1952 Cleveland Browns season
OwnerMickey McBride
General managerPaul Brown
Head coachPaul Brown
Home fieldCleveland Stadium
Local radioWTAM
Results
Record8–4
Division place1st NFL American
Playoff finishLost NFL Championship
(vs. Lions) 7–17

The 1952 Cleveland Browns season was the team's third season with the National Football League and seventh season overall. They were 8–4 in the regular season and won the American Conference.[1][2] Cleveland hosted the NFL Championship Game, but lost 17–7 to the Detroit Lions.[3][4]


Exhibition schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 August 23 at Green Bay Packers W 21–14 1–0 City Stadium 22,215
2 August 29 Chicago Bears W 14–7 2–0 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 37,976
3 September 6 vs. Detroit Lions L 21–28 2–1 Archbold Stadium 26,000
4 September 13 vs. San Francisco 49ers L 31–35 2–2 Rubber Bowl 30,119

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 September 28 Los Angeles Rams W 37–7 1–0 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 57,832 Recap
2 October 4 at Pittsburgh Steelers W 21–20 2–0 Forbes Field 27,923 Recap
3 October 12 New York Giants L 9–17 2–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 51,858 Recap
4 October 19 at Philadelphia Eagles W 49–7 3–1 Shibe Park 27,874 Recap
5 October 26 Washington Redskins W 19–15 4–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 32,496 Recap
6 November 2 at Detroit Lions L 6–17 4–2 Briggs Stadium 56,029 Recap
7 November 9 Chicago Cardinals W 28–13 5–2 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 34,097 Recap
8 November 16 Pittsburgh Steelers W 29–28 6–2 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 34,973 Recap
9 November 23 Philadelphia Eagles L 20–28 6–3 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 28,948 Recap
10 November 30 at Washington Redskins W 48–24 7–3 Griffith Stadium 22,679 Recap
11 December 7 at Chicago Cardinals W 10–0 8–3 Comiskey Park 24,541 Recap
12 December 14 at New York Giants L 34–37 8–4 Polo Grounds 41,610 Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

  • Saturday night (October 4)[5]

Game summaries

Week 1

The Browns avenged their December championship game loss to Los Angeles with a 37–7 romp over the Rams at Cleveland Stadium. The Browns took a 23–0 halftime lead and never headed. Ken Carpenter rushed for 145 yards on 16 carries and the Browns defense limited Rams quarterbacks Norm Van Brocklin and Bob Waterfield to a combined six completions in 27 attempts.

Week 4

Despite being without injured wide receiver Dante Lavelli and Carpenter and then losing defensive end Bob Gain to a broken jaw, the Browns had little problem pounding the Eagles 49–7 in Philadelphia. It is Cleveland's 5th win over Philadelphia in as many meetings. Otto Graham threw for 290 yards and four touchdowns and even backup quarterback George Ratterman got into the act, throwing an 11-yard touchdown pass to Horace Gillom.

Week 6

In the first-ever regular season meeting between the Detroit Lions and the Browns, the Lions won 17–6, at Briggs Stadium. The Lions led 10–6, when a Graham pass intended for Ray Renfro was picked off by Detroit's Jack Christiansen. On the Lions next play from scrimmage, Bob Hoernschemeyer ran for 41 yards, setting up a Bobby Layne to Leon Hart touchdown pass.

Week 10

The Browns took a one-game lead in the Eastern Conference with a 48–24 win at Washington. Chick Jagade ran for 127 yards on 16 carries, including a 17-yard touchdown scamper on a draw play. Carpenter also had a big day returning punts including one for 53 yards and a touchdown.

Week 12

Needing a win in the season finale to clinch the American Conference Title, the Browns (8–3) traveled to the Polo Grounds in New York City, but lost to the Giants, 37–34. Charlie Conerly fired four touchdown passes for the Giants while Graham threw three interceptions.[1] The Browns clinched anyway when Washington upset Philadelphia.

Standings

NFL American Conference
W L T PCT CONF PF PA STK
Cleveland Browns 8 4 0 .667 7–3 310 213 L1
Philadelphia Eagles 7 5 0 .583 6–4 252 271 L1
New York Giants 7 5 0 .583 5–4 234 231 W1
Pittsburgh Steelers 5 7 0 .417 4–5 300 273 L1
Chicago Cardinals 4 8 0 .333 3–7 172 221 L2
Washington Redskins 4 8 0 .333 4–6 240 287 W2

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

NFL Championship Game

Round Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
Championship December 28 Detroit Lions L 7–17 0–1 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 50,934 Recap
Source:[3][4]

Roster and coaching staff

1952 Cleveland Browns roster

Quarterbacks 

Halfbacks

 Fullbacks 

Ends

 Guards 

Tackles

Centers


Assistants

Rookies in italics (5)
36 Active, 0 Inactive

NFL American Conference
CHC
CLE
NYG
PHI
PIT
WAS
National Conference
BAL
CHB
DET
GB
LA
NYY
SF

References

  1. 1 2 "Browns lose to Giants, yet cop flag". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. December 15, 1952. p. 22.
  2. ↑ "NFL summary". Pittsburgh Press. December 15, 1952. p. 23.
  3. 1 2 "Lions trip Browns, 17-7, for NFL crown". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. December 29, 1952. p. 2, part 2.
  4. 1 2 Sell, Jack (December 29, 1952). "Lions defeat Browns for NFL title, 17-7". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 18.
  5. ↑ Livingston, Pat (October 5, 1952). "Browns' surge nips Steelers, 21-20". Pittsburgh Press. p. 41.
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