The 1977 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 28th season with the National Football League. After a 6–4 start, the Browns lost their final four games of the season, to finish with a disappointing 6–8 record. With one game left in the season, head coach Forrest Gregg was fired and replaced by Dick Modzelewski.
Offseason
NFL draft The following were selected in the 1977 NFL draft. 1977 Cleveland Browns draft Round Selection Player Position College Notes117Robert L. JacksonLinebacker Texas A&M246Tom SkladanyPunter Ohio State4102Oliver DavisDefensive back Tennessee State4110Mickey SimsDefensive tackle South Carolina State7173Kenny RandleWide receiver SMU7184Blane SmithLinebacker Purdue7188Bob LingenfelterOffensive tackle Nebraska8213Bill ArmstrongDefensive back Wake Forest9240Daryl BrownDefensive back Tufts10269Tom BurkettOffensive tackle North Carolina11296Charles NashWide receiver Arizona12325Leo TierneyCenter Georgia Tech
Undrafted free agents
+ 1977 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeDarwin LogtermanLinebackerMiltonCharlie WeatherbieQuarterbackOklahoma State
Personnel Staff / Coaches
Roster 1977 Cleveland Browns roster Quarterbacks 7 Terry Luck 8 Gary Marangi 10 Dave Mays
Running backs 30 Cleo Miller 34 Greg Pruitt 35 Brian Duncan 38 Larry Poole 43 Mike Pruitt
Wide receivers 33 Reggie Rucker 42 Paul Warfield 80 Lawrence Williams 83 Ricky Feacher 85 Dave Logan
Tight ends 81 Oscar Roan 84 Gary Parris Offensive linemen 54 Tom DeLeone C 62 Al Dennis G 63 Barry Darrow T 65 Henry Sheppard G 68 Robert Jackson G 73 Doug Dieken T 75 Bob Lingenfelter T 79 Gerry Sullivan T/C
Defensive linemen 64 Joe Jones DE 66 Earl Edwards DT 70 Mack Mitchell DE 72 Jerry Sherk DT 74 Mike St. Clair DE 78 Mickey Sims DT Linebackers 50 John Garlington OLB 52 Dick Ambrose MLB 55 Dave Graf OLB 58 Mark Johnson OLB 59 Charlie Hall OLB 60 Bob Babich MLB 86 Gerald Irons OLB
Defensive backs 20 Tony Peters SS 21 Oliver Davis CB 22 Clarence Scott CB 25 Rolly Woolsey CB 27 Thom Darden FS 28 Ron Bolton CB 48 Ken Ellis CB
Special teams 9 Greg Coleman P 12 Don Cockroft K Reserve lists 69 Pete Adams G (IR) 56 Robert Jackson LB (IR)
47 Ricky Jones S (IR) 17 Brian Sipe QB (IR) 51 Leo Tierney C (IR)
rookies in italics
Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Attendance 1 Washington Redskins L 14–16 0–1 32,554 2 at Minnesota Vikings L 33–34 0–2 45,379 3 St. Louis Cardinals W 19–10 1–2 31,308 4 Chicago Bears W 14–7 2–2 36,598 5 at Green Bay Packers W 19–14 3–2 53,180 6 at Detroit Lions L 20–24 3–3 49,168
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap 1 September 18 at Cincinnati Bengals W 13–3 1–0 Riverfront Stadium 52,847 Recap 2 New England Patriots W 30–27 2–0 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 76,418 Recap 3 October 2 Pittsburgh Steelers L 14–28 2–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 80,588 Recap 4 October 9 Oakland Raiders L 10–26 2–2 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 80,236 Recap 5 October 16 at Houston Oilers W 24–23 3–2 Houston Astrodome 47,888 Recap 6 October 23 at Buffalo Bills W 27–16 4–2 Rich Stadium 60,905 Recap 7 October 30 Kansas City Chiefs W 44–7 5–2 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 60,381 Recap 8 November 6 Cincinnati Bengals L 7–10 5–3 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 81,932 Recap 9 November 13 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 31–35 5–4 Three Rivers Stadium 47,055 Recap 10 November 20 at New York Giants W 21–7 6–4 Giants Stadium 72,576 Recap 11 November 27 Los Angeles Rams L 0–9 6–5 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 70,352 Recap 12 December 4 at San Diego Chargers L 14–37 6–6 San Diego Stadium 37,312 Recap 13 December 11 Houston Oilers L 15–19 6–7 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 30,898 Recap 14 December 18 at Seattle Seahawks L 19–20 6–8 Kingdome 61,583 RecapNote: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. Game summaries
Week 1 The 1977 season started with a league rival and an impressive win.
Week 2 The Cleveland Browns had not hosted nor been in a Monday Night Football game since the 1973 season, having lost at home against the Miami Dolphins. The Cleveland Stadium was sold out that night. The game went into overtime, and with a little more than 10 minutes left in over time, Don Cockroft kicked a 35-yard field goal to end the game with a win for the Browns.
Week 3 vs Steelers
Week 5 The Browns beat the Oilers 24–23 on another Cockroft last-second field goal. Toni Fritsch kicks a 37-yarder with 4:28 left to give Houston a 23–21 lead, but running back Greg Pruitt leads the Browns on their final scoring drive with three runs and a 13-yard third-down completion to Cleo Miller. Cockroft's six points lift him past Jim Brown to the no. 2 spot (behind Lou Groza) on the Browns' all-time scoring list.
Week 7 Scoring their most points in 9 years, the Browns broke a team record with 34 first downs while rolling up 526 yards (322 rushing) in a rout over the Kansas City Chiefs 44-7. Greg Pruitt rushed for 153 yards. Brian Sipe threw for 200 yards and tight end Gary Parris caught two touchdown passes.
Standings
References
External links 1977 Cleveland Browns at Pro Football Reference 1977 Cleveland Browns Statistics at jt-sw.com 1977 Cleveland Browns Schedule at jt-sw.com at DatabaseFootball.com