Top 10 Browns Season Openers: #4 September 6, 1946

Friday, September 6, 1946 Browns 44, Miami Seahawks 0 Cleveland Stadium (60,135)Taking the field for an official game for the first time, the Browns throttled the overmatched Seahawks before the largest crowd ever to watch a professional football game to that point. Five different players crossed the goal line, including WR Mac Speedie, who scored the first touchdown in team history on a 19-yard pass from starting QB Cliff Lewis on the eighth play of the game. Lewis was eventually replaced by Otto Graham and Graham threw his first career touchdown pass early in the second quarter on a long strike to WR Dante Lavelli. RB Tom Colella - a stalwart with the Cleveland Rams the previous two seasons - extended the lead to 24-0 on the first rushing touchdown in Browns’ history: a 50-yard scamper in the second quarter. The Cleveland offense was powerful, rolling up 345 total yards, but the defense was dominant, holding the Seahawks to 27 total yards - minus-1 on the ground - and didn’t allow Miami to penetrate the Cleveland 39. The Browns also forced four turnovers, two of which resulted in touchdowns by DBs: a three-yard fumble return by Don Greenwood and a 76-yard interception return by Ray Terrell as time expired. 1 2 3 4 Seahawks 0 0 0 0 = 0 Browns 10 17 0 17 = 44 CLE-Speedie 19-yd. pass from Lewis (Groza kick) CLE-Groza 22-yd. FG CLE-Lavelli 39-yd. pass from Graham (Groza kick) CLE-Colella 50-yd. run (Groza kick) CLE-Groza 27-yd. FG CLE-Greenwood 3-yd. fumble return (Groza kick) CLE-Groza 21-yd. FG CLE-Terrell 76-yd. interception return (Groza kick) Passing MIA: Pugh 3-7-10 0 TD 0 INT, Tarrant 1-3-9 0 TD 0 INT, Johnston 1-1-9 0 TD 0 INT, Gafford 0-2-0 0 TD 1 INT, Price 0-2-0 0 TD 0 INT, McDonald 0-1-0 0 TD 1 INT CLE: Graham 5-13-109 1 TD 0 INT, Lewis 2-3-31 1 TD 0 INT, Greenwood 1-1-27 0 TD 0 INT, Saban 0-3-0 0 TD 1 INT Rushing MIA: Reynolds 6-31, Johnston 5-11, Gloden 3-5, Nelson 3-5, Jones 2-2, Gafford 3-(-3), Tarrant 2-(-23), Pugh 2-(-29) CLE: Smith 7-54, Colella 1-50, E.Jones 3-45, Evans 5-22, Motley 5-19, Greenwood 10-13, Fekete 2-3, Lund 1-(-1), Graham 2-(-5), Saban 2-(-6), Lewis 2-(-16) Receiving MIA: Pool 2-18, Scott 1-12, Mitchell 1-3, Nelson 1-(-5) CLE: Lavelli 3-79, Motley 1-35, Coppage 1-27, Speedie 1-16, Terrell 1-11, Smith 1-(-1) Text reproduced from The Browns Bible:The Complete Game-By-Game History of the Cleveland Browns by Jonathan Knight, The Kent State University Press Be a part of the crowning event in Football's greatest weekend, with Enshrinement tickets starting at $20 each. Come watch the Class of 2014 that includes Ray Guy, Claude Humphrey, Andre Reed, Michael Strahan get immortalized in bronze alongside some of the greatest to ever play the game. You are not going to want to miss this once-in-a-lifetime experience. Click here for details! [](http://www.profootballhof.com)

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Top 10 Browns Season Openers: #4 September 6, 1946