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2001 Cleveland Browns season

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2001 Cleveland Browns season
OwnerAl Lerner
General managerDwight Clark
Head coachButch Davis
Offensive coordinatorBruce Arians
Defensive coordinatorFoge Fazio
Home fieldCleveland Browns Stadium
Local radioWTAM · WMJI
Results
Record7–9
Division placeT–3rd AFC Central
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersLB Jamir Miller

The 2001 season was the Cleveland Browns' 53rd as a professional sports franchise, their 49th as a member of the National Football League, and the first season under head coach Butch Davis. The team improved on their 3-13 record from the previous season, but for the seventh straight year did not qualify for the postseason.

Offseason

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2001 NFL Draft

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2001 Cleveland Browns Draft
Round Selection Player Position College
1 3 Gerard Warren Defensive tackle Florida
2 33 Quincy Morgan Wide receiver Kansas State
3 65 James Jackson Running back Miami
4 97 Anthony Henry Defensive back South Florida
5 134 Jeremiah Pharms Linebacker Washington
6 165 Michael Jameson Defensive back Texas A&M
7 203 Paul Zukauskas Offensive lineman Boston College
7 245 Andre King Wide receiver Miami

Personnel

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2001 Cleveland Browns staff

Front office

  • Owner and chairman – Alfred Lerner
  • President and chief executive officer – Carmen Policy
  • Executive vice president/director of football operations – Dwight Clark
  • Executive director of player personnel – Joe Collins
  • Director of college personnel – Phil Neri
  • Director of pro personnel – Keith Kidd

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Head strength and conditioning – Tim Jorgensen
  • Assistant strength and conditioning – Rob Phillips


[1]

Roster

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2001 Cleveland Browns roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Practice squad

Reserve

Rookies in italics
53 active, 17 reserve, 4 practice squad

Bottlegate incident

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Main article: Bottlegate

The most notable game from the 2001 Cleveland Browns season came on a December 16 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in what became known as "Bottlegate". The Browns were driving toward the east end zone for what would have been the winning score. A controversial call on fourth down gave the Jaguars the ball. Browns' receiver Quincy Morgan had caught a pass for a first down on 4th and 2. After Tim Couch spiked the ball on the next play, referee Terry McAulay reviewed Morgan's catch, claiming that the replay officials had buzzed him before Couch spiked the ball. (NFL Rules state that once the next play is started, the officials cannot under any circumstances review any previous plays.) Upon reviewing the play, McAulay determined that Morgan never had control of the ball, thus the pass was incomplete, and the Jaguars were awarded the ball. Fans in the Dawg Pound began throwing plastic beer bottles and other objects on the field.[2] McAulay declared the game over and sent the teams to the locker rooms. NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue then called to override the referee's decision, sending the players back onto the field, where the Jaguars ran out the last seconds under a hail of debris.[3]

After the game, McAulay clarified that they first reviewed whether or not the electronic pager had buzzed before Couch had spiked the ball. In a discussion with the Replay Official, Bill Reynolds, it was determined that Reynolds buzzed down before the spike. After the game was called, Tagliabue called NFL Supervisor Dick McKenzie and informed him that the game had to be finished to completion. Neither McAulay nor Reynolds suggested to Tagliabue that the game should be called, which was within the power of the Commissioner's Office. Davis would later comment that he was told that the buzzer went off at the same time as the snap. Couch had initially believed that the officials were going to penalize the Browns for intentional grounding for Couch faking a spike before spiking it, but was then told that the spike was legal. The referees then began discussing the play prior to the spike. President and Chief Executive Officer Carmen Policy refused to criticize the actions of the fans and the decisions of the officiating crew.[4]

Schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 September 9 Seattle Seahawks L 6–9 0–1 Cleveland Browns Stadium 72,318 Recap
2[A] September 23 Detroit Lions W 24–14 1–1 Cleveland Browns Stadium 73,168 Recap
3 September 30 at Jacksonville Jaguars W 23–14 2–1 Alltel Stadium 57,875 Recap
4 October 7 San Diego Chargers W 20–16 3–1 Cleveland Browns Stadium 73,018 Recap
5 October 14 at Cincinnati Bengals L 14–24 3–2 Paul Brown Stadium 64,217 Recap
6 October 21 Baltimore Ravens W 24–14 4–2 Cleveland Browns Stadium 72,818 Recap
7 Bye
8 November 4 at Chicago Bears L 21–27 (OT) 4–3 Soldier Field 66,944 Recap
9 November 11 Pittsburgh Steelers L 12–15 (OT) 4–4 Cleveland Browns Stadium 73,218 Recap
10 November 18 at Baltimore Ravens W 27–17 5–4 PSINet Stadium 69,353 Recap
11 November 25 Cincinnati Bengals W 18–0 6–4 Cleveland Browns Stadium 72,918 Recap
12 December 2 Tennessee Titans L 15–31 6–5 Cleveland Browns Stadium 72,818 Recap
13 December 9 at New England Patriots L 16–27 6–6 Foxboro Stadium 60,292 Recap
14 December 16 Jacksonville Jaguars L 10–15 6–7 Cleveland Browns Stadium 72,818 Recap
15 December 23 at Green Bay Packers L 7–30 6–8 Lambeau Field 59,824 Recap
16 December 30 at Tennessee Titans W 41–38 7–8 Adelphia Coliseum 68,798 Recap
17[A] January 6 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 7–28 7–9 Heinz Field 59,189 Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

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AFC Central
W L T PCT PF PA STK
(1) Pittsburgh Steelers 13 3 0 .813 352 212 W1
(5) Baltimore Ravens 10 6 0 .625 303 265 W1
Cleveland Browns 7 9 0 .438 285 319 L1
Tennessee Titans 7 9 0 .438 336 388 L2
Jacksonville Jaguars 6 10 0 .375 294 286 L2
Cincinnati Bengals 6 10 0 .375 226 309 W2

Awards and records

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Milestones

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2001 was the first of two seasons since the Browns were reactivated in 1999 in which the same quarterback (Tim Couch) started all 16 games. The second was (Baker Mayfield) in 2019.

Rookie Cornerback Anthony Henry had 10 interceptions including one ran back 97 yards for a touchdown.

Notes

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  1. ^ a b The Browns were originally scheduled to play the Pittsburgh Steelers during Week 2 of the original NFL schedule (September 16) at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. However, due to the September 11 attacks, the game was rescheduled to Week 17.

References

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  1. ^ "Staff Directory". 2001 Media Guide. Cleveland Browns. p. 4.
  2. ^ "Top 10 Most Ridiculous Sports Fan Moments - Photo 1 of 10 - NESN.com". Media.nesn.com. November 18, 2010. Archived from the original on January 11, 2012. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
  3. ^ "Browns". Cleveland.com. Archived from the original on December 27, 2015. Retrieved August 9, 2012.
  4. ^ Pool Report - Cleveland Browns vs. Jacksonville Jaguars - December 16, 2001
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