The 1976 Cleveland Browns season was the franchise's 31st as a professional sports franchise and their 27th season as a member of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. The Browns were coached by second-year coach

Forrest Gregg Alvis Forrest Gregg (October 18, 1933 – April 12, 2019) was an American professional football player and coach. A Pro Football Hall of Fame offensive tackle for 16 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), he was a part of six NFL champ ...

, and ended their season with a record of 9–5, being third in their division. The team's top draft choice was running back Mike Pruitt.

Brian Sipe Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word me ...

firmly took control at quarterback. Sipe had been inserted into the lineup after a

Mike Phipps Michael Elston Phipps (born January 19, 1947) is a former American college and professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for twelve seasons during the 1970s and 1980s. Phipps played college footbal ...

injury in the season-opening win against the New York Jets on September 12. After a 1–3 start brought visions of another disastrous year, the Browns jolted the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers with an 18–16 victory on October 10. Third-string quarterback

Dave Mays David W. Mays III (born June 20, 1949 in Pine Bluff, Arkansas) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League. He was signed by the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted free agent in 1976. He played college football at Texa ...

helped lead the team to that victory, while defensive end Joe "Turkey" Jones' pile-driving sack of quarterback

Terry Bradshaw Terry Paxton Bradshaw (born September 2, 1948) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League (NFL). Since 1994, he has been a television sports analyst an ...

fueled the heated rivalry between the two teams. That win was the first of eight in the next nine weeks, helping put the Browns in contention for the AFC playoffs. A loss to the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

in the regular-season finale cost them a share of the division title, but running back

Greg Pruitt Gregory Donald Pruitt (born August 18, 1951) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) from 1973 through 1984. He was selected to five Pro Bowls, four as a member of the Cleveland Browns and one as a member o ...

continued his outstanding play by rushing for exactly 1,000 yards, his second-straight four-digit season.

Offseason

NFL Draft

The following were selected in the 1976 NFL Draft.

Exhibition schedule

Regular season schedule

Standings

Staff / Coaches

Roster

Game summaries

Week 5 vs Steelers

Turkey Jones Joseph Willie "Turkey" Jones (born January 7, 1948) is a former American football defensive end who spent eleven seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Cleveland Browns (1970–1973; 1975–1978), Philadelphia Eagles (1974–1975 ...

knocked out

in this contest.

Week 6: at
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Notes and references

External links

1976 Cleveland Browns
at Pro Football Reference
1976 Cleveland Browns Statistics
at jt-sw.com
1976 Cleveland Browns Schedule
at jt-sw.com

at DatabaseFootball.com {{DEFAULTSORT:1976 Cleveland Browns Season

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Cleveland Browns seasons

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...