List of Cleveland Browns starting quarterbacks
The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team in Cleveland, Ohio. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division.
Since joining the NFL in 1950, the Browns have had 55 different quarterbacks start in at least one game for the team. Pro Football Hall of Fame member Otto Graham, the team's first quarterback, led the Browns to three NFL championships in their first six seasons in the league. Since resuming operations in 1999 after a three-year vacancy, the franchise has been notable for its futility at the quarterback position.[1][2][3] From 1999 through the end of the 2015 season, the team had 24 different players start at quarterback.[4] Tim Couch, the Browns' first overall draft pick in 1999, is the only quarterback in that stretch to start all 16 games in a season for the team, having done so in 2001.[1] The Browns have started more than one quarterback for 15 consecutive seasons.[5]
Starters per season
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The following is a list of all Cleveland Browns starting quarterbacks sorted by season. The number of regular season games each player started during the season is listed to the right.
Most games started
Quarterbacks who have started for the Cleveland Browns from the team's first NFL season of 1950 to present. A player is credited with a win if he started the game and the team won that game, no matter if the player was injured or permanently removed after the first play from scrimmage. Only regular season games are included. The Browns' All-America Football Conference games from 1946 to 1949 are not included.
(Note: the Browns did not field a team during the years 1996–98.)
Sorted by number of starts. Members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in italics and most recent starter in bold.
| Quarterback | Uniform No(s) | Games Started | Wins | Losses | Ties | Winning Pct. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sipe, Brian | 17 | 112 | 57 | 55 | 0 | .509 |
| Kosar, Bernie | 19 | 105 | 53 | 51 | 1 | .510 |
| Ryan, Frank | 13 | 76 | 52 | 22 | 2 | .697 |
| Graham, Otto | 60,14 | 71 | 57 | 13 | 1 | .810 |
| Couch, Tim | 2 | 59 | 22 | 37 | 0 | .373 |
| Nelsen, Bill | 16 | 51 | 34 | 16 | 1 | .676 |
| Phipps, Mike | 15 | 51 | 24 | 25 | 2 | .490 |
| Plum, Milt | 16 | 51 | 33 | 16 | 2 | .667 |
| Anderson, Derek | 3 | 34 | 16 | 18 | 0 | .471 |
| Testaverde, Vinny | 12 | 31 | 16 | 15 | 0 | .516 |
| McDonald, Paul | 16 | 21 | 8 | 13 | 0 | .381 |
| McCoy, Colt | 12 | 21 | 6 | 15 | 0 | .286 |
| Weeden, Brandon | 3 | 20 | 5 | 15 | 0 | .250 |
| Frye, Charlie | 9 | 19 | 6 | 13 | 0 | .316 |
| Hoyer, Brian | 6 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 |
| O'Connell, Tommy | 15 | 14 | 10 | 3 | 1 | .750 |
| Holcomb, Kelly | 10 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 0 | .333 |
| Quinn, Brady | 10 | 12 | 3 | 9 | 0 | .250 |
| Ninowski, Jim | 15,11 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 0 | .455 |
| Dilfer, Trent | 8 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 0 | .364 |
| McCown, Josh | 13 | 11 | 1 | 10 | 0 | .091 |
| Garcia, Jeff | 5 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | .300 |
| Danielson, Gary | 18 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | .625 |
| Tomczak, Mike | 18 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | .500 |
| Pederson, Doug | 18 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 0 | .125 |
| Campbell, Jason | 17 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 0 | .125 |
| Manziel, Johnny | 2 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0 | .250 |
| Kessler, Cody | 6 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 0 | .000 |
| Pagel, Mike | 10 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | .286 |
| Wallace, Seneca | 6 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | .143 |
| Ratterman, George | 12,16 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | .400 |
| Philcox, Todd | 17 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | .400 |
| Delhomme, Jake | 17 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 |
| Mays, Dave | 10 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | .250 |
| Zeier, Eric | 10 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | .250 |
| McCown, Luke | 12 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 |
| Parilli, Babe | 18 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .333 |
| Rypien, Mark | 11 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .667 |
| Dorsey, Ken | 11 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 |
| Strock, Don | 12 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Christensen, Jeff | 11 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 |
| Detmer, Ty | 11 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 |
| Davis, Austin | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 |
| Gault, Don | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Lane, Gary | 15 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| Dawson, Len | 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Wynn, Spergon | 13 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| Luck, Terry | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| Cureton, Will | 16 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| Gradkowski, Bruce | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| Lewis, Thaddeus | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| Shaw, Connor | 9 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
| Griffin III, Robert | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 |
Post season
Here is a list of Cleveland Browns starting quarterbacks during the post season and the W/L record of games they started.
| Season(s) | Quarterback(s) | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Kelly Holcomb | 0-1 |
| 1994 | Vinny Testaverde | 1-1 |
| 1989 | Bernie Kosar | 1-1 |
| 1988 | Don Strock | 0-1 |
| 1987 | Bernie Kosar | 1-1 |
| 1986 | Bernie Kosar | 1-1 |
| 1985 | Bernie Kosar | 0-1 |
| 1980 | Brian Sipe | 0-1 |
| 1972 | Mike Phipps | 0-1 |
| 1971 | Bill Nelsen | 0-1 |
| 1969 | Bill Nelsen | 1-1 |
| 1968 | Bill Nelsen | 1-1 |
| 1967 | Frank Ryan | 0-1 |
| 1965 | Frank Ryan | 0-1 |
| 1964 | Frank Ryan | 1-0 |
| 1958 | Milt Plum | 0-1 |
| 1957 | Tommy O'Connell | 0-1 |
| 1955 | Otto Graham | 1-0 |
| 1954 | Otto Graham | 1-0 |
| 1953 | Otto Graham | 0-1 |
| 1952 | Otto Graham | 0-1 |
| 1951 | Otto Graham | 0-1 |
| 1950 | Otto Graham | 2-0 |
| 1949 | Otto Graham | 2-0 |
| 1948 | Otto Graham | 1-0 |
| 1947 | Otto Graham | 2-0 |
| 1946 | Otto Graham | 1-0 |
Pro Bowl selections
Here is a list of Cleveland Browns starting quarterbacks selected to the Pro Bowl.[6]
| Quarterback | Season(s) selected |
|---|---|
| Otto Graham | 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954 |
| Tommy O'Connell | 1957 |
| Milt Plum | 1960, 1961 |
| Frank Ryan | 1964, 1965, 1966 |
| Bill Nelson | 1969 |
| Brian Sipe | 1980 |
| Bernie Kosar | 1987 |
| Derek Anderson | 2007 |
See also
References
- ^ a b Nadkarni, Rohan (March 24, 2016). "Timeline: Browns quarterbacks since 1999". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
- ^ Wilder, Charlotte (September 13, 2016). "The Browns' quarterback woes are about to reach a historic new low". USA Today. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
- ^ Knox, Luke. "Browns' QB Carousel". ESPN. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
- ^ McManamon, Pat (April 6, 2016). "Ranking the Browns' 24 QBs since 1999 from worst to first". ESPN. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
- ^ Kerr-Dineen, Luke (October 9, 2016). "16 depressing stats about the Browns' never-ending quarterback crisis". USA Today. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
- ^ Retrieved March 2014 from http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/cle/all-pros.htm
- Database Football.com, last accessed 10/24/07
- Pro Football Reference.com, last accessed 12/29/08
- Cleveland Plain Dealer's Browns History Database, last accessed 7/02/2008
- Bill Levy, Return to Glory: The Story of the Cleveland Browns, (The World Publishing Co., 1965) LCCN 65023356.