in the season, winning 34–0.[46] Fueled by the ire the entire team felt because of leaving friends behind, Otto Graham opened the scoring with a 37-yard interception return for a touchdown and the Browns never looked back. Three other Browns players – Edgar Jones, Gaylon Smith and Gene Fekete – ran for touchdowns.[47] Fekete's touchdown was the only one of his short professional career.[46] Groza kicked two field goals, giving him 12 on the season and tying the all-time professional record set in 1926 by Paddy Driscoll.[46] Cleveland led Miami in all phases of the game, amassing 159 yards rushing to Miami's eight and 233 yards of total offense. Miami gained a total of 46 yards rushing and passing.[47] As the Browns prepared to face the Dodgers in the last game of the regular season, they looked ahead to a matchup in the AAFC championship in Cleveland on December 22 with the New York Yankees, the winners the eastern division.[47]

The last game of the Browns' regular season was a 66–14 win over the Dodgers.[46] Nine different Cleveland players scored touchdowns in the game. The Browns' point total set an AAFC scoring record.[48] Groza kicked a field goal to reach 13 for the season, exceeding Driscoll's all-time record.[46] He also kicked four extra points, bringing his total for the season to 45 and beating the previous professional record of 42.[46] Groza, however, injured his left ankle in the third quarter while making a tackle and had to be carried off the field.[48] Substituting for Groza, Chet Adams kicked through five more extra points.[48] Otto Graham played less than half of the game as Cleveland built a large lead, and Cliff Lewis and Bud Schwenk substituted for him in the second half.[48] The Browns ended the game with several injured players at key positions. In addition to Groza, halfbacks Ray Terrell, Don Greenwood and Al Akins had to sit out because of injuries.[48] The win gave Cleveland a 12–2 record as they prepared to face the Yankees in the championship game.[48]