Browns: 5 former players who deserved a shot at the playoffs
By Chad Porto
Jamir Miller
Jamir Miller was the first true start the team had since they returned in 1999. He signed with the team in March of 1999 after turning down a two-year deal to return to the Arizona Cardinals. Miller came to the team with baggage and off-field issues but after arriving in Cleveland showed himself to be a consistent and persistent player on the field. In his first two years in Cleveland, he had over 200 tackles, with 18 for a loss, while tacking on 9.5 sacks as well.
In his third year, however, he’d truly go off. He had 101 tackles, 22 for a loss, 14 pass deflections (nine the previous two years combined), and a stellar 13 sacks. Those unbelievable numbers were enough to get Jamir Miller to the Pro Bowl, as well as being the first Browns player since Eric Turner in 1994.
Miller was on the rise as a player and he came into 2002 at just 29-years-old and the star of a dense that had some really good players in Dwayne Rudd, recent signee Earl Holmes, Daylon McCutcheon, and a rookie Gerard Warren. Miller tore up his Achilles tendon though in the preseason and never played a down again.
Made worse by the fact that the Browns went to the playoffs that year, meaning Miller watched it from his couch.