Maybe because it is just one away from Halloween, the Browns have had a number of interesting games, involving some interesting names in interesting venues, through the years on today’s date, Oct. 30.
 
Here’s a look at some of them:
 
*1955 – Browns 26, Chicago Cardinals 20 – at Comiskey Park – On the way to their second straight NFL championship, the Browns rushed to victory with nearly 200 yards on the ground, including 121 – and a touchdown on a six-yarder — from Ed Modzelewski and 70 from Fred “Curly” Morrison. One of the other touchdowns for Cleveland, which won its fifth straight to improve to 5-1, came on cornerback Don Paul’s 60-yard interception return. Chuck Noll (yes, that Chuck Noll), who was then playing linebacker – and special teams — before moving to messenger guard, got the only safety of his seven-year Browns career when he blocked a punt out of the end zone. Before he went to the New York Giants and then into the broadcast booth for several decades, Pat Summerall played for the Cardinals. He kicked two short field goals of 20 and 11 yards, and two extra points.
 
*1960 — Browns 31, Washington Redskins 10 – at Griffith Stadium – A 17-point third quarter blew the game wide open, boosting the Browns to a 31-3 lead as they upped their record to 4-1. Bobby Mitchell, who went to the Redskins two years later in the historic, ill-fated trade that gave the Browns the rights to Ernie Davis, ran for three yards for a TD and threw 23 yards to wide receiver Ray Renfro for another score on a halfback-option play. Wide receiver Gern Nagler, who was in the first of his two seasons with Cleveland, caught a 23-yard TD pass from Milt Plum and had three receptions overall for a game-high 81 yards. Sam Baker, who filled in as the kicker in 1960 when Lou Groza temporarily retired because of an ailing back, kicked a 21-yard field goal and four extra points.
 
 *1977 – Browns 44, Kansas City Chiefs 7 – at Cleveland Stadium – The Browns roared to a 30-0 halftime lead, amassed 526 total yards, including 322 rushing, scored their most points since 1968 and enjoyed their largest margin of victory since 1960. The Browns won their third in a row to improve to 5-2 and move into first place all by themselves in the AFC Central at the halfway point of the season. Incredibly, head coach Forrest Gregg, who had been named AFC Coach of the Year in 1976, lasted just six more games, during which the Browns went just 1-5, before being fired with one contest left and getting replaced on an interim basis by defensive coordinator Dick Modzelewski, a key defensive tackle on the Browns’ 1964 NFL title-winning team. Modzelewski tried hard to get the head-coaching job for 1978, but owner Art Modell instead gave it to the offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints, Sam Rutigliano. Cleveland Browns Legend Paul Wiggin, who played next to Modzelewski in 1964 at left end, was not as lucky as Gregg. With his team at 1-6 on the way to a 2-12 finish, the Kansas City head coach was fired after the game and replaced on an interim basis by defensive coordinator Tom Bettis. Bettis later served as an assistant coach with the Browns in 1985. Greg Pruitt rushed for 153 yards, including a 78-yarder for a TD, and Mike Pruitt added 96 yards, including a one-yarder for a score. Tight end Gary Parris had possibly the game of his life with two short TD receptions, a seven-yarder from Brian Sipe to open the game in the fourth quarter and a two-yarder from Dave “Doc” Mays in the fourth quarter to close Cleveland’s scoring. Parris had just five TD receptions in his four-year Browns career, all of which came in 1977. Safety Thom Darden, the Sandusky, Ohio native who is the Browns’ career interceptions leader with 45, returned an interception 18 yards for a TD. Ex-Ohio State star running back John Brockington caught a 22-yard TD pass for the Chiefs.
 
*1983 – Browns 25, Houston Oilers 19 (overtime) – at Cleveland Stadium – Doug Dieken played 14 seasons as a left tackle for the Browns. He is in his 28th year as the color analyst on the Browns Radio Network. And when the original franchise left town for Baltimore and the new franchise wasn’t in operation yet, he was the Browns’ chief ambassador, keeping the torch lit by making a considerable number of personal appearances, for those three seasons (1996-98). As such, he has been with the Browns in some capacity for 45 years, making him the team’s longest-tenured employee ever. But way back when, before all that, Dieken was a prolific tight end – at least for that time – at Illinois. He was personally scouted by Lou Groza, who by then was a scout for the Browns, and then was taken with the first of the team’s two sixth-round picks in the 1971 NFL Draft. He thought he was going to be a tight end for the Browns until they handed him a No. 73 jersey, disappointing him greatly. But he got to relive his days with the Fighting Illini – at least momentarily – in that game against the Oilers 32 years ago. When a Matt Bahr field goal-attempt in the second quarter was foiled, holder Paul McDonald, the starter at quarterback that day for a sore-armed Brian Sipe, lofted a 14-yard touchdown pass to Dieken, who had lined up on the far left as a blocker and was an eligible receiver. He spiked the ball when he caught it and ever since then has not let anyone forget about the soft hands he displayed that day. Bahr ended up kicking four field goals, including a 30-yarder with just less than a minute left to force OT. Boyce Green, who ran for 107 yards on the day, then won the game with a 20-yard TD run. In their days between Dan Pastorini, Ken Stabler and Warren Moon, the Oilers had Gifford Nielsen at quarterback. He threw two TD passes to wide receiver Mike Renfro, the son of Ray Renfro, a Cleveland Browns Legend as a wide receiver from 1952-63. Ray Renfro is ninth on the Browns with 281 career receptions, second in average yards per reception at 19.6 and third in TD catches with 50. Mike Renfro caught 323 passes for 28 TDs in his 10-year career with the Oilers and Dallas Cowboys. The two Renfros are arguably the greatest father-son receiving combination in NFL history.
 
*1988 – Browns 23, Cincinnati Bengals 16 – at Cleveland Stadium – Remember Clarence Weathers? We’re talking about the guy who played wide receiver for the Browns from 1985-88, not Curtis Weathers, who was a linebacker/special teamer in Cleveland from 1979-85, and also not Carl Weathers, the actor who played the part of Apollo Creed in the Rocky movies. Because of injuries, Clarence Weathers – all 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds of him — got to play a lot in 1988, and as such that was his best season with the Browns as he caught 29 passes for 436 yards and a TD. His best game of that best season came in the win over Cincinnati. He caught seven passes for 140 yards and by far was the favorite target of Bernie Kosar, who was 18 of 28 passing for 218 yards and no TDs with two interceptions. Running back Herman Fontenot scored one of Cleveland’s two touchdowns not on offense, but with a one-yard return of a punt that was blocked by Frank Minnifield, who never got enough credit for his prowess on special teams. Tim Manoa got nearly 25 percent of his season rushing total of 389 yards with 89 yards, and one of his two TDs with a two-yarder. The win improved the Browns to 6-3 and into a second-place tie with the Oilers in the AFC Central, a game behind the 7-2 Bengals.