BEREA, Ohio — Myles Garrett doesn’t want to discuss his speeding ticket, and you can’t make him. Reporters tried four different times Wednesday to ask Garrett about his eighth traffic citation since 2017. But the star edge rusher brushed aside each inquiry like a bad left tackle.
After the first attempt: “I’d honestly rather talk about football on this team than anything I’m doing off field, other than the back-to-school event that I did the other day,” Garrett said.
Second attempt: “People want to know a lot of things, but I try to keep my personal life, personal,” Garrett said. “I’d rather focus on this team when I can.”
Third attempt: “I’d rather talk about something that’s more focused on this team, what we’re doing, what we’re trying to accomplish,” Garrett said.
Fine by me. Let’s talk about the team.
The Browns’ best player tried to leave this offseason. He requested a trade, used the general manager’s “Cleveland to Canton” tagline against him and spent Super Bowl week telling the world that the Browns weren’t ready to win. Cleveland changed his tune by offering a four-year, $160 million contract in March. And once Garrett signed it, the Browns only asked for one thing in return.
“What we’ve challenged Myles on is, by his practice habits, by his actions, etc., to become a real leader of the team,” co-owner Jimmy Haslam said in April. “And he has said he’d do that and we’re hopeful that he will be.”
If we’re talking team success, we must discuss leadership. If we’re discussing leadership – and Garrett discussed the topic plenty on Wednesday − then we must mention, well, everything.
And like it or not, “everything” includes Garrett’s lead foot.
Speeding doesn’t ruin a locker room, but it doesn’t set a sterling example, either, particularly on a team where quarterback Shedeur Sanders incurred two speeding tickets earlier this spring. By the way, Sanders, 23, addressed his citations head on earlier this summer. He told reporters he learned to drive slower, and he hoped other drivers would learn from his mistake.
One month later, Sanders’ 29-year-old star teammate was pulled over for driving 40 miles over the speed limit. And unlike the rookie, Garrett refused to address it publicly.
Instead, he spent much of Wednesday’s interview describing a new leadership style that, apparently, coaches and teammates are raving about.
According to “multiple accounts,” (Garrett’s words), his guidance is making a difference during training camp. He says nobody encouraged him to make the style change (nobody besides ownership, that is). He just decided to bring more focus, be more vocal and play the role of “biggest critic.”
“... As well as you did it, we can always do it better,” Garrett said, explaining the moniker. “I think that way for myself, and I critique myself very thoroughly. Just showing the guys how I think and how I try to improve and try to instill that upon them.”
I wonder how the same critic would assess Garrett’s accountability on Wednesday. When the Browns star was cited in 2022 for failure to control his vehicle after crashing his Porsche, he vowed to slow down and drive smarter. He called the experience a “wake-up call.” Textbook remorse.
Two years later, wake up: Police cited him again. His remorse holds less weight now. Everything a leader does reflects onto his team.
I understand why Garrett wouldn’t want to re-hash the issue. His team already addressed it. He wants to move forward. And frankly, he doesn’t owe reporters anything.
From his vantage point, we probably look like pests who ask too much about his missteps and not enough about charity efforts. I’ll even allow this point: The first question to Garrett on Wednesday – “What is it like when that speedometer creeps up toward 100 miles per hour” – was awkward. It set the wrong tone for his interview. Reporters should practice accountability, too.
But if we can admit that, then why can’t Garrett tell us — and by association, tell the fan base — that he messed up?
It’s so easy to preempt the press’ questions with a prepared statement. It costs nothing to raise a hand and say, “my bad.” If Garrett had chosen either route, he probably would’ve generated fewer speeding headlines on Wednesday.
But now he’s made it a bigger deal. And in case you were wondering, yes, we’re still discussing the team. The Browns’ best player just repeated an error for the eighth time. He refused responsibility and touted his intangibles into the same microphone on Wednesday. And we’re only five months removed from ownership’s $160 million challenge.
Reminds me of the fourth speeding question Garrett refused to answer Wednesday: What type of leadership does that show?
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