The Cleveland Browns have seen stars fall from grace far too often, here are just four of those players from the last 20-plus years.
Some Cleveland Browns players become greats in the eyes of the fans, or come in with all the hype in the world but end up becoming remembered for all the wrong reasons. That’s the issue with these following four names. They all came in with great hype, or put up a season of absolute brilliance before ultimately succumbing to some sort of issue. Guys like Derek Anderson, Braylon Edwards, Paul Kruger, Peyton Hillis, Johnny Manziel, Justin Gilbert, Jeff Garcia, and so many others have come in with all the hype in the world and fell falt on their faces.
Whether it was substance issues and work ethic problems, or greed and hubris, these names earned their place on this list. Speaking of which this list will only look at players from 1999 and on. It’s also only a portion of all the names who could end up on this list. This is not a top-four or the top four biggest names to fall from grace.
This is merely just four of the many many players across the Cleveland Browns franchise that have screwed up once-in-a-lifetime chances at success. If you have any other names, feel free to sound off in the comment section below. If this article does well, there may be a follow-up list as well. God knows there’s plenty of names to pick from.
Unfortunately, these types of lists are far more bountiful in options than the alternatives, mostly because of 20-plus years of suck that this franchise has had to deal with. Sure, things look to be turning around now but that’s only recent history, and has still been a struggle to get through at times.
So it’s important to remember where we came from, so we can truly appreciate where we are going. So let’s take a look at four of the biggest boneheads in team history.
Johnny Manziel
Sometimes you don’t even need to be on the field for your stock to be way too high. Johnny Manziel came into his NFL career with the Cleveland Browns having been one of the most celebrated and highly touted college quarterbacks of all time. His athleticism and arm strength made him must-see T.V. in college, during his freshmen season with Texas A&M, he won the Heisman Trophy. The first freshmen ever to do so.
Maybe there’s a reason why freshmen aren’t typically looked at to win the award. After all, the only other freshmen to win it was Jameis Winston.
When the Browns drafted Manziel in the 2014 NFL Draft, the fans went wild for Manziel. “Johnny Football” was in Cleveland and fans thought it was a fever dream. His draft stock was everywhere that year. Some had him going No. 1 to Houston, while others thought if he lasted that long that he’d go No. 16 to Dallas.
Going No. 22? Johnny Football? No one thought that was possible. Cleveland had the No. 26 pick in the Draft and gave the Eagles that pick and a third-rounder to move four spots to take Manziel. Fans went mad. They couldn’t believe the Browns just got their franchise quarterback.
It was smart of them to not believe it.
Despite the hype that Manziel came in with and how much fan support that he had already, Manziel didn’t live up to the hype. No amount of Skip Bayless saying Manziel would be bigger than LeBron James in Cleveland was going to help Manziel. He was too far gone. An addict who cared more about a good time than improving his game, Manziel was off the team after just two years.
His stink clung to the Browns for so long that when the team took Baker Mayfield four years later in 2018, all anyone did was compare him to Manziel, even though they’re not even the same style of player.
That’s one sure fall from grace.
Terrel Pryor
A star quarterback in Pennsylvania, every school wanted him but his two picks were Penn State and Ohio State. Pryor took the road to Columbus and endured himself to the denizens of Ohio with his stellar play and gifted athleticism. After leaving OSU under some iffy circumstances, Pryor ended up in Oakland by way of the supplemental draft. He started his NFL career as a backup quarterback to the likes of Carson Palmer but after several years of poor play in relief, the Raiders and the rest of the NFL passed on Pryor as a quarterback.
Then he announced a position change. Pryor would become a wide receiver and would look to make an NFL team that way. The Cleveland Browns came calling and signed Pryor to a deal, but ultimately cut him and put him on their practice squad. After an injury near the end of the year opened up a roster spot, Pryor was called up. He only had one catch but it was a beautiful one and it got fans wondering what Pryor could do in a bigger role.
Cue the very next season where Pryor would not just emerge as a starter on the 2016 Cleveland Browns squad but their best playmaker on offense. Pryor had 77 receptions for 1,007 yards with guys like Cody Kessler, Josh McCown, and Robert Griffen IIII throwing him passes. Fans started to think that the sky was the limit for Pryor.
It wasn’t. Rock bottom was.
Pryor left Cleveland, which upset fans because he took less money to go play elsewhere. Pryor went on to absolutely stink in Washington. He had such a bad showing that the deal the Browns offered him seemed like a fantasy. Brief stints with the Bills and the Jets in 2018 was the last shot he’d seemingly get to stick in the NFL and he’s been out of football ever since.
Peyton Hillis
This one hurts. Peyton Hillis was an incredibly athletic collegiate fullback/running back that was never given a chance to excel as a position player. A seventh-round pick, he watched his collegiate teammates Darren McFadden and Felix Jones go in the first round of the very same NFL Draft. Hillis ended up with the Denver Broncos where he had to compete to win the spot of the starting fullback. He led the team in rushing his rookie year but that was the year the Broncos had five backs hit 200 yards rushing for the season, so Hillis’ 343 yards isn’t something to brag about.
Around the same time, The Browns had grown tired of Brady Quinn and sought a trade partner. The Broncos, still hoping to find the heir apparent to John Elway, took a gamble on Quinn. Hillis was upset that he wasn’t being utilized more and made it known to Broncos brass and when the deal with the Browns came up, the Broncos sent Hillis, a sixth-round pick, and what would be a fifth-round pick over to Cleveland for Quinn.
Fans were happy enough. Quinn was a disappointment, the Browns needed depth at their backs with only Lawerence Vickers, the team fullback, being worth anything. He started off slow, only managing 17 carries for 76 yards over his first two games. Week three he exploded, however, and took the league by storm.
Wearing Tampa Bay great Mike Alstott’s No. 40, Hillis became one of the most popular players that season. He revolutionized the leap-over-defenders that everyone does now, plowed through arm tackles, and looked like the Madden player every kid tried to look and play like. Not so surprisingly enough, Hillis won a fan vote to become the Madden cover athlete for Madden 2012.
The Browns had found their next big star, and the league had found a marketable face. After all, what fans did love watching his tank-like play style.
Then the 2011 campaign started and Hillis went full diva. Instead of putting in the same work ethic that he had the year before, he let the noise of the season get to him. By his own admission, he regrets how he handled that year which saw allegedly threaten to retire to join the CIA (something he claims was made up to harm his negotiating power), use “strep throat” as a reason why he couldn’t play in several games and had issues with his hamstring.
By the end of the year, fans had enough of his antics and the team seemed to agree, letting Hillis leave the team without even making him an offer.
Josh Gordon
Taken in the second round of the 2012 supplemental draft, there were concerns surrounding Josh Gordon off the bat. He came into the NFL with substance issues riddling his ledger but the Cleveland Browns took a gamble on him. In his first season, he put up a respectable 50 reception campaign with 805 yards receiving and five touchdowns. Not Randy Moss with the New England Patriots numbers, but a good start.
His second year was when he showed what he could do. With Jason Campbell, Brian Hoyer and Brandon Weeden throwing him the ball, Gordon put up 86 receptions for 1,646 yards and nine touchdowns while making his first trip to the Pro Bowl.
Due to a combination of issues, namely his substance abuse problems, Gordon would only ever break 400 yards once more in a season for a team, and that was with the New England Patriots, where he won a SuperBowl. A SuperBowl that he was suspended for.
He keeps trying to restart his career, but suspensions and drug failures after suspensions and drug failures have ruined his career and kept him from every truly amassing anything worth calling a good career.
There’s no point in a team signing him again, as you know what the outcome will inevitably be.