Cleveland Browns 1954 Bowman Football Cards
(Complete Set)


Cleveland Browns 1953 Season

Cleveland Browns 1957 Team Photo

On November 15, 1953, in a literally closely fought game against the San Francisco 49ers, Otto Graham runs 19 yards down the sideline and is driven out of bounds when 49er Pro Bowl middle guard Art Michalik flings his elbow and gashes open Graham's jaw which forces Graham out of the first half with 6:23 to go in the 2nd quarter. Graham gets 15 stitches in the locker room. Coach Paul Brown orders his equipment manager Leo Murphy to create what the local Cleveland sportswriter in his column on the game calls "a plastic protective apparatus" on his helmet. Graham returns to the field in the second half with the first plastic facemask in football history. Brown eventually requires all his players to wear a facemask and he patents the invention using the acronym BT-5 which stands for "bar tubular". The Riddell Helmet Company begins mass producing helmets with facemasks.


  • Browns lose their third consecutive championship game
  • Browns win first 11 games of the regular season before losing the final meaningless game against the Eagles 42-27
  • Otto Graham leads the NFL with 2,722 passing yards
  • Lou Groza leads the NFL with 23 field goals
  • Lou Groza leads the NFL with 88.462% field goals made by kicking 23 of 26 field goals

1953 NFL Eastern Conference Champions
Coach Paul Brown - 11-1-0
Lost to Detroit Lions 17-16
in Championship Game

Team Passing Leaders

PLAYER
GAMES
COMP
ATT
COMP %
YARDS
TD
INT
QB Rating
Otto Graham
12
167
258
64.7
2722
11
9
99.7
George Ratterman
9
23
41
56.1
301
4
0
111.9

Team Rushing Leaders

PLAYER
GAMES
ATT
YARDS
AVG/ATT
AVG/GAME
LONGEST
TD
FUM
Ray Renfro
12
60
352
5.9
29.3
58
4
4
Chick Jagade
12
86
344
4.0
28.7
23
4
0

Team Receiving Leaders

PLAYER
GAMES
REC
YARDS
AVG/REC
AVG/GAME
LONGEST
TD
Dante Lavelli
12
45
783
17.4
65.3
55
6
Ray Renfro
12
39
722
18.5
60.2
70
4

Punt Return Leaders

PLAYER
GAMES
RET
YARDS
AVG/RET
LONG
TD
Billy Reynolds
12
18
111
6.2
28
0
Ray Renfro
12
17
53
3.1
16
0

Kick Return Leaders

PLAYER
GAMES
RET
YARDS
AVG/RET
LONG
TD
Ken Carpenter
12
16
367
22.9
40
0
Billy Reynolds
12
4
74
18.5
21
0

Team Kicking Leader

PLAYER
GAMES
FGA
FGM
FG %
PAT/ATT
PAT/MADE
PAT %
POINTS
Lou Groza
12
26
23
88.5
40
39
97.5
108

Team Punting Leader

PLAYER
GAMES
PUNTS
YARDS
LONG
BLOCKED
AVG/PUNT
Horace Gillom
12
63
2760
67
0
43.8

Team Interceptions Leaders

PLAYER
GAMES
INT
YARDS
TD
LONG
Tommy James
12
5
21
0
11
Warren Lahr
12
5
119
0
42
Ken Konz
12
5
15
0
9




Doug Atkins Rookie 1954 Bowman #4 football card

Doug Atkins Rookie 1954 Bowman
#4 football card





Bobby Garrett Rookie 1954 Bowman #16 football card

Bobby Garrett Rookie 1954 Bowman
#16 football card





John Sandusky 1954 Bowman #28 football card

John Sandusky 1954 Bowman
#28 football card





Otto Graham 1954 Bowman #40 football card

Otto Graham 1954 Bowman
#40 football card





Lou Groza 1954 Bowman #52 football card

Lou Groza 1954 Bowman
#52 football card





Ray Renfro 1954 Bowman #64 football card

Ray Renfro 1954 Bowman
#64 football card





Warren Lahr Rookie 1954 Bowman #74 football card

Warren Lahr Rookie 1954 Bowman
#74 football card





John Bauer Rookie 1954 Bowman #84 football card

John Bauer Rookie 1954 Bowman
#84 football card





Chet Hanulak Rookie 1954 Bowman #90 football card

Chet Hanulak Rookie 1954 Bowman
#90 football card





Jerry Hilgenberg Rookie 1954 Bowman #95 football card

Jerry Hilgenberg Rookie 1954 Bowman
#95 football card





Harry Jagade Rookie 1954 Bowman #99 football card

Harry Jagade Rookie 1954 Bowman
#99 football card





Dante Lavelli 1954 Bowman #111 football card

Dante Lavelli 1954 Bowman
#111 football card




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