2001 Cleveland Browns season

Offseason

2001 NFL draft

Undrafted free agents

Personnel

• 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 coach – Butch Davis

• Offensive coordinator – Bruce Arians

• Quarterbacks – Carl Smith

• Running backs – Todd McNair

• Wide receivers – Terry Robiskie

• Tight ends – Steve Hagen

• Offensive line – Larry Zierlein

• Assistant offensive line – Mike Sullivan

• Defensive coordinator – Foge Fazio

• Defensive line – Ray Hamilton

• Linebackers – Keith Butler

• Secondary – Chuck Pagano

• Defensive nickel package – Todd Bowles

• Special teams coordinator – Jerry Rosburg

• Head strength and conditioning – Tim Jorgensen

• Assistant strength and conditioning – Rob Phillips

Roster

• Josh Booty

• Tim Couch

• Kelly Holcomb

• Carl Fair

• Benjamin Gay KR

• Jamel White KR

• JaJuan Dawson

• Kevin Johnson PR

• Andre King KR

• Quincy Morgan KR

• Dennis Northcutt PR

• Rod Monroe

• Jake Moreland

• Alvin Morrow

• O.J. Santiago

• Brad Bedell G

• Roger Chanoine T

• Gaylon Hyder T

• Jeremy McKinney G

• Richard Mercier G

• Roman Oben T

• Shaun O'Hara C/G

• Ross Verba G/T

• Dave Wohlabaugh C

• Paul Zukauskas G/T

• DeVone Claybrooks DT

• Felipe Claybrooks DE

• Derrick Ham DE

• Alvin McKinley DT

• Tyrone Rogers DE

• Mark Smith DT

• Greg Spires DE

• Gerard Warren DT

• Brant Boyer MLB/OLB

• Anthony Denman OLB

• Lenoy Jones MLB

• Jamir Miller OLB

• Wali Rainer MLB

• Dwayne Rudd OLB

• Tarek Saleh OLB

• Chris Akins FS

• Devin Bush FS

• Dyshod Carter CB

• Corey Fuller CB

• Anthony Henry CB

• Raymond Jackson CB

• Earl Little SS

• Daylon McCutcheon CB

• Earthwind Moreland CB

• Marquis Smith SS

• Phil Dawson K

• Chris Gardocki P

• Ryan Kuehl LS

• Courtney Brown DE (IR) [[Image:Injury icon.svg|7px]]

• Mark Campbell TE (IR) [[Image:Injury icon.svg|7px]]

• Lamar Chapman CB (IR) [[Image:Injury icon.svg|7px]]

• Rickey Dudley TE (IR) [[Image:Injury icon.svg|7px]]

• Jammi German WR (IR) [[Image:Injury icon.svg|7px]]

• James Jackson RB (IR) [[Image:Injury icon.svg|7px]]

• Michael Jameson S (IR) [[Image:Injury icon.svg|7px]]

• Tre' Johnson G (IR) [[Image:Injury icon.svg|7px]]

• Noel LaMontagne G (IR) [[Image:Injury icon.svg|7px]]

• Keith McKenzie DE (IR) [[Image:Injury icon.svg|7px]]

• Arnold Miller DE (IR) [[Image:Injury icon.svg|7px]]

• Orpheus Roye DE/DT (IR) [[Image:Injury icon.svg|7px]]

• Lewis Sanders CB (IR) [[Image:Injury icon.svg|7px]]

• Aaron Shea TE (IR) [[Image:Injury icon.svg|7px]]

• Marcus Spriggs DT (IR) [[Image:Injury icon.svg|7px]]

• Mike Thompson DT (IR) [[Image:Injury icon.svg|7px]]

• Mark Word DE (IR) [[Image:Injury icon.svg|7px]]

• Bobby Brown WR

• Chris Eitzmann TE

• Gannon Shepherd T

• Terrence Sykes T

Bottlegate incident

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. 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.

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. The following season from there on beer bottles became banned from Cleveland Browns Stadium.

Schedule

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 2: vs Detroit Lions

First quarter

• CLE – Kevin Johnson 4-yard pass from Tim Couch (Phil Dawson kick), 8:55. ''Browns 7–0. '''Drive: 7 plays, 57 yards, 2:50.''''' Second quarter
• CLE – Shaun O'Hara 2-yard pass from Tim Couch (Phil Dawson kick), 13:21. ''Browns 14–0. '''Drive: 6 plays, 53 yards, 3:36.''''' Third quarter
• CLE – Phil Dawson 33-yard field goal, 11:36. ''Browns 17–0. '''Drive: 4 plays, 2 yards, 0:49.'''''
• DET – Terry Fair 26-yard interception return (Jason Hanson kick), 7:26. Browns 17–7.
• CLE – Quincy Morgan 34-yard pass from Tim Couch (Phil Dawson kick), 4:25. ''Browns 24–7. '''Drive: 1 play, 34 yards, 0:07.''''' Fourth quarter
• DET – Johnnie Morton 14-yard pass from Ty Detmer (Jason Hanson kick), 11:25. ''Browns 24–14. '''Drive: 9 plays, 84 yards, 4:13.''''' Top passers
• DET – Ty Detmer – 22/42, 212 yards, TD, 7 INT
• CLE – Tim Couch – 12/20, 138 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT Top rushers
• DET – James Stewart – 17 rushes, 71 yards
• CLE – James Jackson – 31 rushes, 124 yards Top receivers
• DET – Johnnie Morton – 6 receptions, 100 yards, TD
• CLE – Quincy Morgan – 2 receptions, 38 yards, TD

Week 5: at Cincinnati Bengals

Week 8: at Chicago Bears

First quarter

Second quarter

Third quarter

Fourth quarter

;Top passers

• CLE – Tim Couch – 14/23, 211 yards, 2 TD, INT
• CHI – Shane Matthews – 30/50, 357 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT ;Top rushers
• CLE – James Jackson – 22 rushes, 71 yards
• CHI – Anthony Thomas – 31 rushes, 96 yards, TD ;Top receivers
• CLE – Kevin Johnson – 5 receptions, 99 yards, TD
• CHI – Dez White – 7 receptions, 92 yards

Week 15: at Green Bay Packers

First quarter

Second quarter

Third quarter

Fourth quarter

;Top passers

• CLE – Tim Couch – 22/33, 203 yards, TD, 3 INT
• GB – Brett Favre – 18/28, 139 yards, 3 TD ;Top rushers
• CLE – Jamel White – 21 rushes, 131 yards
• GB – Anthony Thomas – 31 rushes, 96 yards, TD ;Top receivers
• CLE – Jamel White – 9 receptions, 85 yards, TD
• GB – Bubba Franks – 4 receptions, 29 yards, 2 TD

Standings

Awards and records

Milestones

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

References

References

1. "2001 Media Guide". Cleveland Browns.
2. (2010-11-18). "Top 10 Most Ridiculous Sports Fan Moments - Photo 1 of 10 - NESN.com". Media.nesn.com.
3. "Browns". Cleveland.com.
4. [https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/1381559/bottlegate-postgame.pdf Pool Report - Cleveland Browns vs. Jacksonville Jaguars - December 16, 2001]