The Cleveland Browns have had some impressive seasonal performances and these are the six most notable.
Sometimes one year is all you get to make a name for yourself. One year, one season, one game, or maybe even one play. That’s the burden that sometimes comes with being a player. That burden of only being properly utilized once in your career. Be it injuries, a change in the coaching staff, a new destination, or just plain old lack of desire, sometimes all you get is that one fleeting opportunity.
That’s why today we’re going to pay respect to six of the best one-season performances since the Cleveland Browns came back in 1999.
It’s easy to dismiss one-year wonders. Fans often scoff and mock their achievements, or lament what could’ve been. Maybe it’s because we’re Browns fans but I feel like these one-year wonders shouldn’t be totally lambasted. In fact, considering all they’ve given to the fan base, they should be cherished.
Sure, they didn’t do nearly as much as we would’ve hoped, and none of their performances ever netted us a single playoff win, let alone a Super Bowl championship but we’ve been so deprived for so long for anything good to celebrate and that’s why it’s so important to remember these men today.
So yes, they’re not the greatest players in franchise history but just like they stole the headlines for one year, we’re going to give them the spotlight for one day. Here are the six best one-hit wonders since 1999.
Jamir Miller
Jamir Miller is an unsung hero here in Cleveland. Many don’t know this or seem to remember but Miller actually came in during their very first year by signing the former first-round pick. Miller was drafted tenth overall in the 1994 NFL Draft and never lived up to the hype of a top-ten pick while with the Arizona Cardinals. He left Arizona and signed a one-year deal with the Browns in 1999, and he became one of their starting outside linebackers in their inaugural season.
Two years, and a contract renewal later, Miller had earned a place as a respected and viable veteran next to Wali Rainer and recently signed Dwayne Rudd. Rudd would have 100+ tackles in his first year with the team, while Miller would do the unthinkable and earn his first Pro Bowl selection at 28. Miller followed Rudd’s 100 tackles with his own century mark and added 13 sacks to his totals as well.
After Rainer left for Jacksonville, the Browns signed Earl Holmes and the expectations were that Holmes, Rudd, and Miller would lead a trio of 100-tackle linebackers to the promised land of the playoffs. The team achieved that goal in only year four, but Miller wasn’t apart of it. Miller tore his Achilles tendon in the preseason and never again played football again.
The loss was dramatic and devastating to the defense. Courtney Brown, who missed all but five games in 2001, had four and a half sacks in the games he played, a tribute to Miller’s influence on the defense. If Miller’s healthy in 2002, maybe Brown shakes off the bust label and finds that extra gear of confidence. Replacing Miller’s production was journeymen Mark Ward who mustered eight sacks, and while Kenard Lang had five in 2002.
Anthony Henry
Following suit with that 2001 season was Anthony Henry, a then-rookie taken in the fourth round of the NFL Draft. Arguably the best player taken in the draft by the Cleveland Browns, Henry exploded on the scene with a 10-interception season. Tying him for the league’s best that year. The big Henry (6’1, 208 lbs) was also a solid tackler, a rarity for corners. Henry imposed his will all season and many thought Henry was the next great corner to hit the league.
Nope.
That’s not a diss on Henry, who would go on to win the starting job in his 3rd season with the team and would leave for Dallas shortly thereafter. Henry played four strong years in Dallas after leaving Cleveland, but only once since 2001 did Henry even have more than four interceptions, 2007. That year he had six. The turnover machine that was his 2001 campaign was never turned on again.
Like Miller before him, Henry still had a long and fruitful career but unlike Miller before him, Henry never won any individual awards. Nor did he see much playoff success either. That, on top of his one-year of dominance, makes this pick pretty obvious.
When you peak in your rookie year, this is the end result. Henry is still popular today, as he did help the Browns reach the playoffs in 2002, but he never again had a season to remember as he did in 2001.
Terrelle Pryor
Terrell Pryor was as hyped as a prospect as they came coming into college. Spurning his home-state Penn State Nittany Lions, Pryor signed up with the Ohio State Buckeyes. Yet his time there should’ve been a warning for those who sought his employment. During his tenure at OSU, the once-vaunted prospect got into trouble with the NCAA and was removed from campus essentially. This lead to the quarterback to declare for the 2011 NFL Supplemental Draft.
The Oakland Raiders picked him with a third-round pick, and from there he was thought to be the team’s quarterback of the future. The future only lasted for three years, as Pryor was out of football for the 2014 season.
After being cut time and time again, he finally opted to switch positions, leading to the Cleveland Browns to claim him in 2015. Pryor would play only a handful of games that first year but it was all the time he needed. He started to buckle down, and take the position change seriously. He ended up impressing enough during the 2016 preseason to warrant a starting job.
In 2016, Pryor caught 77 receptions for 1,007 yards receiving and four touchdowns. All while playing with three different quarterbacks. The unnecessary added pressure of performing in a broken system with three bad quarterbacks made his numbers look even more impressive. People started to wonder what Pryor could do with a real quarterback.
Then he left for the Washington Redskins that offseason. Why? Pryor wanted more money than he was worth, according to Wait For Next Year.
"Reports are circulating that the Browns wanted to ink Pryor to a multi-year deal worth an estimated $8 million, but the player either wanted more guaranteed or a one-year deal and opted for the latter elsewhere with the ability to hit the market again next season."
In the three seasons since, Pryor has had a total of 492 yards receiving and three touchdowns across four teams. He’s currently out of the league after failing to catch on with the Jacksonville Jaguars to start the 2019 season, due to injuries.
Paul Kruger
Paul Kruger was arguably the best player on the Baltimore Ravens team that won the SuperBowl in 2012. He led the team in sacks during the regular season with nine and added another four and a half in the playoffs. He was easily the biggest defensive playmaker on that team, which included Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. Granted both men were about to retire but still. Any time you can show up two of the best ever, that’s not something to take lightly.
After Lewis retired, Reed left for the Houston Texans, and the Ravens were left to re-build defensively. Surely the Ravens would break the bank to bring back Kruger, right? Nope, at the time the Ravens had around $11 million in free money and Kruger was already looking at offers that started around the $9-10 million mark. Kruger was all but gone.
Enter the Cleveland Browns, who gave him a $40 million, five-year contract to join the team. It was a deal that Kruger could never live up to. In his first and third year with the Browns, Kruger put up four and a half and two and a half sacks per season respectively. Kruger wouldn’t see a fourth or fifth season.
Yet, in season number two, Kruger put up 11 sacks, breaking double-digits for the only time in his career during the regular season. He also posted career-high in total tackles (53) and solo tackles (36). It seemed like Kruger had found his mojo. Yet, the very next year all of his stats dropped off drastically.
He was so bad that the Browns eventually cut him to start the 2016 campaign. He never lived up to his lofty contract and remains one of the most maligned signings in recent memory.
Peyton Hillis
The only Cleveland Brown to ever be the cover athlete of the Madden video game franchise was Peyton Hillis. You can knock it or love it, but that’s where we’re at. Hillis was a fullback at Arkansas, as Houston Nutt favored scat-batt Felix Jones and future top draft pick Darren McFadden over Hillis. Hillis led the team in receiving yards in his senior year, and was third on the team in all-purpose yards behind McFadden and Jones. Both McFadden and Jones went in the first round, Hillis in the seventh.
On a season to season performance, Hillis’ one year with the Browns was as good if not better than any singular season that Jones and McFadden produced. Hillis came out of college as a hidden gem and went to the Denver Broncos were he started at fullback. After Josh McDaniels came in, he wrecked the team and lost the respect of many of the previous seasons’ players, resulting in Hillis getting traded to Cleveland where he busted out big time.
Dawning No. 40, Hillis went full-Mike Alstott on everyone, running over people left and right, and even shredding the Baltimore Raven’s league-leading rushing defense. He put together over 1,654 rushing yards, 13 touchdowns, won the Madden cover athlete honor, and brought the “leap” into the football zeitgeist, making it trendy around the league.
He was poised for a huge year in 2011, but a contract dispute and admitted maturity issues sidelined Hillis from recapturing his previous year’s glory. A change in head coaching may have been an issue, and the offensive line was not as good as the year prior. Also, let’s be fair here, there was no one else on offense who could provide a spark like Hillis could. The receivers were all bums, Colt McCoy never became the quarterback we all wanted him to be and he went from one bad head coach to another.
It makes sense why Hillis fell off. His own attitude, plus a dysfunctional organization are a combination for disaster.
Derek Anderson
The only Pro Bowl quarterback the Cleveland Browns have had since 1999 is Derek Anderson. He had a one year blow out in 2007 and nearly lead the team to the playoffs. Though a 10-6 record wouldn’t be enough. That 2007 season was magical, though. Before all that, the former Oregon Beaver went to Baltimore in 2005 in the sixth round of the NFL Draft. After one year, he was waived and the Cleveland Browns claimed him.
He played mostly near the end of the season, going 0-3 as a starter. Yet, his 2007 season would see him explode onto the scene. He threw for nearly 3,800 yards, with 29 touchdowns for a Pro Bowl appearance. Warning signs were there, however. He completed only 56.5% of his passes and threw 19 interceptions in the same year. The talk was that then-head coach Romeo Crennel could help get Anderson to be even better the next year and the town took to it. There were conversations happening of where Anderson fell in the pecking order fo the NFL’s best quarterbacks.
Anderson would shut that conversation down pretty hard in 2008. His completion percentage fell to barley 50% and injuries plagued him all year. Unlike others on this list, there wasn’t any good reason. The pieces largely returned, as did the coaching staff. Overnight Anderson just lost it.
That’s not to take away from him, however. He’s done something no one has done since Bernie Kosar, and that shouldn’t be scoffed at. Here’s hoping that current quarterback Baker Mayfield can ascend to the level of discussion that Anderson did oh so briefly in 2007. That way Mayfield can become just the second quarterback since 1999 to go to the Pro Bowl as a member of the Cleveland Browns.
Anderson’s time was fleeting, volatile, and out there; but dang, it was fun.