1970 Cleveland Browns season

1970 Cleveland Browns season
Head coach	Blanton Collier
Owner	Art Modell
Home field	Cleveland Stadium
Results
Record	7–7–0
Division place	2nd AFC Central
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1970 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 21st season with the National Football League.

Season summary

The merger between the NFL and AFL was complete, with the leagues now playing each other in the regular season for the first time. This was the last step in a four-year process that began in January 1967 with the champions from both leagues playing in Super Bowl I.

To finish the merger, the Browns, along with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Colts, agreed to move in 1970 from the NFL to the old AFL, renamed the AFC, to balance the leagues, now called conferences (NFC and AFC), at 13 clubs each. The merger had hit a stalemate when none of the NFL teams initially wanted to jump to what many of the old-line NFL people felt was an inferior league overall.

Concerning just the Browns themselves, there was the situation involving Blanton Collier. Although no one except maybe the man himself knew it at the start of the season, this was going to be the last year for the venerable head coach. Collier, who had been on the job since 1963 and had guided the Browns to the NFL championship a year later, would announce his retirement shortly before the 1970 season ended.

Paul Warfield trade to Dolphins

Realizing quarterback Bill Nelsen's aching knees were on borrowed time, the Browns had made a blockbuster trade with the Miami Dolphins on the eve of the 1970 NFL Draft to get the rights to select the man they felt would be their passer of the future, Mike Phipps. But it came at a steep price, for they had to give up Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Paul Warfield in the process. That loss, coupled with Nelsen's physical condition and the unfamiliarity with the personnel on the former AFL clubs they were playing for the first time, took the starch out of what had been a good offense going all the way back to 1963. The result was the Browns scored 65 less points than they had the year before, and 108 less than two seasons before.

Along with that, the defense, though it gave up 35 fewer points than it had in 1969, just couldn't make up the difference, led to the Browns finishing 7–7, only the second non-winning mark in club history. In spite of that, the season started well for the Browns, as they opened 3–1 and then were 4–2.

First Monday Night Football game

The Browns beat Joe Namath and the New York Jets 31–21 at Cleveland Stadium in the opener in the first Monday Night Football game in history, and, three games later, edged Cincinnati 30–27 in Bengals head coach Paul Brown's first official visit to Cleveland since being fired by the Browns eight years before.

Offseason

NFL Draft

The following were selected in the 1970 NFL Draft.

Round	Overall	Player	Position	School/Club Team
1	3	Mike Phipps	Quarterback	Purdue
1	21	Bob McKay	Tackle	Texas
2	36	Turkey Jones	Defensive End	Tennessee State
2	47	Jerry Sherk	Defensive Tackle	Oklahoma State
4	99	Ricky Stevenson	Defensive Back	Arizona
5	125	Steve Engel	Running Back	Colorado
6	151	Mike Cilek	Quarterback	Iowa
7	177	Craig Wycinski	Guard	Michigan State
8	203	Honester Davidson	Defensive Back	Bowling Green
9	229	Geoff Brown	Linebacker	Pittsburgh
10	255	William Yanchar	Defensive Tackle	Purdue
11	281	Gene Benner	Wide Receiver	Maine
12	307	Jerry Sanders	Kicker	Texas Tech
13	333	Larry Roberts	Running Back	Central Missouri
14	359	Jim Tharpe	Linebacker	Lincoln (Mo.)
15	385	Guy Homoly	Defensive Back	Illinois State
16	410	John Redebaugh	Tight End	Bemidji State
17	436	Charles Tabb	Running Back	McMurry

Exhibition schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	August 8, 1970	at Los Angeles Rams	L 17–30	71,559
2	August 15, 1970	vs. San Francisco 49ers at Tampa	W 17–10	41,851
3	August 22, 1970	vs. Kansas City Chiefs at Memphis	L 13–16	31,532
4	August 29, 1970	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 24–31	57,112
5	September 5, 1970	Minnesota Vikings	L 21–24	83,043
6	September 12, 1970	at New York Giants	W 30–29	62,461

Regular season schedule

Date	Opponent	Score	Record	Attendance
Sep 21	New York Jets	W 31–21	1–0	85,703
Sep 27	at San Francisco 49ers	L 34–31	1–1	37,502
Oct 3	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 15–7	2–1	84,349
Oct 11	Cincinnati Bengals	W 30–27	3–1	83,520
Oct 18	Detroit Lions	L 41–24	3–2	83,577
Oct 25	at Miami Dolphins	W 28–0	4–2	75,313
Nov 1	San Diego Chargers	L 27–10	4–3	80,047
Nov 8	at Oakland Raiders	L 23–20	4–4	54,463
Nov 15	at Cincinnati Bengals	L 14–10	4–5	60,007
Nov 22	Houston Oilers	W 28–14	5–5	74,723
Nov 29	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 28–9	5–6	50,214
Dec 7	at Houston Oilers	W 21–10	6–6	50,582
Dec 12	Dallas Cowboys	L 6–2	6–7	75,458
Dec 20	at Denver Broncos	W 27–13	7–7	51,001

Season summary

Week 4

1 2 3 4 Total Bengals 10 7 3 7 27 • Browns 2 14 0 14 30 Date: October 11 Location: Cleveland Municipal Stadium • Cleveland, Ohio Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game weather: 51°F • Wind 8

Scoring summary 1 CIN Horst Muhlmann 50 yard field goal Bengals 3–0 1 CIN Jess Phillips 2 yard run (Horst Muhlmann kick) Bengals 10–0 1 CLE Safety, Virgil Carter tackled by Walter Johnson in end zone Bengals 10–2 2 CLE Leroy Kelly 3 yard pass from Bill Nelsen (Don Cockroft kick) Bengals 10–9 2 CIN Royce Berry 58 yard fumble return (Horst Muhlmann kick) Bengals 17–9 2 CLE Milt Morin 4 yard pass from Bill Nelsen (Don Cockroft kick) Bengals 17–16 3 CIN Horst Muhlmann 27 yard field goal Bengals 20–16 4 CLE Leroy Kelly 1 yard run (Don Cockroft kick) Browns 23–20 4 CLE Bo Scott 1 yard run (Don Cockroft kick) Browns 30–20 4 CIN Speedy Thomas 16 yard pass from Virgil Carter (Horst Muhlmann kick) Browns 30–27

Standings

AFC Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Cincinnati Bengals	8	6	0	.571	3–3	7–4	312	255	W7
Cleveland Browns	7	7	0	.500	4–2	7–4	286	265	W1
Pittsburgh Steelers	5	9	0	.357	3–3	5–6	210	272	L3
Houston Oilers	3	10	1	.231	2–4	3–7–1	217	352	L3

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