The Cleveland Browns are 2-6 and in the midst of something far-too-familiar to Browns fans since their return to the NFL in 1999 - a bad season that feels over before November.
The Browns had a sign of life in the 2020 season, going to the playoffs and defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road in the wild card round before nearly defeating the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional round. They then returned to the postseason in 2023 before being eliminated by the Houston Texans in the wild card round. Now, coming off a dreadful 3-14 season, the Browns look very bad, once again.
The frustration of another poor season boiled over on Sunday for Myles Garrett, who had five sacks in the 19-point loss to the New England Patriots. He was seen throwing his helmet on the sideline, clearly upset about the result of the game. After the game was done, ESPN's Dan Graziano reports that Garrett seemed to be sending a message to Cleveland as he walked up to the podium for his postgame press conference.
"I was at Myles Garrett's postgame news conference in Foxbourgh on Sunday after he recorded five sacks in a 32-13 loss to the Patriots," Graziano writes. "Garrett walked in with a serious, somber look on his face, headphones hugging his forehead and his phone blaring "Simple Man" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. He waited until he was at the lectern and behind the microphone to turn off the music. Then he took questions to which the answers were all basically, "I just want to win." He seemed very sad and very worn down by years and years worth of the Browns of it all. And I'm standing there thinking, 'But you took the money, man ...'"
The song features the lyrics, "take your time, don't live too fast, Troubles will come and they will pass" among other words of getting through hardships and staying on course. Graziano points out what many are saying, though - Garrett knew what he was signing up for when he took the massive pay day from the Browns. This wasn't an offense that was going to be good. And while they have been very bad, it's hard to feel a ton of sympathy for him when he could have gotten out.
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