Bill Nelson went to Cleveland-Browns were 10-4

[LeonardRachiele]

The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Bill Nelson out of Southern California before 1963 season.  After sitting on the bench for three seasons, the Steelers named him the starter for 1965 . It was part of a rebuilding movement and the Pittsburgh management and fans knew they were not going anywhere.  Over the next three years, Bill Nelson was so often injured that he played in less than half of their games every year. 

In the spring of 68, the Steelers traded him to the  Cleveland Browns.  There his new team went to  NFL Championship in 1968 and 1969. Cleveland  more than met their match in both games. Nevertheless, Nelson had two fantastic seasons.  He did virtually nothing after 1970 that but still  put his signature on Cleveland Browns history.

1968 Their 1-2 start included two big losses, 28 to 7 at Dallas and 24 to 6 at home to Rams. After these two debacles, Coach Blanton Collier pulled quarterback Frank Ryan in favor of Bill Nelson.  The Browns went 9-2 the rest of the way easily winning the Century Division with a 10-4 record.  By far their  biggest win was at Baltimore in week 6 where Cleveland gave the Colts their only loss of the season.  Baltimore finished 15-1.

Week 6 at Baltimore. The Colts had won all five previous games to the Browns 2-3. With the aid of  their defense, the Browns won 30 to 20.  Bill Nelson went 15 for 23 for 137 yards and three  touchdowns. LeRoy Kelly ran for 130 yards and a touchdown. The great Browns secondary intercepted four passes.  Browns 30 Colts 20.

Eastern Conference Playoff  Dallas Cowboys 12-2 at Cleveland 10-4.
The Cowboys finished two games better than the Browns and, as previously stated, beat them during season 28 to 7. Those figures meant nothing in the playoff. Cleveland showed a great defense intercepting four passes.  Things were easy for Bill Nelson as he went 13 for 15 for 203 yards and a touchdown. Browns 31 Cowboys 20.

Unfortunately for Cleveland, the playoff reversal from the season continued at home to the Baltimore Colts in the NFL Championship Game.  This time the Colts won easily 34 to 0.  The season still gave the Browns a new quarterback which would pay off again in 1969.

[Retro Rider]

Nelson had two fantastic seasons.  He did virtually nothing after 1970 that but still  put his signature on Cleveland Browns history.

Nelsen went 9-4 as the Browns starting QB in 1971, directing them to the AFC Central Division title. One of the highlights was a 14-13 win over the defending Super Bowl Champion Colts in Week 2. He finished 5th in the NFL in passing yards in 1971.

Bill Nelsen was a great story. During the period of 1968-1972 he went 34-16-1 as the Browns starter with 3 division titles. He was a Pro Bowl selection in 1969. Supposedly he had knees worse than Joe Namath (5 knee surgeries during his playing career). He was profiled in Bill Libby's book Star Quarterbacks of the NFL (1970).

On a side note, Cleveland went 6-1 all-time against the Colts in Baltimore (1950-1983). Their wins came in 1950, 1959, 1968, 1971, 1978 and 1980. The Colts won in 1975.

[Cali_Eagle]

I enjoy your posts, but I have to point out that Bill Nelsen (<--- correct spelling) was the Browns starting QB in 1971 and the Browns went 9-5 and won the AFC Central Division. Nelsen had bad knees from football injuries and had informed the Browns after 1969 he wouldn't/couldn't play much longer because of his knees, and that they should start preparing for a trade for or else draft a starting QB to be. The Browns unfortunately made the disastrous trades for a top draft choice, which turned out to be Mike Phipps which was a disaster. They also gave up Paul Warfield (future HOF-er) in that trade (to Miami) & tried to fix that with another bad trade with the Giants for Homer Jones to replace Warfield. As a result of all this bad dealing, some lean years were ahead for Cleveland.

EDIT: The previous post beat mine by 4 minutes, so while I was composing mine, his must have gone up, unbeknownst to me.