1950 Cleveland Browns season
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1950 Cleveland Browns season
Head coach Paul Brown
Home field Cleveland Stadium
Local radio WERE
Results
Record 10–2–0
Division place 1st NFL American
Playoff finish Won NFL Championship (1)
Pro Bowlers Tony Adamle, FB
Otto Graham, QB
Lou Groza, T/K
Weldon Humble, G
Marion Motley, FB
Mac Speedie, E
Bill Willis, LB
AP All-Pros Marion Motley
Mac Speed… Moreie
← 1949 Browns seasons 1951 →
The 1950 Cleveland Browns season was the team's first in the National Football League (NFL) after playing the previous four years in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), which folded after the 1949 season. The Browns finished the regular season with a 10–2 win–loss record and beat the Los Angeles Rams to win the NFL championship. It was Cleveland's fifth consecutive championship victory, the previous four having come in the AAFC.
Cleveland added 12 new players to its roster before the season began, several of whom came from other AAFC teams that had dissolved as part of a selective merger of the Browns, the Baltimore Colts and the San Francisco 49ers into the NFL in 1949. They included guard Abe Gibron, who went on to a 10-year football career, and Len Ford, a defensive end who had a Hall of Fame career with the Browns. The team's top draft choice was halfback Ken Carpenter.
After winning all five of their preseason games, the Browns faced the two-time defending champion Philadelphia Eagles in their first regular-season game. Many sportswriters and owners considered the Browns inferior despite their success in the AAFC, calling them the dominant team in a minor league, but Cleveland defeated Philadelphia 35–10, the first of 10 victories on the season. Cleveland's only two losses came against the New York Giants, with whom the team shared a 10–2 record at the end of the regular season.
The tie forced a playoff to determine whether the Browns or Giants would win the American Conference and play in the championship game. Cleveland won the playoff 8–3 in freezing weather at Cleveland Stadium. A week later, on Christmas Eve, the Browns faced the Rams at home in the championship. Cleveland fell behind 28–20 in the fourth quarter against the Rams' potent offense, but quarterback Otto Graham engineered a comeback with a touchdown pass to Rex Bumgardner and a long drive that set up a winning field goal by Lou Groza with 28 seconds left to play. It was the first of six straight NFL championship appearances for the Browns. Cleveland fullback Marion Motley led the NFL in rushing, and seven Browns were selected to play in the first-ever Pro Bowl, the league's all-star game.
Contents [hide]
1 Joining the NFL
2 Offseason and roster moves
2.1 NFL draft selections
3 Roster and coaching staff
4 Preseason
4.1 Results
4.2 Game summaries
4.2.1 Week 1: vs. Green Bay Packers
4.2.2 Week 2: vs. Baltimore Colts
4.2.3 Week 3: vs. Detroit Lions
4.2.4 Week 4: vs. Chicago Bears
4.2.5 Week 5: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
5 Regular season
5.1 Results
5.2 Game summaries
5.2.1 Week 1: vs. Philadelphia Eagles
5.2.2 Week 2: vs. Baltimore Colts
5.2.3 Week 3: vs. New York Giants
5.2.4 Week 4: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
5.2.5 Week 5: vs. Chicago Cardinals
5.2.6 Week 6: vs. New York Giants
5.2.7 Week 7: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
5.2.8 Week 8: vs. Chicago Cardinals
5.2.9 Week 9: vs. San Francisco 49ers
5.2.10 Week 10: vs. Washington Redskins
5.2.11 Week 12: vs. Philadelphia Eagles
5.2.12 Week 13: vs. Washington Redskins
6 Standings
7 Postseason
7.1 Divisional playoff
7.2 NFL Championship Game
8 Season leaders
9 References
9.1 Bibliography
10 External links Less

N.F.L. 1950
Conference races[edit]
Week National American
1 3 teams (Bears, Det, NYY) 1–0–0 3 teams (Cle, NYG, Was) 1–0–0
2 Tie: (Bears, Lions) 2–0–0 Cleveland Browns 2–0–0
3 4 teams (Bears, Det, GB, LA) 2–1–0 New York Giants 2–0–0
4 3 teams (Bears, Det, NYY) 3–1–0 New York Giants 3–0–0
5 Tie: (Bears, Yanks) 4–1–0 Cleveland Browns 4–1–0
6 New York Yanks 5–1–0 Tie: (Giants, Phi) 4–1–0
7 New York Yanks 6–1–… More0 Philadelphia Eagles 5–1–0
8 New York Yanks 6–1–0 Cleveland Browns 6–2–0
9 Los Angeles Rams 7–2–0 Cleveland Browns 7–2–0
10 Los Angeles Rams 8–2–0 Cleveland Browns 8–2–0
11 Chicago Bears 8–2–0 Tie: (Browns, Giants) 8–2–0
12 Los Angeles Rams 9–3–0 Tie: (Browns, Giants) 9–2–0
13 Tie: (Bears, Rams) 9–3–0 Tie: (Browns, Giants) 10–2–0
Final standings[edit]
W = Wins, L = Losses, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against
American Conference
Team W L PCT PF PA
Cleveland Browns 10 2 .833 310 144
New York Giants 10 2 .833 268 150
Philadelphia Eagles 6 6 .500 254 141
Pittsburgh Steelers 6 6 .500 180 195
Chicago Cardinals 5 7 .417 233 287
Washington Redskins 3 9 .250 232 326
National Conference
Team W L PCT PF PA
Los Angeles Rams 9 3 .750 466 309
Chicago Bears 9 3 .750 279 207
New York Yanks 7 5 .583 366 367
Detroit Lions 6 6 .500 321 285
Green Bay Packers 3 9 .250 244 406
San Francisco 49ers 3 9 .250 213 300
Baltimore Colts 1 11 .083 213 462
Playoffs[edit]
See: 1950 NFL playoffs
The only scheduled playoff game was the championship game. The two conference playoffs were tiebreakers.
Home team in capitals
American Conference Playoff Game
CLEVELAND 8, N.Y. Giants 3
National Conference Playoff Game
LOS ANGELES 24, Chi. Bears 14
NFL Championship Game
Main article: 1950 NFL Championship Game
CLEVELAND 30, Los Angeles 28 Less

Conference races[edit]
Week National American
1 3 teams (Bears, Det, NYY) 1–0–0 3 teams (Cle, NYG, Was) 1–0–0
2 Tie: (Bears, Lions) 2–0–0 Cleveland Browns 2–0–0
3 4 teams (Bears, Det, GB, LA) 2–1–0 New York Giants 2–0–0
4 3 teams (Bears, Det, NYY) 3–1–0 New York Giants 3–0–0
5 Tie: (Bears, Yanks) 4–1–0 Cleveland Browns 4–1–0
6 New York Yanks 5–1–0 Tie: (Giants, Phi) 4–1–0
7 New York Yanks 6–1–0 Philadelp… Morehia Eagles 5–1–0
8 New York Yanks 6–1–0 Cleveland Browns 6–2–0
9 Los Angeles Rams 7–2–0 Cleveland Browns 7–2–0
10 Los Angeles Rams 8–2–0 Cleveland Browns 8–2–0
11 Chicago Bears 8–2–0 Tie: (Browns, Giants) 8–2–0
12 Los Angeles Rams 9–3–0 Tie: (Browns, Giants) 9–2–0
13 Tie: (Bears, Rams) 9–3–0 Tie: (Browns, Giants) 10–2–0
Final standings[edit]
W = Wins, L = Losses, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against
American Conference
Team W L PCT PF PA
Cleveland Browns 10 2 .833 310 144
New York Giants 10 2 .833 268 150
Philadelphia Eagles 6 6 .500 254 141
Pittsburgh Steelers 6 6 .500 180 195
Chicago Cardinals 5 7 .417 233 287
Washington Redskins 3 9 .250 232 326
National Conference
Team W L PCT PF PA
Los Angeles Rams 9 3 .750 466 309
Chicago Bears 9 3 .750 279 207
New York Yanks 7 5 .583 366 367
Detroit Lions 6 6 .500 321 285
Green Bay Packers 3 9 .250 244 406
San Francisco 49ers 3 9 .250 213 300
Baltimore Colts 1 11 .083 213 462
Playoffs[edit]
See: 1950 NFL playoffs
The only scheduled playoff game was the championship game. The two conference playoffs were tiebreakers.
Home team in capitals
American Conference Playoff Game
CLEVELAND 8, N.Y. Giants 3
National Conference Playoff Game
LOS ANGELES 24, Chi. Bears 14
NFL Championship Game
Main article: 1950 NFL Championship Game
CLEVELAND 30, Los Angeles 28 Less

N.F.L. 1950
TEAM
W
L
T
PCT
Los Angeles Rams
8
2
2
.800
Chicago Bears
9
3
0
.750
Chicago Cardinals
6
5
1
.545
Detroit Lions
4
8
0
.333
Green Bay Packers
2
10
0
.167
1950
AMERICAN CONFERENCE
TEAM
W
L
T
PCT
Cleveland Browns
10
2
0
.833
New York Giants
10
2
0
.833
Philadelphia Eagles
6
6
0
.500
Pittsburgh Steelers
6
6
0
.500
Chicago Cardinals
5
7
0
.417
Washington Redskins
3
9
0
.250
1950

N.F.L. 1950
CLEVELAND BROWNS
The 1950 NFL season was the 31st regular season of the National Football League. The merger with the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) expanded the league to 13 teams. Meanwhile, television brought a new era to the game. The Los Angeles Rams became the first NFL team to have all of its games – both home and away – televised. The Washington Redskins became the second… More team to put their games on TV. Other teams arranged to have selected games televised.
Contents [hide]
1 The AAFC–NFL merger
2 Major rule changes
3 Regular season highlights
4 Conference races
5 Final standings
6 Playoffs
7 League leaders
8 NFL records set or tied in 1950
9 Draft
10 Coaches
10.1 American Conference
10.2 National Conference
11 References
The AAFC–NFL merger [edit]
The NFL and the AAFC merged prior to the season, announced on December 9, 1949.[1][2] Three AAFC teams — Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, and Baltimore Colts — joined the NFL intact. The players of the former AAFC New York Yankees team were divided up between the New York Giants and the New York Bulldogs (who changed their name to New York Yanks), the Los Angeles Dons and Los Angeles Rams merged, and a portion of the AAFC Buffalo Bills was absorbed into the Browns organization. A special draft was then held by the league's 13 teams to allocate the rest of the AAFC players.
The 13 teams were realigned into the American and National conferences, which lasted for three seasons. The merged league briefly flirted with the name "National-American Football League",[1][2] but restored the name "National Football League" a few months later. Under the alignment, both conferences had a team in New York and Chicago. The "American Conference" (formerly the Eastern Division) had six teams including the Giants and the Cardinals, and the "National Conference" (the old Western Division) had seven teams including the Yanks and the Bears, as well as the Baltimore Colts.
Baltimore was declared a "swing team" and played one game against each of the other 12 NFL clubs. The original intent of the merger was to have the popular Cleveland Browns serve as this team for two years to equally help gate receipts throughout the league, however, this was refused point blank by Paul Brown. Over a 13-week season, one team was idle each week while the other 12 met in the six scheduled games. Each team played a home-and-away game against the other five teams in their conference, one game outside the conference, and one game against Baltimore over the course of a 12-game schedule.
The league also established the Pro Bowl in the 1950 season. Though the league had attempted an all-star game annually between 1938 and 1942, it had cancelled the game because of World War II and did not revive it when the war ended. Unlike the previous all-star game format, which pitted the league's most recent champion against the league's best all-stars, the Pro Bowl would pit two all-star teams, one from each conference, against each other.
Also, the 1950 season saw the first game played outside the United States when the New York Giants played the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union in an exhibition match on August 12. The Giants and Rough Riders would repeat the feat in 1951; the Giants handily won both games.
Major rule changes[edit]
The free substitution rule (any or all of the players may be replaced by substitutes after any play) was restored on a permanent basis. This change paved the way for player specialization in pro football, including three separate units for each team: offensive team, defensive team, and special teams.
If a backwards pass or fumble goes out of bounds before it is recovered, the team that had Less