Myles Garrett eyes Cleveland Browns sack record: 'Maybe they can chant my name again'

BEREA — For defensive end Myles Garrett, Sunday could be another step toward, as he put it, “standing on the shoulder of giants.”

With 60.5 career sacks, three-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro Garrett needs two to pass linebacker Clay Matthews’ franchise record of 62 sacks.

The NFL didn’t make sacks an official statistic until 1982. Pro-Football-Reference.com credits Matthews with 75 sacks in his 16 seasons with the Browns from 1978-93.

Garrett has made no secret of his goal to be named Defensive Player of the Year but is less driven by personal statistics now than when the Browns drafted him first overall in 2017. He kept what he could accomplish in Sunday’s home opener against the New York Jets and quarterback Joe Flacco in perspective.

“What’s important to me is winning,” Garrett said Friday. “So whether I tie it or I don’t or I break it, whatever it is, I want to be very impactful in the game. I want to be able to be a game-changer for my team.

“If I don’t break the record, that’s not going to sadden me. There will be many more games, another game next week. I know he’s a great player. ... I hope to get it. But at the end of the day, it won’t wear me down if I don’t.”

Garrett has something more in mind. He hopes to recreate the feeling from FirstEnergy Stadium on Sept. 26, 2021, when he set the Browns’ single-game sack mark with 4.5 in Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields’ NFL debut. With 8:24 remaining in the Browns' 26-6 victory, fans started a sing-song Myles Garrett chant.

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“It’s always amazing to play in front of the Dawg Pound,” Garrett said of the Browns’ home opener. “I know we’ve got something special for our entrance this year.

“I’m trying to keep the game the game, but I know it’s special to the young guys being able to go out and get introduced and be in front of that crowd for the first time. I’m just looking forward to putting my best foot forward and maybe having a game where they can chant my name again.”

If he passes Matthews for the Browns’ record, fans will surely respond. But purists will argue what Garrett is about to reach means little because pre-1982 sacks are not counted.

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Asked how he feels about the legitimacy of the franchise mark, Garrett mentioned Hall of Fame defensive end Deacon Jones, a 14th-round draft pick in 1961 who amassed 173.5 sacks in 14 seasons, 11 with the Los Angeles Rams. Garrett said Jones was one of the first pass rushers he studied.

“Helluva rusher, he was a spokesperson for [Wendy’s] back in the day, on a great defensive front as well,” Garrett said, overlooking Jones’ most famous commercials for Miller Lite. “Been the spokesperson for us as rushers and the pioneer of the rush.

“The head slap I guess wasn’t too illegal when he played and also wasn’t too frowned upon when I played in high school.”

Garrett said before Jones died in 2013, he claimed he’d totaled 250 sacks.

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“I’m not sure who counted it up and how it was counted up,” Garrett said. “But at the end of the day, that’s how it is. To me you get all the sacks that you think you get. If he got 70-plus, I feel like I’ll eventually pass that as well.

“I don’t know if I’ll get 250, but I’m just going to keep on trying to at least stand on the shoulder of giants.”

In recent weeks, Browns players and coaches have noticed that Garrett has reached a different level with his attitude and focus. Browns defensive line coach Chris Kiffin has seen that, too.

“He’s at an all-time high,” Kiffin said Friday. “While some players may be on TikTok, he’s in there journaling. He’s at a different level right now and it’s showing. I just hope it keeps up for him because he deserves it, he’s put in the work, locked in. Couldn’t be happier with where he’s at.”

Asked what he’s putting in his journal, Garrett said, “I’m writing about everything, life, football, the stuff that comes to me. I feel like getting a word down on a page, it helps you realize it.

“Putting it into words helps you come to grips with it and it makes you acknowledge it and accept it easier than just saying it in a mirror. When you read it … it brings you back to that moment, those memories and where you need to take yourself further or better yourself.”

In Sunday’s 26-24 season-opening victory over the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium, Garrett had two sacks of former Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield. Garrett also totaled four solo tackles, three for losses, two quarterback hits, a pass defensed and a forced fumble.

Kiffin and defensive coordinator Joe Woods energized Garrett by sometimes moving him inside for more favorable matchups.

“I love going against different guys. Sometimes guys don’t get to see me, I like to introduce myself to everyone on the line,” Garrett said.

Sometimes he can see the fear in their eyes during those introductions.

“I see guys' eyes get big all the time and I’m usually looking at their feet, the ball, then sometimes I look at their hands to see what they’re looking at and we lock eyes,” Garrett said, rubbing his hands together.

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Part of Sunday’s game will be the unveiling of Brownie the Elf at midfield, a change determined by a fan vote. The elf dates back to the Browns’ inaugural season in 1946.

Asked how he felt about the elf, Garrett paused before he said, “I don’t know what to think about that. It’s original, it’s unique. I’ve always been more of a fan of the dog. I mean, we’re the dawg pound, but we’ve got an elf and a helmet. I think we’re a little bit confused on what route we want to go creatively.

“But if we have something that everyone can stand behind as far as fans and we can rally behind it, I’m all for it.”

Garrett didn’t know the history of the mascot. Told that the Browns won seven championships — in 1946-50 and 1954-55 — with the elf, Garrett changed his tune.

“Seven championships with the elf?” he said. “If we get an eighth championship with that elf, I might come in here with a little elf outfit on.”

Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Myles Garrett on verge of Browns career sack record