browns have been to playoffs 18 times.
browns have been to playoffs 18 times.
how many times have browns been to playoffs?
18
darden was drafted in the first round (18th overall) in the 1972 nfl draft by the cleveland browns. darden started at strong safety in his rookie season of 1972 and played the remainder of his career at free safety until he retired after his tenth and final season, where he only started 10 games. autry beamon and lawrence johnson filled in for the injured darden in his final season (1981). clinton burrell, who won a starting cornerback position in 1980, only played 2 games in 1981. rookie hanford dixon started at cornerback in place of the injured burrell. after darden's retirement, the browns moved clinton burrell to strong safety and clarence scott to free safety. darden was selected as an all-pro safety in 1976, 1978, and 1979, and went to the pro bowl in 1978. over the course of his career he handled 45 punt returns for 285 return yards. darden holds cleveland browns franchise records with 45 career interceptions, 10 single-season interceptions and 820 interception return yards. two of darden's browns teams went to the playoffs. his rookie year, the 10–4 1972 browns went to the 1972-73 nfl playoffs under head coach nick skorich, but lost in the first round to the miami dolphins 20–14. the 11–5 1980 browns went to the 1980-81 nfl playoffs under head coach sam rutigliano, but lost in the first round to the oakland raiders 14–12.
thom darden
when the afl and nfl merged before the 1970 season, cleveland became part of the new american football conference (afc). while the browns made it back to the playoffs in 1971 and 1972, they fell into mediocrity through the mid-1970s. a revival of sorts took place in 1979 and 1980, when quarterback brian sipe engineered a series of last-minute wins and the browns came to be called the "kardiac kids". under sipe, however, the browns did not make it past the first round of the playoffs. quarterback bernie kosar, who the browns drafted in 1985, led the team to three afc championship games in the late 1980s but lost each time. in 1995, modell announced he was relocating the browns to baltimore, sowing a mix of outrage and bitterness among cleveland's dedicated fan base. negotiations and legal battles led to an agreement where modell was allowed to move the team, but cleveland kept the browns' name, colors and history. after three years of suspension while the old municipal stadium was demolished and cleveland browns stadium took its place, the browns started play again in 1999 under new owner al lerner. since resuming operations, the browns have made the playoffs only once, as a wild-card team in 2002.
history of the cleveland browns