1967 Cleveland Browns season

1967 Cleveland Browns season
Head coach	Blanton Collier
Home field	Cleveland Stadium
Results
Record	9–5–0
Division place	1st NFL Century
Playoff finish	Lost Eastern Conference Championship, lost NFL Playoff Bowl

The 1967 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 18th season with the National Football League. The Browns were back in the playoffs after a one-year absence. They finished 9–5, the same as in 1966, but this time, it was good enough for them to get in as they won the Century Division championship in the first year of play after the NFL split the Eastern and Western conferences into two divisions each. The division race wasn't even close, as the Browns finished two games ahead of the runner-up New York Giants (7–7), their old arch rival in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Running Back Leroy Kelly went over 1,000 yards rushing for the second straight time, getting 1,205 to go along with 11 touchdowns, while Ernie Green, now out of the shadow of Jim Brown, went over 700 yards for the second year in a row, getting 710. Quarterback Frank Ryan, the architect of the 27–0 1964 NFL title game victory over the Baltimore Colts, was in his last full season as a starter. He had 20 TD passes and 16 interceptions. But Ryan, with his body, especially his shoulder, beat up, gave way to Bill Nelsen early the next year.

The 52–14 playoff loss to Dallas in the Eastern Conference title contest caused Browns head coach Blanton Collier to re-shape his team at other positions as well, as new players were brought in to replace some of the fading stars who had carried the club for years. For instance, this was the last season for Hall of Fame place-kicker Lou Groza, who retired for the second time – this time for good – after making 11 of 23 field-goal tries. Groza, the last member of the original Browns from the team's inception in 1946, would retire after 21 seasons, followed the next season by another Hall of Fame kicker, Don Cockroft.

Offseason

NFL Draft

The following were selected in the 1967 NFL Draft.

Round	Overall	Player	Position	School/Club Team
1	18	Bob Matheson	Linebacker	Duke
2	46	Larry Conjar	Running Back	Notre Dame
3	55	Don Cockroft	Kicker	Adams State
3	72	Eppie Barney	Flanker	Iowa State
4	83	Carl Ward	Defensive Back	Michigan
4	98	Joe Taffoni	Tackle	Tennessee-Martin
6	152	John Demarie	Guard	LSU
7	177	Bill House	Tackle	Youngstown State
8	205	Bill Devrow	Defensive Back	Southern Mississippi
9	230	Cecil Dowdy	Linebacker	Alabama
10	255	Jim Copeland	Center	Virginia
11	282	Bill Sabatino	Defensive Tackle	Colorado
12	308	Charlie Fowler	Guard	Houston
13	333	Billy Andrews	Linebacker	Southeastern Louisiana
14	360	Floyd Rogers	Tackle	Clemson
15	386	Dennis Williamson	Defensive Back	Wisconsin-Whitewater
16	411	Don Williams	End	Akron
17	439	Ben Davis	Defensive Back	Defiance

^[1]

Exhibition schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	August 5, 1967	vs. Philadelphia Eagles at Canton	L 13-28	17,500
2	August 13, 1967	at San Francisco 49ers	L 14-42	27,482
3	August 19, 1967	at Los Angeles Rams	L 17-24	36,942
4	August 25, 1967	at Atlanta Falcons	L 31-34	52,240
5	September 2, 1967	Green Bay Packers	L 21–30	84,236
6	September 10, 1967	at Minnesota Vikings	W 42–14	40,012

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 17, 1967	Dallas Cowboys	L 14-21	81,039
2	September 24, 1967	at Detroit Lions	L 14-31	57,383
3	October 1, 1967	at New Orleans Saints	W 42–7	77,045
4	October 7, 1967	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 21–10	82,949
5	October 15, 1967	St. Louis Cardinals	W 20–16	77,813
6	October 22, 1967	Chicago Bears	W 24–0	83,183
7	October 29, 1967	at New York Giants	L 34-38	62,903
8	November 5, 1967	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 34–14	47,131
9	November 12, 1967	at Green Bay Packers	L 7-55	50,074
10	November 19, 1967	Minnesota Vikings	W 14–10	68,431
11	November 26, 1967	Washington Redskins	W 42–37	72,798
12	December 3, 1967	New York Giants	W 24–14	78,594
13	December 10, 1967	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 20–16	47,782
14	December 17, 1967	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 24-28	60,658

Game summaries

Week 14

1 2 3 4 Total Browns 7 3 0 14 24 • Eagles 0 7 7 14 28 Date: December 17 Location: Franklin Field

Playoffs

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
Eastern Conference Championship	December 24, 1967	at Dallas Cowboys	L 14-52	70,786
Playoff Bowl	January 7, 1968	N Los Angeles Rams	L 6-30	37,102

Standings

NFL Century
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Cleveland Browns	9	5	0	.643	5–1	7–3	334	297	L1
New York Giants	7	7	0	.500	5–1	7–3	369	379	W1
St. Louis Cardinals	6	7	1	.462	1–4–1	4–5–1	333	356	L2
Pittsburgh Steelers	4	9	1	.308	0–5–1	1–8–1	281	320	W1

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

Personnel

Roster

1967 Cleveland Browns roster
Quarterbacks 13 Frank Ryan 15 Gary Lane 18 Dick Shiner Running Backs 31 Charley Harraway 35 Larry Conjar 36 Nick Pietrosante FB 44 Leroy Kelly KR/PR 48 Ernie Green FB Wide Receivers 42 Paul Warfield 43 Ron Green 85 Clifton McNeil 86 Gary Collins P 87 Eppie Barney Tight Ends 41 Ralph Smith 88 Ron Duncan 89 Milt Morin		Offensive Linemen 54 Fred Hoaglin C 55 John Demarie G 60 John Wooten G 62 Joe Taffoni T 64 Jim Copeland C/G 66 Gene Hickerson G 73 Monte Clark T 77 Dick Schafrath T Defensive Linemen 69 Jim Kanicki DT 71 Walter Johnson DT 78 Frank Parker DT 80 Bill Glass DE 81 Jack Gregory DE 84 Paul Wiggin DE		Linebackers 51 Dale Lindsey MLB 52 Billy Andrews OLB 56 Bob Matheson MLB 82 Jim Houston OLB 83 Johnny Brewer OLB Defensive Backs 20 Ross Fichtner S 24 Ernie Kellermann S 27 Carl Ward CB/KR 28 Ben Davis CB/KR/PR 34 Mike Howell CB 40 Erich Barnes CB 49 George Youngblood S Special Teams 76 Lou Groza K Rookies in italics

^[2]

References

1. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1967.htm
2. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/cle/1967_roster.htm

External links

• Season summary and results at Cleveland Browns.com