List of Cleveland Browns starting quarterbacks
Won/Lost Records
Quarterbacks who have started for the Cleveland Browns football team from the team's first NFL season of 1950 through game 2 of the 2011-12 season. 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 on the second play from scrimmage. Only regular season games included. The Browns' AAFC games from 1946-1949 are not included yet.
(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 current starter in bold.
| Quarterback | Uniform No(s) | Games Started | Wins | Losses | Ties | Winning Pct. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sipe, Brian | 17 | 112 | 57 | 55 | 0 | .5089 |
| Kosar, Bernie | 19 | 105 | 53 | 51 | 1 | .5095 |
| 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 |
| Frye, Charlie | 9 | 19 | 6 | 13 | 0 | .316 |
| O'Connell, Tommy | 15 | 14 | 10 | 3 | 1 | .750 |
| Holcomb, Kelly | 10 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 0 | .333 |
| Ninowski, Jim | 15,16 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 0 | .455 |
| Dilfer, Trent | 8 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 0 | .364 |
| Garcia, Jeff | 5 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | .300 |
| Pederson, Doug | 18 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 0 | .125 |
| Danielson, Gary | 18 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | .625 |
| Tomczak, Mike | 18 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | .500 |
| Quinn, Brady | 10 | 12 | 3 | 9 | 0 | .250 |
| Pagel, Mike | 11 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | .286 |
| Ratterman, George | 12,16 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | .400 |
| Philcox, Todd | 17 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | .400 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Delhomme, Jake | 17 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | .500 |
| Wallace, Seneca | 6 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | .250 |
| McCoy, Colt | 12 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | .300 |
Starters per season
List of all Cleveland Browns starting quarterbacks sorted by season. The number of regular-season games they started during the season is listed to the right:
Note: 19 quarterbacks have started for the Browns in the 12 seasons since they returned to the NFL. That is more than the last 30 seasons leading up to leaving the NFL after the 1995 season.
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) |
|---|---|
| 2002 | Kelly Holcomb (1L) |
| 1994 | Vinny Testaverde (1W-1L) |
| 1989 | Bernie Kosar (1W-1L) |
| 1988 | Don Strock (1L) |
| 1987 | Bernie Kosar (1W-1L) |
| 1986 | Bernie Kosar (1W-1L) |
| 1985 | Bernie Kosar (1L) |
| 1980 | Brian Sipe (1L) |
| 1972 | Mike Phipps (1L) |
| 1971 | Bill Nelsen (1L) |
| 1969 | Bill Nelsen (1W-1L) |
| 1968 | Bill Nelsen (1W-1L) |
| 1967 | Frank Ryan (1L) |
| 1965 | Frank Ryan (1L) |
| 1964 | Frank Ryan (1W) |
| 1958 | Milt Plum (1L) |
| 1957 | Tommy O'Connell (1L) |
| 1955 | Otto Graham (1W) |
| 1954 | Otto Graham (1W) |
| 1953 | Otto Graham (1L) |
| 1952 | Otto Graham (1L) |
| 1951 | Otto Graham (1L) |
| 1950 | Otto Graham (2W) |
| 1949 | Otto Graham (2W) |
| 1948 | Otto Graham (1W) |
| 1947 | Otto Graham (2W) |
| 1946 | Otto Graham (1W) |
See also
References
- 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.