1959 Cleveland Browns season

The 1959 Cleveland Browns season was the team's tenth season with the National Football League.

1959 Cleveland Browns season
Head coach	Paul Brown
Home field	Cleveland Stadium
Local radio	WGAR
Results
Record	7–5
Division place	T–2nd NFL Eastern
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	Art Hunter, C Lou Groza, LT/K Bob Gain, DE Walt Michaels, LB Jim Ray Smith, G Jim Brown, FB

Future Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown rushed for 1,329 yards, leading the league for the third straight year, and 14 touchdowns. Quarterback Milt Plum, who was drafted by the Browns in the 1957 draft, made his mark at the position. The Browns had been looking for a replacement for Otto Graham ever since the Hall of Famer retired—for the second time—following the 1955 season. They finally found him when Plum, a second-round draft pick in 1957, threw for 14 touchdowns with just six interceptions. However, the Browns would finish just 7–5 in 1959, the second in what would turn out to be a string of six straight seasons in which the Browns had decent to very good teams without qualifying for the postseason. The 7–5 record was also the second worst record since head coach Paul Brown's tenure with the team.

Exhibition Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	August 12	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 20–34	27,432
2	August 22	vs. Detroit Lions at Akron	L 3–9	22,654
3	August 30	at San Francisco 49ers	L 14–17	24,737
4	September 5	at Los Angeles Rams	W 27–24	55,883
5	September 13	at Detroit Lions	L 28–31	33,435
6	September 19	Chicago Bears	W 33–31	25,316

Regular Season Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 26	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 7–17	33,844
2	October 4	at Chicago Cardinals	W 34–7	19,935
3	October 11	New York Giants	L 6–10	65,534
4	October 18	Chicago Cardinals	W 17–7	46,422
5	October 25	Washington Redskins	W 34–7	42,732
6	November 1	at Baltimore Colts	W 38–31	57,557
7	November 8	Philadelphia Eagles	W 28–7	58,275
8	November 15	at Washington Redskins	W 31–17	32,266
9	November 22	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 20–21	68,563
10	November 29	San Francisco 49ers	L 20–21	56,854
11	December 6	at New York Giants	L 7–48	68,436
12	December 13	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 28–21	45,952

Standings

NFL Eastern Conference
	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
New York Giants	10	2	0	.833	8–2	284	170	W4
Philadelphia Eagles	7	5	0	.583	6–4	268	278	L1
Cleveland Browns	7	5	0	.583	6–4	270	214	W1
Pittsburgh Steelers	6	5	1	.545	6–4	257	216	W1
Washington Redskins	3	9	0	.250	2–8	185	350	L5
Chicago Cardinals	2	10	0	.167	2–8	234	324	L6

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

Personnel

Roster

1959 Cleveland Browns roster
Quarterbacks 16 Milt Plum 18 Bob Ptacek 15 Jim Ninowski Running backs 32 Jim Brown FB 36 Ed Modzelewski 40 Preston Carpenter E/HB 49 Bobby Mitchell WR/HB/KR Wide receivers 26 Ray Renfro 86 Billy Howton 87 Fred Murphy 88 Rich Kreitling Tight ends 82 Frank Clarke E/FL		Offensive linemen 56 John Morrow C 60 John Wooten G 64 Jim Ray Smith G 66 Gene Hickerson G 70 Fran O'Brien T 74 Mike McCormack T 78 Willie McClung T Defensive linemen 73 Floyd Peters DT 79 Bob Gain DT 80 Dick Schafrath T/DE/G 84 Paul Wiggin DE 77 Willie Davis DL 75 Sid Youngelman DT		Linebackers 35 Galen Fiss OLB 50 Vince Costello MLB 52 Dave Lloyd MLB 34 Walt Michaels LLB 65 Chuck Noll LB/G/C Defensive backs 42 Junior Wren S/P 24 Warren Lahr S/LS 30 Bernie Parrish CB 22 Ken Konz DB Special teams 76 Lou Groza K 44 Jim Shofner CB/P/PR rookies in italics

Staff/coaches

1959 Cleveland Browns staff
	Front office Majority owner/CEO & president – Dave R. Jones Minority owner/vice president – Ellis Ryan Minority owner/vice president – Homer Marshman Minority owner/vice president – Saul Silberman Coaches Head coach – Paul Brown Assistant head coach – Dick Gallagher Offensive coaches Quarterbacks/running backs - Howard Brinker Offensive guards – Fritz Heisler Offensive tackles – Ed Ulinski Offensive backfield and ends – Paul Bixler			Defensive coaches Defensive line – Fritz Heisler & Ed Ulinski Linebackers – Ed Ulinski Strength & conditioning Athletic trainer – Leo Murphy Equipment manager – Morris Kono

External links

• 1959 Cleveland Browns at Pro Football Reference (profootballreference.com)
• 1959 Cleveland Browns Statistics at jt-sw.com
• 1959 Cleveland Browns Schedule at jt-sw.com
• 1959 Cleveland Browns at DatabaseFootball.com
• Season summary and stats at Cleveland Browns.com