1976 Cleveland Browns season

1976 Cleveland Browns season
Head coach	Forrest Gregg
Owner	Art Modell
Home field	Cleveland Municipal Stadium
Results
Record	9–5
Division place	3rd AFC Central
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1976 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 27th season with the National Football League. The Browns were coached by second year coach Forrest Gregg, and ended their season with a record of 9–5, being third in their division. The team's top draft choice was running back Mike Pruitt. Brian Sipe firmly took control at quarterback. Sipe had been inserted into the lineup after a Mike Phipps injury in the season-opening win against the New York Jets on September 12. After a 1–3 start brought visions of another disastrous year, the Browns jolted the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers with an 18–16 victory on October 10. Third-string quarterback Dave Mays helped lead the team to that victory, while defensive end Joe "Turkey" Jones' pile-driving sack of quarterback Terry Bradshaw fueled the heated rivalry between the two teams. That win was the first of eight in the next nine weeks, helping put the Browns in contention for the AFC playoffs. A loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the regular season finale cost them a share of the division title, but running back Greg Pruitt continued his outstanding play by rushing for exactly 1000 yards, his second-straight four-digit season.

Offseason

NFL Draft

The following were selected in the 1976 NFL Draft.

Round	Overall	Player	Position	School/Club Team
1	7	Mike Pruitt	Running Back	Purdue
3	65	Dave Logan	Wide Receiver	Colorado
4	97	Gene Swick	Quarterback	Toledo
4	99	Mike St. Clair	Defensive End	Grambling
5	130	Henry Sheppard	Guard	SMU
7	189	Steve Cassidy	Defensive Tackle	LSU
9	242	James Reed	Running Back	Mississippi
9	261	Craig Nagel	Quarterback	Purdue
10	271	Doug Kleber	Offensive Tackle	Illinois
11	297	Doug Celek	Defensive End	Kent State
13	354	Brian Murray	Offensive Tackle	Arizona
14	381	Joe Smalzer	Tight End	Illinois
15	408	Luther Philyaw	Defensive Back	Loyola(CA)
16	438	Chris Lorenzen	Defensive Tackle	Arizona State
17	464	Tom Fleming	Wide Receiver	Dartmouth

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Exhibition schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	July 31, 1976	vs. Baltimore Colts at Lincoln, Nebraska	L 21–0	20,304
2	August 7, 1976	vs. Atlanta Falcons at Stillwater, Oklahoma	W 31–7	24,227
3	August 16, 1976	Minnesota Vikings	W 31–7	44,336
4	August 23, 1976	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 21–17	20,600
5	August 30, 1976	New England Patriots	W 30–27	36,016
6	September 3, 1976	at Buffalo Bills	L 28–10	37,951

Regular season schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Results		Stadium	Attendance[2]
			Score	Record
1	September 12, 1976	New York Jets	W 38–17	1–0	Cleveland Stadium	67,496
2	September 19, 1976	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 14–31	1–1	Three Rivers Stadium	49,169
3	September 26, 1976	at Denver Broncos	L 13–44	1–2	Mile High Stadium	62,775
4	October 3, 1976	Cincinnati Bengals	L 24–45	1–3	Cleveland Stadium	75,817
5	October 10, 1976	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 18–16	2–3	Cleveland Stadium	76,411
6	October 17, 1976	at Atlanta Falcons	W 20–17	3–3	Atlanta Stadium	33,364
7	October 24, 1976	San Diego Chargers	W 21–17	4–3	Cleveland Stadium	60,018
8	October 31, 1976	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 6–21	4–4	Riverfront Stadium	54,776
9	November 7, 1976	at Houston Oilers	W 21–7	5–4	Astrodome	39,828
10	November 14, 1976	Philadelphia Eagles	W 24–3	6–4	Cleveland Stadium	62,120
11	November 21, 1976	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 24–7	7–4	Tampa Stadium	36,930
12	November 28, 1976	Miami Dolphins	W 17–13	8–4	Cleveland Stadium	74,715
13	December 5, 1976	Houston Oilers	W 13–10	9–4	Cleveland Stadium	56,025
14	December 12, 1976	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 14–39	9–5	Arrowhead Stadium	34,340

Standings

AFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Pittsburgh Steelers^(3)	10	4	0	.714	5–1	9–3	342	138	W9
Cincinnati Bengals	10	4	0	.714	4–2	8–3	335	210	W1
Cleveland Browns	9	5	0	.643	3–3	6–5	267	287	L1
Houston Oilers	5	9	0	.357	0–6	3–9	222	273	L2

Roster

1976 Cleveland Browns roster
Quarterbacks 10 Dave Mays 15 Mike Phipps 17 Brian Sipe Running Backs 30 Cleo Miller FB 34 Greg Pruitt 35 Brian Duncan 38 Larry Poole 43 Mike Pruitt FB Wide Receivers 33 Reggie Rucker 42 Paul Warfield 80 Willie Miller 83 Ricky Feacher 85 Dave Logan 88 Steve Holden Tight Ends 81 Oscar Roan 84 Gary Parris		Offensive Linemen 54 Tom DeLeone C 61 Al Dennis G 63 Barry Darrow T 65 Henry Sheppard G 68 Robert E. Jackson G 69 Pete Adams G 73 Doug Dieken T 79 Gerry Sullivan T/C Defensive Linemen 64 Joe Jones DE 66 Earl Edwards DT 70 Mack Mitchell DE 71 Walter Johnson DT 72 Jerry Sherk DT 74 Mike St. Clair DE		Linebackers 50 John Garlington OLB 52 Dick Ambrose ILB 55 Dave Graf ILB 59 Charlie Hall OLB 60 Bob Babich ILB 86 Gerald Irons OLB Defensive Backs 20 Tony Peters CB/SS 21 Van Green CB/S 22 Clarence Scott CB 23 Bill Craven S 24 Terry Brown SS 27 Thom Darden FS 28 Ron Bolton CB 49 Neal Craig SS Special Teams 12 Don Cockroft K/P Rookies in italics

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Game summaries

Week 5

1 2 3 4 Total Steelers 7 3 0 6 16 • Browns 3 3 9 3 18 Date: October 10 Location: Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, OH Game start: 1:00 p.m. EST Game attendance: 76,411 Game weather: 48°F; wind 13

Scoring summary Q1 CLE Cockroft 43 yard field goal CLE 3–0 Q1 PIT Harris 1 yard run (Gerela kick) PIT 7–3 Q2 CLE Cockroft 28 yard field goal PIT 7–6 Q2 PIT Gerela 30 yard field goal PIT 10–6 Q3 CLE Miller 1 yard run (kick failed) CLE 12–10 Q3 CLE Cockroft 50 yard field goal CLE 15–10 Q4 CLE Cockroft 40 yard field goal CLE 18–10 Q4 PIT Kruczek 22 yard run (two-point conversion failed) CLE 18–16

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Week 6: at Atlanta

Week 6: Cleveland Browns at Atlanta Falcons – Game summary

	1	2	3	4	Total
Browns	14	0	6	0	20
Falcons	0	14	3	0	17

at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta, GA

• Date: October 17
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
• Game weather: 57°F, relative humidity 78%, round (wind) 11 MPH
• Game attendance: 33,364
• TV announcers (NBC): Jay Randolph (play–by–play) and Floyd Little (color commentator)

Game information

First Quarter CLE – Pruitt 1 yard rush (Cockroft kick) Browns 7, Falcons 0 CLE – Miller 1 yard rush (Cockroft kick) Browns 14, Falcons 0 Second Quarter ATL – Bean 23 yard rush (Mike-Mayer kick) Browns 14, Falcons 7 ATL – Gilliam 18 yard pass from McQuilken (Mike-Mayer kick) Browns 14, Falcons 14 Third Quarter ATL – Mike-Mayer 33 yard field goal Falcons 17, Browns 14 CLE – Pruitt 2 yard rush (run failed) Browns 20, Falcons 17 Fourth Quarter No scoring Top passers CLE – Brian Sipe 12/18, 134 yds, 2 INT ATL – Kim McQuilken 15/28, 180 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT Top rushers CLE – Greg Pruitt 26 carr, 191 yds, 2 TD ATL – Bubba Bean 14 carr, 54 yds, 1 TD Top receivers CLE – Paul Warfield 4 rec, 69 yds ATL – Alfred Jenkins 6 rec, 74 yds Turnovers CLE – 3 ATL – 1

Notes and references

1. "1976 NFL Draft Listing – Pro-Football-Reference.com". Archived from the original on 2009-07-25. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
2. "Cleveland Browns History – 1976.". Retrieved 2010-10-24.
3. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/cle/1976_roster.htm
4. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Dec-05.