The 1968 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 19th season with the National Football League. The Browns made it to the playoffs for the 2nd straight year thanks to an 8-game winning streak. Quarterback Bill Nelsen replaced Frank Ryan as the starting quarterback prior to week 4 of their season.

Veteran wide receiver Paul Warfield had the best season of his entire career catching 50 passes for 1,067 yards and scoring 12 touchdowns.

Season summary The Browns had enjoyed some recent success, qualifying for the 1965 season NFL Championship Game, in which they lost to the Green Bay Packers 23–12. They finished 9–5 in 1966 and '67, making the playoffs in 1967. The Dallas Cowboys blew them out 52–14 in the Eastern Conference Championship Game. The Browns retooled their roster entered the 1968 season and sought to reestablish themselves as series title contenders. After a slow start in which they lost two of their first three games and three of their first five, the re-tooled Browns won eight in a row before falling 27–16 to the St. Louis Cardinals in a meaningless game in the regular-season finale. The result was a 10–4 mark, the Century Division crown (by the slimmest of margins over the 9–4–1 Cardinals) and a spot in the conference title game again opposite those same Cowboys.

Only this time, the Browns advanced, beating Dallas 31–20 to get to the league title game against the Baltimore Colts. The Colts were returning to Cleveland Stadium, where they were had been stunned by the Browns 27–0 in the championship contest four years before. The Colts got revenge with a shutout victory of their own, 34–0, and advanced to Super Bowl III.

The key to the Browns' turnaround in 1968 was the insertion of Bill Nelsen at quarterback early in the season. Nelsen had been acquired in an offseason trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He replaced Frank Ryan, who had been the team's starting quarterback since 1963 and lead the team on its playoff run in 1964. By 1968, though, Ryan was struggling with shoulder problems. Nelsen made an impact right away, helping to beat the Colts 30–20 to hand Baltimore its only loss in a 13–1 season.

Offseason

NFL draft The following were selected in the 1968 NFL/AFL draft. 1968 Cleveland Browns draft Round Selection Player Position College Notes121Marvin UpshawDefensive end Trinity247John GarlingtonLinebacker LSU364Harry OlszewskiGuard Clemson366Reece MorrisonRunning back Texas State4104Wayne MeylanLinebacker Nebraska5131Mike WempeTackle Missouri5134Jackie JacksonRunning back Clemson6152Nate JamesDefensive back Florida A&M7186Dale BradyRunning back Memphis8212Tom SchoenDefensive back Notre Dame9238David PorterDefensive tackle Michigan10255James GreerDefensive end Stephen F. Austin10267Alvin MitchellDefensive back Morgan State11293Jim AlcornQuarterback Clarion12319Tom BeutlerLinebacker Toledo13348Terry SellersDefensive back Georgia14374Edgar WhippsRunning back Jackson State15400Bob BaxterFlanker Memphis16429Dick SievertDefensive end Wisconsin-River Falls17455Wayne McDuffieCenter Florida State

Undrafted free agents

+ 1968 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeMel JerniganTackleHarding

Personnel Roster 1968 Cleveland Browns roster Quarterbacks 11 Don Gault 16 Bill Nelsen 13 Frank Ryan

Running backs 48 Ernie Green 31 Charley Harraway 44 Leroy Kelly 25 Charlie Leigh 26 Reece Morrison

Wide receivers 87 Eppie Barney 86 Gary Collins 43 Ron Green 29 Tommy McDonald 42 Paul Warfield

Tight ends 89 Milt Morin 41 Ralph Smith Offensive linemen 73 Monte Clark T 64 Jim Copeland C/G 55 John Demarie G 66 Gene Hickerson G 54 Fred Hoaglin C -- Dave Porter T (IR) 77 Dick Schafrath T 62 Joe Taffoni T 53 Bob Whitlow C

Defensive linemen 80 Bill Glass DE 81 Jack Gregory DE 71 Walter Johnson DT 69 Jim Kanicki DT 74 Bill Sabatino DT 88 Ron Snidow DE 84 Marvin Upshaw DT Linebackers 52 Billy Andrews OLB -- Tom Beutler OLB 50 John Garlington OLB 82 Jim Houston OLB 51 Dale Lindsey OLB 56 Bob Matheson MLB 59 Wayne Meylan MLB

Defensive backs 40 Erich Barnes CB 28 Ben Davis CB 34 Mike Howell FS 33 Nate James CB 24 Ernie Kellermann SS 49 Alvin Mitchell CB 27 Carl Ward FS -- Tom Schoen S (Military)

Special teams 12 Don Cockroft K/P

rookies in italics

Staff/Coaches 1968 Cleveland Browns staff Front office Majority owner/CEO & president – Art Modell Minority owner/vice president – Al Lerner General manager – Harold Sauerbrei

Coaching staff Head coach – Blanton Collier Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Nick Skorich Offensive line – Fritz Heisler Receivers - Bob Nussbaumer   Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator - Howard Brinker Defensive line – Dick Modzelewski Linebackers – Ed Ulinski Strength & Conditioning Athletic Trainer - Leo Murphy Equipment Manager - Morris Kono

Exhibition schedule Week Date Opponent Result Attendance 1 August 9 at Los Angeles Rams L 21–23 64,020 2 August 18 at San Francisco 49ers W 31–17 26,801 3 August 24 at New Orleans Saints L 27–40 70,045 4 August 30 at Buffalo Bills W 22–12 45,448 5 September 7 Green Bay Packers L 9–31 84,918

There was a doubleheader on September 7, 1968 Lions vs Jets (AFL) and Packers vs Browns.

Regular season schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Attendance 1 September 15 at New Orleans Saints W 24–10 1–0 74,215 2 September 22 at Dallas Cowboys L 7–28 1–1 68,733 3 September 29 Los Angeles Rams L 6–24 1–2 82,514 4 October 5 Pittsburgh Steelers W 31–24 2–2 81,865 5 October 13 St. Louis Cardinals L 21–27 2–3 79,349 6 October 20 at Baltimore Colts W 30–20 3–3 60,238 7 October 27 Atlanta Falcons W 30–7 4–3 67,723 8 November 3 at San Francisco 49ers W 33–21 5–3 31,359 9 November 10 New Orleans Saints W 35–17 6–3 71,025 10 November 17 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 45–24 7–3 41,572 11 November 24 Philadelphia Eagles W 47–13 8–3 62,338 12 December 1 New York Giants W 45–10 9–3 83,193 13 December 8 at Washington Redskins W 24–21 10–3 50,661 14 December 14 at St. Louis Cardinals L 16–27 10–4 39,746

Game summaries

Week 7: vs. Atlanta

Playoffs

Round Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap Eastern Conference December 21 Dallas Cowboys W 31–20 1–0 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 81,497 Recap NFL Championship December 29 Baltimore Colts L 0–34 1–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 80,628 Recap

Standings

Awards and honors LeRoy Kelly, Bert Bell Award

References

External links 1968 Cleveland Browns at Pro Football Reference 1968 Cleveland Browns Statistics at jt-sw.com 1968 Cleveland Browns Schedule at jt-sw.com at DatabaseFootball.com