Cleveland Browns' Joel Bitonio, Myles Garrett hope Pro Bowl may turn into Gold Jackets

BEREA − Joel Bitonio was named to his fifth consecutive Pro Bowl on Wednesday night. That provided the Browns left guard with a chance to see the company in the franchise's history he's joined.

"I saw a list of Browns players who have been to five straight Pro Bowls and it's, you know, the who's who of guys," Bitonio said Thursday. "So, it's cool to be included in that. You know, it's really a testament, though, to my teammates and coaching staff and everybody around you. It's the ultimate team sport, so without the guys around you, you can't have the success for yourself."

For the record, that "who's who" of former Browns players includes five Pro Football Hall of Famers in quarterback Otto Graham, running back Jim Brown, guard Gene Hickerson, tackle/kicker Lou Groza and running back Leroy Kelly. It should soon be six, with Bitonio's former teammate, tackle Joe Thomas, a semifinalist for the 2023 class.

The other two to have been selected to five consecutive Pro Bowls are guard Jim Ray Smith and tackle Dick Schafrath. One of Bitonio's two teammates who will be joining him in the Feb. 5 event believes he should be on that list as well.

For four-time Pro Bowler Myles Garrett, the list isn't just of the Browns to make five consecutive Pro Bowls. He hopes it ultimately is the list that includes Pro Football Hall of Famers.

"Well in my opinion, I probably should have five but it is what it is," Garrett said Friday, "but that is definitely the route I think I'm headed if I can continue the pace that I'm on and things that I'm doing and I'm not saying I'm there yet. I definitely don't have a Gold Jacket career at the moment, but if I continue what I'm doing, pick up the pace and keep on continuing to lead and be a good teammate, I think that that could be in my future but I have a long way to go."

The only thing Bitonio, Garrett or running back Nick Chubb − who joins Brown and Kelly as the only Browns running backs with four consecutive Pro Bowls − are focused on in this specific moment is Saturday's home game against the New Orleans Saints. The Browns, at 6-8, still have the possibility of finishing with a winning season by winning out, and a very minute chance of reaching the playoffs.

All three of those players are among the most senior Browns players in the locker room. Bitonio is the longest-tenured of all the Browns, having come in as a second-round pick in 2014, with Garrett arriving as the No. 1 overall pick in 2017 and Chubb as a second-round pick in 2018.

Bitonio knows losing doesn't necessarily conceal excellence, because he played alongside Thomas, who's seen as a favorite to earn his own Gold Jacket when the Class of 2023 is announced in February. Both players share three things in common: long streaks of consecutive snaps, long consecutive Pro Bowl appearances and only one winning season each.

That's why Bitonio's focus right now isn't on Canton, but on New Orleans.

It'd be an awesome honor, especially for offensive linemen," Bitonio said. "You don't have stats to really back you up and those type of things. So it's really a way to look back on the season and say like, Hey, I had a successful season. I think you know as a player if you played well or not. And there's definitely some bias to Pro Bowl voting for lineman, of course but it's something that you look back on at end of your career, I think. During the season, you're like, Oh, it's a great accomplishment. But you look back at the end your career and you be like, Oh, I made the Pro Bowl a few times and it's a pretty cool honor."

Thomas has argued in the past he believes Bitonio, who formed the left side of the Browns' offensive line from 2014-17, could be the next Browns' player to garner Hall of Fame attention. If it's not Bitonio, it may be the player who has gained seniority − and notoriety − on the defensive side of the ball.

The only thing that has prevented Garrett from matching Bitonio's mark of five consecutive Pro Bowls is his ill-fated 2019 season, which saw him suspended for the final six games. At the time of his suspension, he was already at 10 sacks.

That was the second of what has grown to be five consecutive double-digit sack seasons for Garrett. With three games remaining, he's second in the NFL with 13.5 sacks, two behind San Francisco's league-leading Nick Bosa.

Not only is Bosa within Garrett's sights, but so is his own franchise single-season sack mark of 16, which he set a year ago. He already set the "official" all-time Browns sack record back on Oct. 16 against the New England Patriots, when he cleared Clay Matthews' mark of 62.

Now, with 72 sacks, Garrett's within 5.5 sacks off the "unofficial" mark of 77.5 by Bill Glass, set from 1962-68 before the NFL made sacks an official statistic in 1982. Clearing that number would certainly continue to build his case to potentially end up in Canton.

For now, Garrett, like Bitonio and Chubb, is going to merely appreciate honors like the one he received on Wednesday by earning another Pro Bowl nod.

"I'm never going to take it for granted," Garrett said. "I don't care how many times I'm in it. I know Joel has more than me and I know he's just as grateful or more. All that work, you're just glad that people pay attention to it and really take it to heart because at the end of the day it's not guaranteed, might get injured one year, just might not make it. There's some guys I feel like got snubbed on other teams. You just never know, so you just be grateful for the permission to play in the Pro Bowl, it doesn't come around often for a lot of guys."

Contact Chris at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com.

On Twitter: @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Joel Bitonio, Myles Garrett hope Pro Bowls turn into 'Gold Jackets'