1981 Cleveland Browns season

1981 Cleveland Browns season
Head Coach	Sam Rutigliano
Home Field	Cleveland Stadium
Results
Record	5–11–0
Place	4th AFC Central
Playoff Finish	did not qualify
Timeline
Previous season	Next season
1980	1982

The 1981 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 32nd season with the National Football League.

Offseason

NFL Draft

The following were selected in the 1981 NFL Draft.

Round	Overall	Player	Position	School/Club Team
1	22	Hanford Dixon	Defensive Back	Southern Miss
4	92	Mike Robinson	Defensive End	Arizona
5	134	Steve Cox	Punter	Arkansas
6	160	Ron Simmons	Defensive Tackle	Florida State
7	187	Eddie Johnson	Linebacker	Louisville
9	244	Randy Schleusener	Guard	Nebraska
10	271	Dean Prater	Defensive End	Oklahoma State
11	298	Larry Friday	Defensive Back	Mississippi State
12	325	Kevin McGill	Offensive Tackle	Oregon

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 7, 1981	San Diego Chargers	L 44–14	78,904
2	September 13, 1981	Houston Oilers	L 9–3	79,483
3	September 20, 1981	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 20–17	52,170
4	September 27, 1981	Atlanta Falcons	W 28–17	78,283
5	October 4, 1981	at Los Angeles Rams	L 27–16	63,924
6	October 11, 1981	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 13–7	53,255
7	October 18, 1981	New Orleans Saints	W 20–17	76,059
8	October 25, 1981	Baltimore Colts	W 42–28	78,986
9	November 1, 1981	at Buffalo Bills	L 22–13	78,266
10	November 8, 1981	at Denver Broncos	L 23–20 (OT)	74,859
11	November 15, 1981	at San Francisco 49ers	W 15–12	52,455
12	November 22, 1981	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 32–10	77,958
13	November 29, 1981	Cincinnati Bengals	L 41–21	75,186
14	December 3, 1981	at Houston Oilers	L 17–13	44,502
15	December 12, 1981	New York Jets	L 14–13	56,866
16	December 20, 1981	at Seattle Seahawks	L 42–21	51,435

Standings

AFC East
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
Cincinnati Bengals	12	4	0	.750	421	304
Pittsburgh Steelers	8	8	0	.500	356	297
Houston Oilers	7	9	0	.438	281	355
Cleveland Browns	5	11	0	.313	276	375

Roster

1981 Cleveland Browns roster
Quarterbacks 16 Paul McDonald 17 Brian Sipe Running Backs 25 Charles White 30 Cleo Miller FB 34 Greg Pruitt 35 Calvin Hill 43 Mike Pruitt FB Wide Receivers 33 Reggie Rucker 80 Willis Adams 83 Ricky Feacher 85 Dave Logan 86 Danny Fulton Tight Ends 82 Ozzie Newsome 84 McDonald Oden 87 Curtis Weathers LB		Offensive Linemen 54 Tom DeLeone C 63 Cody Risien T 64 Joe DeLamielleure G 65 Henry Sheppard G 68 Robert E. Jackson G 71 Matt Miller T 73 Doug Dieken T 79 Gerry Sullivan C/T Defensive Linemen 72 Jerry Sherk DT 77 Lyle Alzado DE 90 Marshall Harris DE 91 Henry Bradley DT 92 Mike Robinson DE 94 Elvis Franks DE 97 Thomas Brown DE		Linebackers 50 Don Goode OLB 51 Eddie Johnson ILB 52 Dick Ambrose ILB 56 Robert L. Jackson ILB 57 Clay Matthews OLB 58 Bruce Huther ILB Defensive Backs 12 Rick Trocano FS/QB 20 Judson Flint CB 22 Clarence Scott SS 24 Autry Beamon FS 27 Thom Darden FS 28 Ron Bolton CB 29 Hanford Dixon CB 48 Lawrence Johnson CB 49 Clinton Burrell SS/CB Special Teams  9 Matt Bahr K 10 Dave Jacobs K 15 Steve Cox P 24 Cleo Montgomery KR/PR 26 Dino Hall KR/PR		Reserve Lists 27 Gary Davis RB (Inactive) 53 Bill Cowher ILB (IR) File:Injury icon 2.svg 75 Ray Bloch T (Inactive) Rookies in italics