1954 Cleveland Browns season

1954 Cleveland Browns season
Head coach	Paul Brown
Home field	Cleveland Stadium
Results
Record	9–3–0
Division place	1st NFL American
Playoff finish	Won NFL Championship

The 1954 Cleveland Browns season was the team's fifth season with the National Football League. The Browns' defense became the first defense in the history of the NFL to lead the league in fewest rushing yards allowed, fewest passing yards allowed and fewest total yards allowed.^[1] Assistant coach Weeb Ewbank left the club to coach the Baltimore Colts.^[2]

Offseason

Defensive Back Don Paul arrived via a trade with the Washington Redskins. The Redskins acquired Paul from the Chicago Cardinals. Upon his arrival in Washington, he fell in disfavour with George Preston Marshall of the Redskins.^[3]

NFL Draft

The 1954 NFL Draft was one of the biggest busts in Browns history. With the first overall pick in the draft, the Browns selected quarterback Bobby Garrett out of Stanford University. The plan was that he would be the heir to Otto Graham. Garrett suffered from a stuttering problem which hindered his performance in the huddle. Eventually, Garrett would be traded to the Green Bay Packers in exchange for Babe Parilli, although Parilli would not play for the Browns until 1958.^[3] Later in the first round, the club selected John Bauer. He would never play for the Browns and only played in two NFL games in his career.^[3]

Exhibition Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	August 21, 1954	at Green Bay Packers	W 14–13	15,747
2	August 27, 1954	at Los Angeles Rams	L 38–10	58,567
3	September 5, 1954	at San Francisco 49ers	L 38–21	46,877
4	September 10, 1954	vs. Detroit Lions at Dallas	L 56–31	42,000
5	September 18, 1954	Chicago Bears	L 35–7	17,631

Regular Season Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 26, 1954	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 28–10	26,546
2	October 10, 1954	Chicago Cardinals	W 31–7	24,101
3	October 17, 1954	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 55–27	33,262
4	October 24, 1954	at Chicago Cardinals	W 35–3	23,823
5	October 31, 1954	New York Giants	W 24–14	30,448
6	November 7, 1954	Washington Redskins	W 62–3	25,158
7	November 14, 1954	at Chicago Bears	W 39–10	48,773
8	November 21, 1954	Philadelphia Eagles	W 6–0	41,537
9	November 28, 1954	at New York Giants	W 16–7	45,936
10	December 5, 1954	at Washington Redskins	W 34–14	21,761
11	December 12, 1954	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 42–7	28,064
12	December 19, 1954	Detroit Lions	L 14–10	34,168

Playoff

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
Championship	December 26, 1954	Detroit Lions	W 56–10	43,827

Standings

NFL Eastern Conference
	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Cleveland Browns	9	3	0	.750	8–2	336	162	L1
Philadelphia Eagles	7	4	1	.636	7–3	284	230	W1
New York Giants	7	5	0	.583	7–3	293	184	L1
Pittsburgh Steelers	5	7	0	.417	4–6	219	263	L2
Washington Redskins	3	9	0	.250	2–8	207	432	W1
Chicago Cardinals	2	10	0	.167	2–8	183	347	L3

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Roster

1954 Cleveland Browns roster

Quarterbacks

14 Otto Graham
16 George Ratterman

Running Backs

54 Tony Adamle (LB)
38 Maurice Bassett (FB)
46 Billy Reynolds (RB, DB)
32 Fred Morrison
44 Chet Hanulak

Wide Receivers

26 Ray Renfro
56 Dante Lavelli
40 Dub Jones (WB, DB, RB, KR)
94 Don Phelps (KR, PR)

Tight Ends

82 Pete Brewster
56 Dante Lavelli E (RE)

Offensive Linemen

74 Mike McCormack LT (DL)
76 Lou Groza RT (K)
64 Abe Gibron G/C
Chuck Noll RG
52 Frank Gatski C
62 Herschel Forester
78 John Sandusky
60 Harold Bradley

Defensive Linemen

82 Carlton Massey DE
70 Don Colo DE
79 Bob Gain DL (T)
83 Doug Atkins DE
80 Len Ford DE
79 Don King DL
72 John Kissell DE

Linebackers

65 Chuck Noll LB (G,C)
54 Tom Caitlin (C)
34 Walt Michaels
54 Tony Adamle

Defensive Backs

42 Tommy James
20 Don Paul
22 Ken Konz DB
15 Ken Gorgal DB

Special Teams

76 Lou Groza K (RT)
84 Horace Gillom P (DE)

Reserve Lists

N/A

References

↑ The Best Show in Football:The 1946–1955 Cleveland Browns, p.294, Andy Piascik, Taylor Trade Publishing, 2007, ISBN 978-1-58979-360-6
↑ The Best Show in Football:The 1946–1955 Cleveland Browns, p.310, Andy Piascik, Taylor Trade Publishing, 2007, ISBN 978-1-58979-360-6
1 2 3 The Best Show in Football:The 1946–1955 Cleveland Browns, p.308, Andy Piascik, Taylor Trade Publishing, 2007, ISBN 978-1-58979-360-6

Cleveland Browns seasons

1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Bold indicates AAFC championship (through 1949) or NFL championship

Cleveland Browns 1954 NFL champions

14 Otto Graham 15 Ken Gorgal 16 George Ratterman 20 Don Paul 22 Kenny Konz 24 Warren Lahr 26 Ray Renfro 32 Curly Morrison 34 Walt Michaels 38 Mo Bassett 40 Dub Jones 42 Tommy James 44 Chet Hanulak 46 Billy Reynolds 50 Tom Catlin 52 Frank Gatski 54 Tony Adamle 60 Harold Bradley, Jr. 62 Herschel Forester 64 Abe Gibron 65 Chuck Noll 70 Don Colo 72 John Kissell 74 Mike McCormack 76 Lou Groza 78 John Sandusky 79 Bob Gain 79 Don King 80 Len Ford 82 Carlton Massey 83 Doug Atkins 84 Horace Gillom 86 Dante Lavelli 88 Pete Brewster — Quincy Armstrong

Head Coach: Paul Brown

Assistant Coaches: Paul Bixler Howard Brinker Fritz Heisler Ed Ulinski

Cleveland Browns

Founded in 1946 Based in Cleveland, Ohio Headquartered in Berea, Ohio

Franchise	History Players Head coaches Seasons Logos and uniforms First-round draft picks 1999 expansion draft

Stadiums	Cleveland Stadium FirstEnergy Stadium

Key personnel	Owners: Jimmy Haslam Dee Haslam President (de facto): Paul DePodesta General manager (de facto): Sashi Brown Head coach: Hue Jackson

Culture and lore	Art Modell Cleveland sports curse Dawg Pound Draft Day Hot Tub Time Machine Kardiac Kids Paul Brown Marty Ball Red Right 88 Relocation controversy "The Best Man" The Drive The Express The Fortune Cookie The Fumble

Rivalries	Cincinnati Bengals Pittsburgh Steelers

Playoff appearances (28)	1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1957 1958 1964 1965 1967 1968 1969 1971 1972 1980 1982 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1994 2002

Division titles (12)	1946 1947 1948 1967 1968 1969 1971 1980 1985 1986 1987 1989

Conference titles (11)	1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1957 1964 1965 1968 1969

League titles (8)	1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1954 1955 1964

Retired numbers	14 32 45 46 76

Hall of Fame inductees	Players: Brown DeLamielleure Ford Gatski Graham Groza Hickerson Kelly Lavelli McCormack Mitchell Motley Newsome Warfield Willis Coach: Brown

Media	Broadcasters Radio network Flagships: WKNR WKRK-FM WNCX Television: WEWS-TV

Current league affiliations	League: National Football League (1950–present) Conference: American Football Conference Division: North Division

Former league affiliation	League: All-America Football Conference (1946–1949)

Seasons (67)	1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Championship seasons in bold

1954 NFL season

Eastern Conference	CHI Cardinals	Philadelphia	Baltimore	Green Bay	Western Conference
	Cleveland	Pittsburgh	CHI Bears	Los Angeles
	New York	Washington	Detroit	San Francisco

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