Browns By The Numbers - 7, 8, 9!

Continuing the series, let's look at the numbers 7, 8 and 9.

Number 7

Terry Luck               QB   (1977)
Jeff Gossett                P  (1983-87)
Tom Tupa                  P   (1994-95)
Paul Ernster               P   (2007)
Bruce Gradkowski   QB  (2008)
Jeff Wolfert               K    (2011-12)
Brad Maynard           P    (2011)
Alex Tanney            QB   (2013)
Austin Davis            QB   (2015 - )


Terry Luck is much more known for being the father of Andrew Luck than he is for the four games and one start he made with the Browns in 1977. In those games he was a 50% passer (25-50) but had only 1 TD compared to 7 INTs. He doesn't appear to have any football cards.

1987 Topps #86

Jeff Gossett punted in all 16 games for the Browns in 1983, went to the USFL for 1984, and then returned to the Browns for all 16 games in 1985 and 1986, and 5 games in 1987. He punted 253 times for the Browns with a 40.7 yard average. He also went 1 for 3 passing for the Browns, throwing an interception. He did go on to make a Pro Bowl with the Raiders in 1991.

Tom Tupa started his NFL career as a QB with the Cardinals, but reinvented himself to get back into the league as a Punter with the Browns in 1994 and 1995. He punted 145 times for the Browns with a 41.7 yard average. In the season opener against the Bengals in 1994, Tupa ran in the first regular season two-point conversion in NFL history. He finished the season with 3 two-point conversions. He doesn't have a card with the Browns.


Paul Ernster punted in one game with the Browns in 2007, with 7 punts and a 36.6 average. He does not have a Browns card.


Brad Gradkowski also does not have a Browns card. He played in 2 games, losing his only start in 2008, and completing only 7 of 21 passes and throwing 3 interceptions.


Jeff Wolfert was brought in for successive training camps in 2011 and 2012, kicking in exhibition games in both years. He was cut both seasons, and does not have a football card.


Brad Maynard must have received the number 7 after Wolfert was cut, as he finished his 15 year NFL career with one year in Cleveland, punting 81 times with a 40.5 yard average. He does not have a Browns card.


Alex Tanney has over 4.2 million hits on his YouTube trick shot video while he was in college at Monmouth. The Browns signed him from the Cowboys practice roster late in 2013, but he didn't play in a game for them. He also does not have a Browns card.


Austin Davis is a current Cleveland Brown, starting two games for the team last year, losing both starts and throwing 3 Interceptions to go with 1 TD. He does not have a Browns card.


Just looking at players throwing passes while wearing number 7 for the Browns, they have 2 TDs and 14 INTs. Ouch.


Number 8

Johnny Evans            P   (1978-80)
Jeff Jaeger                 K   (1987)
Brad Goebel             QB  (1992-94)
Derrick Frost             P    (2004)
Trent Dilfer               QB  (2005)
Billy Cundiff               K   (2009, 2013-14)
Richmond McGee     P    (2011)
Josh Johnson            QB  (2012)
Brandon Bogotay       K    (2013)
Andy Lee                   P    (2015 - )

1981 Topps #129

In his three years with the Browns, Evans had 214 punts with a 39.5 average.


Jeff Jaeger does not have a Browns card after kicking for the Browns in 1987. He was 14 for 22 (63.6%), with a long of 48 yards. Like Jeff Gossett above, he ended up making the Pro Bowl with the Raiders in 1991. He does not have a Browns card.


Brad Goebel appeared in one game with the Browns, completing 2 of 3 passes for 32 yards late in a game in Cincinnati on November 1, 1992. He does not have a Browns card.

2005 Topps Total #139

In his one season with the Browns, Derrick Frost punted 85 times for a 40.0 yard average. He went on to play three seasons with the Redskins and one year with the Packers.

2005 Playoff Honors #24

Trent Dilfer started 11 games (4-7) with the Browns in 2005, completing 59.8% of his passes and throwing 11 TDs, and 12 INTs. Compare this to his one Super Bowl winning season in Baltimore where in 8 starts (7-1) he completed 59.3% of his passes with 12 TDs and 11 INTs. Amazing what a defense can do...


Billy Cundiff has had two stints kicking with the Browns, and didn't get a Browns card in either stint. Over his Browns career he was 49/61 on FGs, and a perfect 64/64 on PATs.


Richmond McGee punted in one game for the Browns in 2011. He had a 36.0 yard average on 8 punts, with the longest being 48 yards. He does not have a football card.


Josh Johnson, after Tampa Bay, appeared in one game with the Browns in 2012. He did not attempt a pass, but was sacked for 8 yards. He does not have a Browns card.


Brandon Bogotay was brought into training camp in 2013 to try to replace Phil Dawson as kicker. He wasn't successful and was released after camp. He does not have a football card.


The Browns traded for punter Andy Lee before last season. He had a good year with a 46.7 yard average on 70 punts. He does not have a Browns card.


Number 9

Greg Coleman          P  (1977)
Matt Bahr                 K  (1981-89)
Charlie Frye            QB (2005-07)
Troy Weatherhead  QB (2011)
Thaddeus Lewis      QB (2011-12)
Connor Shaw           QB (2014 - )


Greg Coleman started his NFL career with one season with the Browns, punting 61 times for a 39.2 yard average. He then went on to punt 10 years with the Vikings, and one with the Redskins. He does not have a Browns card.




1986 McDonald's Browns - Black Tab

In his nine seasons with the Browns, Matt Bahr kicked in 115 games for the Browns. He is 5th in franchise scoring with 677 points. (143 FGs, 248 PATs)

2007 Donruss Classics #26

Former Akron Zip Charlie Frye started 19 games for the Browns (6-13), throwing 14 TDs and 23 INTs. In a surprising move, he was traded to Seattle shortly after being pulled in the season opener he started in 2007.


Troy Weatherhead was signed off of the Cleveland Gladiators of the Arena League to join the Browns for training camp in 2011. He didn't even get to play in a pre-season game with the team, and has no football cards.


Thaddeus Lewis started the last game of the 2012 season for the Browns in Pittsburgh, throwing for 204 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. He started 5 games for the Bills in the 2013 season. He does not have a Browns card.

2014 Topps Strata #159

After starting the season finale in Baltimore in the 2014 season, Connor Shaw spent the 2015 season on injured reserve for the Browns. It will be interesting to see what his future holds as the Browns are expected to draft a QB high in the draft, and have Josh McCown and Austin Davis under contract for next year.

Browns By The Numbers - 4, 5, 6!

In my second post of this series, let's look at players who have worn the numbers 4, 5, and 6 for the Cleveland Browns.

The beginning of this series is showing me just how many players do not get football cards.

Number 4

Brian Franco         K       1987
Max Runager        P       1988
Rico Smith           WR    1992
Phil Dawson          K      1999-2012
Tyler Thigpen      QB     2014


Brian Franco kicked for the Browns in Weeks 3 and 4 of the 1987 season, the strike season. He was a replacement player that went 3-4 on FGs and 2-2 on PATs. He has a non-Browns USFL card from 1985, but no Browns card.

Max Runager punted in 13 games for the Browns, with an average of 40.3 yards on 28 punts. He has some cards with the Eagles that pre-date his season with the Browns, but nothing with the Browns.



Rico Smith was a 6th Round draft pick for the Browns in 1992 out of Colorado. He appears to have worn number 4 for his rookie season, catching 5 passes for 64 yards, before switching to number 84 from 1993-1995. The only Browns card I have of him is wearing the 84 and will be shown when I get to that number.

Phil Dawson was the last player from the 1999 expansion team to play with the Browns, playing with them through the 2012 season. Since then he has kicked for the 49ers. He is second in career points for the franchise behind Lou Groza.

Tyler Thigpen never played in a game with the Browns. He signed with them in 2014, was in camp and then cut, and then was re-signed in December 2014 after injuries to Brian Hoyer and Johnny Manziel.


Number 5

Webster Slaughter        WR    1986
Dale Walters                 P        1987
George Winslow           P        1987
Brett Conway                K       2003
Jeff Garcia                    QB     2004
Scott Player                   P       2007
Spencer Lanning           P        2013-2014


Webster Slaughter appears to have only worn number 5 during his rookie season in 1986 before switching to number 84 from 1987-1991. During his rookie season he caught 40 passes for 577 yards with 4 TDs. He also had 7 receptions for 106 in two playoff games that year. (6 of them for 86 yards were in their classic 2OT game vs the Jets on January 3, 1987.) He does not have a card wearing number 5.

Dale Walters was a replacement player during weeks 3 and 4 of the 1987 season. He punted 11 times for a 36.36 yard average. Like Brian Franco, he has a USFL card from 1985, but does not have a Browns card.

George Winslow punted later in the 1987 season (weeks 8-12) and had 18 punts with a 34.2 yard average. He also punted in five games for the Saints in 1989. He does not appear to have a football card.

Brett Conway kicked in the last 3 games of 2003 for the Browns, going 5-7 on FGs, and 3-3 on PATs. He does not appear to have a football card.



After a successful CFL stint with the Calgary Stampeders, and five years with the 49ers, Jeff Garcia came to play in Cleveland. He finished his Browns career with 10 starts, going 3-7, passing for 10 TDs with 9 INTs. Following the Browns he went on to play with Detroit, Philadelphia and Tampa Bay.

Scott Player played nine years with the Cardinals before playing in Weeks 3-5 of the 2007 season with the Browns, filling in for an injured Dave Zastudil. He punted 13 times with the Browns for a 45.6 yard average, and does not have a Browns football card.

I thought Spencer Lanning had a good two years with the Browns in 2013-2014 but the Browns decided to trade for Andy Lee before the 2015 season. During those two years, Lanning punted 177 times for the Browns with a 44.1 average. He doesn't have a Browns card, but can be seen in this 2015 Score card of Antonio Brown:

Many people will remember this attempted hurdle by Brown

 



Since it isn't fair to only be remembered for that, I will mention that Lanning had one career pass. It went 11 yards for a TD in Minnesota on September 22, 2013.

Lanning played in one game with the Bears last year. I hope that he gets an invite somewhere this year.


Number 6

Remi Watson           WR     1987
Seneca Wallace        QB      2010-2011
Brian Hoyer              QB     2013-2014
Travis Coons            K        2015


Remi Watson is another strike replacement player from 1987, playing in the last game of the strike with some of the regular players. I believe the strike was settled a few days before the October 18, 1987 game, and there was a mix of regular and replacement players on a lot of teams. Watson caught one pass for 13 yards.

Seneca Wallace started 7 games for the Browns in his two years with the team, finishing with a 1-6 record. No cards were made of him with the Browns.



Brian Hoyer started 16 games with the Browns over his two seasons, finishing with a 10-6 record - the only Browns starter since 1999 to finish with a winning record. He signed with Houston as a free agent last year, and lost at home to the Chiefs in the Wildcard round of the playoffs this year.

Travis Coons kicked in all 16 games for the Browns last season, finishing having made 28 of his 32 field goal attempts after making the first 16 attempts of the season. He also had 2 missed converts. He didn't do was well from distance with all four of his unsuccessful attempts coming from over 40 yards (two over 50). Three of the four unsuccessful attempts were blocked, including a potential 51 yard game winning kick against the Ravens with three seconds left in the game that ended up getting returned for Baltimore's game winning touchdown. He does not have a Browns football card.

Browns By The Numbers - 1, 2, 3!

I am going to start some recurring posts showing Cleveland Browns grouped by the numbers that they wore. Depending on the amount of Browns wearing any given number I may look at more than one number in a post.

Images of the players wearing Browns uniforms will be taken from The Trading Card Database, although I am going to try to only use images of cards in my collection. If I don't own a card that I am using, I will note it.

I'm using Pro Football Reference as a reference source for the numbers. (I think that I have a fairly recent Browns media guide or yearbook at home that has a section on numbers and the players that wore them. I will have to look for it and compare it to what I find on Pro Football Reference.)

To start, let's look at numbers 1, 2 and 3!

Number 1

Michael Jackson     WR     1991-1992

1991 Upper Deck #610

It appears that Michael Jackson is the only player has worn the number 1 for the Cleveland Browns. He ended up switching his number to 81 after the 1992 season.


Number 2

Jerry Kauric        K     1990
Tim Couch         QB   1999-2003
Reggie Hodges   P      2010-2012
Johnny Manziel  QB   2014-2015

1990 Score Supplemental #2T

I was aware of his kicking in the CFL before he signed with the Browns. A Canadian, his NFL career consisted of 14 games in the 1990 season where he was 14-20 on FGs, and 24-27 on PATs. An interesting statistic that jumps out from his record is that he had a reception for 21 yards against the 49ers on October 28, 1990.

2002 Sports Illustrated for Kids #189

Tim Couch, of the Kentucky Wildcats, was the #1 pick in the 1999 NFL Draft. He had a 22-37 record as the starting quarterback of the Cleveland Browns.

 

 

I do not have a card of Reggie Hodges, who punted for the Browns from 2009-2012. He wore number 3 in his eight games of the 2009 season before switching to number 2.

2015 Topps #56



Not too much to say about Johnny Manziel. I figure everyone knows enough about him already.

 

 

Number 3

Mark Moseley                    K             1986

Goran Lingmerth               K             1987

Matt Stover                        K             1991-1995

Derek Anderson               QB           2006-2009

Reggie Hodges                 P              2009

Jarrett Brown                    QB          2011

Brandon Weeden              QB          2012-2013

Pat Devlin                         QB          2015

   

Mark Moseley, the long-time Washington Redskins kicker, finished his career with four games with the Browns. In that short period, he was 6-7 in FGs, and 13-14 in PATs. Yep, that's right. 14 PAT attempts in four games. To compare, this year's kicker, Travis Coons, attempted 24 for the season. Unfortunately, with such a short stay in Cleveland, Moseley does not have a Browns card.

 

 

Goran Lingmerth was born in Sweden, and played his college ball for the Northern Arizona University Lumberjacks. During the 1986 college season, he set a NCAA record by kicking 8 field goals in a game. In 1987, he attended training camp with the Philadelphia Eagles, and then as a replacement player played one game for the Cleveland Browns, although he had no scoring attempts.

 

 

1995 Topps #64



Matt Stover had a 19 year career in the NFL after being drafted by the New York Giants in 1990. Never playing for the Giants, he kicked for Cleveland from 1991 until the move to Baltimore after the 1995 season. He then kicked in Baltimore until the end of the 2008 season, before finishing his career with one year in Indianapolis.
 

2008 Playoff Prestige #23

Derek Anderson had a Pro Bowl season for the Browns in 2007. He is currently the backup quarterback for the Carolina Panthers.

 

 

As stated above, Reggie Hodges wore number 3 before switching to number 2.

 

 

Former West Virginia Mountaineer Jarrett Brown is listed by Pro Football Reference as having worn number 3 for the Browns but I don't believe that he ever played in a game for the team.

2013 Topps Archives #92



Brandon Weeden started 20 games for the Browns in his two seasons with the team. In the 2015 season he started games for both the Cowboys and the Texans.

 

 

I believe that Pat Devlin was with the Browns during the last preseason. He was then signed by the team in December as quarterback depth after Josh McCown's injury. He did not play.