1981 Cleveland Browns season

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 defeats, their longest losing streak since 1975, and dropped seven of their final eight games. By contrast, in 1980, the Browns enjoyed a five-game winning streak.

1981 Cleveland Browns season
Owner	Art Modell
Head coach	Sam Rutigliano
Home field	Cleveland Municipal Stadium
Local radio	WHK
Results
Record	5–11
Division place	4th AFC Central
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	None
← 1980 Browns seasons 1982 →

1975-1995 Cleveland Browns Script

Season summary

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.^[1]

Ironically, through 2023 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.

Offseason

NFL Draft

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

^[2]

Personnel

Staff / Coaches

1981 Cleveland Browns staff

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

Roster

1981 Cleveland Browns final roster

	Quarterbacks 16 Paul McDonald 17 Brian Sipe Running backs 35 Calvin Hill 30 Cleo Miller FB 34 Greg Pruitt 43 Mike Pruitt FB 25 Charles White Wide receivers 80 Willis Adams 83 Ricky Feacher 86 Danny Fulton 85 Dave Logan 33 Reggie Rucker Tight ends 82 Ozzie Newsome 84 McDonald Oden 87 Curtis Weathers LB		Offensive linemen 64 Joe DeLamielleure G 54 Tom DeLeone C 73 Doug Dieken T 68 Robert E. Jackson G 71 Matt Miller T 63 Cody Risien T 65 Henry Sheppard G 79 Gerry Sullivan C/T Defensive linemen 77 Lyle Alzado DE 91 Henry Bradley DT 97 Thomas Brown DE 94 Elvis Franks DE 90 Marshall Harris DE 92 Mike Robinson DE 72 Jerry Sherk DT		Linebackers 52 Dick Ambrose ILB 50 Don Goode OLB 58 Bruce Huther ILB 56 Robert L. Jackson ILB 51 Eddie Johnson ILB 57 Clay Matthews Jr. OLB Defensive backs 24 Autry Beamon FS 28 Ron Bolton CB 49 Clinton Burrell SS/CB 27 Thom Darden FS 29 Hanford Dixon CB 20 Judson Flint CB 48 Lawrence Johnson CB 22 Clarence Scott SS 12 Rick Trocano FS/QB Special teams  9 Matt Bahr K 15 Steve Cox P 26 Dino Hall KR/PR 10 Dave Jacobs K 24 Cleo Montgomery KR/PR		Reserve lists 53 Bill Cowher ILB (IRTooltip Injured reserve) 68 Joel Patten T (IRTooltip Injured reserve) Practice squad 75 Ray Bloch T -- Chuck Correal C 27 Gary Davis RB Rookies in italics , 3 practice squad

^[3]

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 7	San Diego Chargers	L 14–44	0–1	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	78,904	Recap
2	September 13	Houston Oilers	L 3–9	0–2	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	79,483	Recap
3	September 20	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 20–17	1–2	Riverfront Stadium	52,170	Recap
4	September 27	Atlanta Falcons	W 28–17	2–2	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	78,283	Recap
5	October 4	at Los Angeles Rams	L 16–27	2–3	Anaheim Stadium	63,924	Recap
6	October 11	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 7–13	2–4	Three Rivers Stadium	53,255	Recap
7	October 18	New Orleans Saints	W 20–17	3–4	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	76,059	Recap
8	October 25	Baltimore Colts	W 42–28	4–4	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	78,986	Recap
9	November 1	at Buffalo Bills	L 13–22	4–5	Rich Stadium	78,266	Recap
10	November 8	at Denver Broncos	L 20–23 (OT)	4–6	Mile High Stadium	74,859	Recap
11	November 15	at San Francisco 49ers	W 15–12	5–6	Candlestick Park	52,455	Recap
12	November 22	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 10–32	5–7	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	77,958	Recap
13	November 29	Cincinnati Bengals	L 21–41	5–8	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	75,186	Recap
14	December 3	at Houston Oilers	L 13–17	5–9	Houston Astrodome	44,502	Recap
15	December 12	New York Jets	L 13–14	5–10	Cleveland Municipal Stadium	56,866	Recap
16	December 20	at Seattle Seahawks	L 21–42	5–11	Kingdome	51,435	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC Central
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
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

Game summaries

Week 4: vs. Atlanta

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Falcons	3	7	0	7	17
Browns	0	21	7	0	28

Game information

First quarter ATL – Luckhurst 35 yard field goal Falcons 3, Browns 0 Second quarter ATL – Jenkins 18 yard pass from Bartkowski (Luckhurst kick) Falcons 10, Browns 0 CLE – Pruitt 13 yard pass from Sipe (Jacobs kick) Browns 14, Falcons 10 CLE – Newsome 23 yard pass from Sipe (Jacobs kick) Browns 21, Falcons 10 CLE – Sipe 1 yard rush (Jacobs kick) Browns 21, Falcons 10 Third quarter CLE – Pruitt 1 yard rush (Jacobs kick) Browns 28, Falcons 10 Fourth quarter ATL – Jenkins 5 yard pass from Bartkowski (Luckhurst kick) Browns 28, Falcons 17 Top passers ATL – Steve Bartkowski 12/30, 176 yds, 2 TD, 2 INT CLE – Brian Sipe 21/34, 215 yds, 2 TD, 2 INT Top rushers ATL – William Andrews 16 carr, 97 yds CLE – Mike Pruitt, 20 carr, 99 yds, 1 TD Top receivers ATL – Alfred Jenkins 6 rec, 136 yds, 2 TD CLE – Ozzie Newsome 6 rec, 78 yds, 1 TD Turnovers ATL – 4 CLE – 5

Week 4: Atlanta Falcons at Cleveland Browns – Game summary

at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

• Date: September 27
• Game time: 1:00 p.m. EDT
• Game weather: 70 °F (21 °C), relative humidity 56%, round (wind) 17 mph (27 km/h)
• Game attendance: 78,283
• Referee: Jerry Markbreit
• TV announcers (CBS): Vin Scully (play–by–play) and John Madden (color commentator)

References

1. "Season summary and statistics at Cleveland Browns.com". Archived from the original on October 25, 2011. Retrieved March 8, 2012.
2. "1981 NFL Draft Listing – Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on April 14, 2009. Retrieved July 24, 2009.
3. "1981 Cleveland Browns Starters, Roster, & Players". Pro-Football-Reference.com.

External links

• 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