The Cleveland Browns and Chicago Bears have been part of the NFL since 1950, but the franchises do not have much of a shared history.
When they take the field on Sunday at Soldier Field, it will be just the 19th meeting between the teams in 75 years, making it the most infrequent opponent for the Browns in that time frame.
Some of that has to do with the Browns and the Bears always being in different divisions in the NFL through 1969, and then in different conferences beginning in 1970. Still, it is strange to look back and see that two of the league’s longtime franchises had only faced each other six times prior to the merger.
Even though they have not played that often, the Browns and the Bears have had some memorable games over the years. But only one falls into the category of historic, and that was the very first meeting when halfback Dub Jones scored six touchdowns against the Bears, a record that still stands to this day.
On November 25, 1951, the 7-1 Browns welcomed the 6-2 Bears to the Cleveland Municipal Stadium in a meeting of Hall-of-Fame head coaches Paul Brown and George Halas. But it was Jones who took the headlines that day as the Browns routed the Bears, 42-21.
After a scoreless first quarter, Jones got the Browns on the board with a two-yard touchdown run, and followed that up with a 34-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Otto Graham to give Cleveland a 14-0 lead at the half.
Jones added a 12-yard touchdown run and a 27-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, as the Browns pushed the lead to 28-7. A 43-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter extended Cleveland’s lead and left Jones just one touchdown away from tying the NFL record, set by Ernie Nevers of the Chicago Cardinals in 1929, which also came against the Bears.
With the game well in hand, Graham wanted to get Jones the record, so he called an audible and hit Jones with a 43-yard touchdown pass, his third touchdown reception of the game.
Jones finished the game with nine rushes for 116 yards and three receptions for 80 yards, scoring touchdowns the last five times he touched the ball. It was part of a big day for the Browns, as the offense rolled up 516 yards of total offense, including 277 passing yards from Graham and 144 receiving yards from Mac Speedie.
On a side note, the Browns were penalized 21 times for 209 yards in the game. No word on whether or not a reporter asked Brown if the team practiced not committing penalties, or if any fans grumbled about the team being undisciplined.
Nevers and Jones were joined in the six-touchdown club by Gale Sayers of the Chicago Bears (four rushing touchdowns, a receiving touchdown, and a punt return touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers in 1965), and Alvin Kamara of the New Orleans Saints (six rushing touchdowns against the Minnesota Vikings in 2020).
Jones, who passed away in 2024, played 10 years of professional football between the All-American Football Conference and the NFL. He spent eight of those years with the Browns, where he was part of five championship teams.
In 95 career games with the Browns, Jones rushed for 1,910 yards (No. 20 on the franchise’s all-time list), 20 rushing touchdowns (No. 12 on the all-time list), had 2,874 receiving yards (No. 21 on the all-time list), and 20 receiving touchdowns (tied for No. 14 on the all-time list).