There is a longstanding myth about what it means to play in the AFC North Division.
The four-team division, featuring the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, Cincinnati Bengals, and Baltimore Ravens, is rife with bitter rivalries, smash-mouth play on both sides of the ball, and a high level of toughness to survive the brutal weather conditions.
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Some of that is true, as the Ravens have consistently built a hard-hitting defense, players have to keep their heads on a swivel when playing the Steelers to avoid cheap shots, and there is nothing more satisfying than watching the Browns running game steal the soul of opposing defenses in the fourth quarter.
One persistent narrative, as it relates to the Browns, is that the team enjoys a home-field advantage when the weather turns bad since they are built to survive games on the shores of Lake Erie.
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But for every game like last season’s Week 14 win against the Steelers in a snowstorm, there is the Week 16 loss in 2022 against the “soft dome team” New Orleans Saints, the coldest regular-season game in franchise history with a temperature of 6 degrees at kickoff and a wind chill of minus 16 degrees.
Which brings us to wide receiver Dionate Johnson, who signed a one-year contract with the Browns in April.
A one-time Pro Bowler with three seasons of more than 875 receiving yards, Johnson’s career took a turn for the worse in 2024 as he bounced from the Carolina Panthers (seven games) to the Ravens (four games) and the Houston Texans (one game).
former ravens wr diontae johnson opened up about what went wrong last year in baltimore.
johnson says he checked out mentally and refused to enter the eagles game because he was cold and didn’t want to put out bad film.
: sports and suits podcast pic.twitter.com/P1LOGzTrVK
— Alex Glaze (@Alex_Glaze) June 24, 2025
Johnson was a recent guest on the Sports and Suits podcast to talk about what he hopes is a fresh start with the Browns. Johnson was honest about why things went wrong last season, and his comment about his end in Baltimore was particularly interesting:
“It was cold. So I’m on the sideline, just standing there, just going to the heater, back and forth, just waiting to hear my name called. So end of third [quarter], going into the fourth over there, they’re like, ‘Tae, we need you.’ I’m like, ‘Nah.’ To me, I’m thinking, ‘I don’t think it’s a good idea,’ because I was thinking about, like, my legs. I don’t want to go out there and put bad stuff on film.”
The game in question was on December 1, when the temperature in Baltimore ranged from a high of 44 degrees to a low of 21 degrees. In Northeast Ohio, temperatures like that are considered good grilling weather as opposed to a day to retreat under a layer of blankets.
Looking at Cleveland’s schedule in 2025, the final five weeks are full of opportunities for cold weather with home games against the Tennessee Titans (December 7), Buffalo Bills (December 21), and the Steelers (December 28); and road games against the Chicago Bears (December 14) and the Bengals (Week 18).
If Johnson thought it was cold that day in Baltimore, he had better bundle up for that stretch if he is still with the team.
A potentially bigger issue is Johnson admitting he had mentally checked out on the Ravens because he was unhappy with how the team was using him. If he was not happy playing on a team that was headed to a 12-5 season and the playoffs, there is no telling what his mood will be if the Browns have another rough season.
The episode of Sport and Suits with Johnson is available here.