COMMENTARY: MCCOWN A TRUE PRO WHILE IN CLEVELAND
— Josh McCown, CLEVELAND who spent an eventful two seasons in Cleveland, announced his retirement on Monday. He played 16 seasons in the NFL.
McCown made the announcement in a post on The Players’ Tribune.
“If you would have told me back (in 2002) that I would go on to play for 10 different NFL teams over the next 17 years, I would have said, ‘Shoot, 17 years? I’ll take it. But 10 different teams? No way ...’
“I guess it just goes to show that you don’t always get to choose your own path. But looking back, I’m proud of how my career has gone. I don’t shy away from the journeyman label. I embrace it, full force.
“Because it’s been one heck of a journey.
“And now, strange as it feels to say, after 17 years ... that journey is coming to an end.
“Today I’m officially retiring.”
McCown spent two of those 17 years in Cleveland, and it was during one of the most tumultuous times in a tumultuous era for the organization. He came to a team that still hoped Johnny Manziel could rescue it and whose GM was suspended the first month of the season for texting to the sideline during a game. He was named the opening day starter, but Manziel was still in the plans — which tells you all you need to know about the team he joined.
His first possession as Browns quarterback against the Jets summed up his Browns career, a 17-play, 90-yard drive that ended with McCown risking life and limb to score a touchdown, only to see Jets linebacker Demario Davis cause the airborne McCown to helicopter into the end zone, sans football.
The Browns went 3-13 that season. The clamoring for Manziel grew throughout, but McCown simply did his job, even with his limitations, until the time came to hand over the reins.
After Manziel started twice in early November, the Browns needed McCown again to start on a Monday night against Baltimore after benching Manziel for disciplinary reasons. His season ended that night due to a broken collarbone.
The next year, McCown opened as the backup to Robert Griffin III and, by Week 2, there he was again, called upon to start after Griffin went down in the opener. McCown got hurt against the Ravens while throwing the touchdown pass that put the Browns ahead, 20-0, in the opening quarter and returned to finish the eventual loss, playing with a broken collarbone.
After the game, he teared up talking about why he plays the game the way he does.
He was far from perfect, of course. He was prone to interceptions and, as we’ve already mentioned, didn’t shy away from putting his body in harm’s way. What he brought, however, was a level of professionalism to an organization that sorely lacked it during those two seasons. The player-media relationship is often a challenging one, but McCown was always professional and always generous with his time.
His two seasons in Cleveland might have felt like 10. He played for two different head coaches, two different offensive coordinators and survived a front office overhaul. He was only a part of four victories but, ■ Gates open at 2:30 p.m. ■ Practice begins at 3 p.m. ■ Gates open at 2:30 p.m. ■ Practice begins at 3 p.m. ■ Gates open at 2:30 p.m. ■ Practice begins at 3 p.m. ■ Gates open at 2 p.m.
■ Practice begins at 3 p.m. when he was able to go, he played like a quarterback on the verge of a Super Bowl.
He wasn’t, of course. That’s never who McCown was. He was a journeyman; a backup. Embracing that is what helped him last for so long.
“I’m proud of how my career has gone,” McCown wrote. “I don’t shy away from the journeyman label. I embrace it, full force.”
That’s what he did during two seasons in Cleveland. He was always willing to do what his team needed him to do, even if everything else — including his own body — was
falling apart.
‘I’m proud of how my career has gone. I don’t shy away from the journeyman label. I embrace it, full force.’
Josh McCown
■ Gates open at 2:30 p.m. ■ Practice begins at 3 p.m. ■ Gates open at 2:30 p.m. ■ Practice begins at 3 p.m. ■ Gates open at 2:30 p.m. ■ Practice begins at 3 p.m. ■ Gates open at 2:30 p.m. ■ Practice begins at 3 p.m.