Malik McDowell grateful for second chance

Browns make final 53-man roster official

When Malik McDowell made the Browns 53-man roster, it was a glorious day for the defensive tackle.

Malik McDowell’s story is one of redemption and determination.

From the Browns’ end, it is a story of a team that prides itself on having high-character players being willing to give an athlete with a long arrest record a second chance.

McDowell made the 53-man roster announced by the Browns on Aug. 31. It was a glorious day for him; the last time the 6-foot4, 295-pound defensive tackle made a roster was the fall of 2016 when he played at Michigan State.

A lot happened in McDowell’s life between his final season with the Spartans and May 3 of this year when the Browns signed him to a one-year contract for $660,000 — the NFL minimum for 2021.

“We are certainly aware of Malik’s past, as we have done extensive work on him for the last two months,” Browns general manager Andrew Berry said the day the Browns signed McDowell. “We believe Malik is in a good place, personally and medically. He has taken the necessary steps to get on a healthy path, and has learned from his experiences.”

McDowell was a secondround draft pick by Seattle in 2017. He signed a four-year contract for nearly $7 million with a $3.2 million signing bonus, but he never played for the Seahawks. He splurged on a Yamaha ATV and crashed. He suffered severe head injuries that were just the beginning of his problems.

McDowell was arrested four times after the crash. Three were alcohol-related and one was for possessing a stolen truck. A TMZ video leading to one arrest shows him wrestling with a much smaller police officer in a convenience store.

He was sentenced to three months in jail in November 2019. He said he hit rock bottom when he had to make a phone call to the person he loves most to say he was behind bars.

“The lowest point was always the call, getting in trouble and the first call I made, make it to your mom and you’re in jail and everything and you’ve got to tell her, ‘Oh, I got in trouble again,’ tell her to come bail me out,” McDowell said after practice Aug. 31. “Just disappointing my mom (Joya Crowe) was the biggest low for me.

“I disappointed myself a lot, but hurting her, she was the only one that stuck by my side, and I put her through some unnecessary pain. When I didn’t believe in myself, she was still there for me and every day she told me, ‘You’re going to play football one day again,’ even though I didn’t

believe her because I’ve been through all my situations. She saw past everything I was going through.”

It was while sitting in his cell in the Oakland County (Mich.) jail, he said, that he realized his mother was right; the best way out of the mess he created was to get back to playing football.

“I’d say my real hunger when my situation became what my situation was, and actually while I was in jail gave me a lot of time to think about what I wanted to do in life and where my life was heading,” McDowell said. “So that really gave me the motivation to push to try to fight back to get back what I lost.

“I was telling everybody I was in there with, ‘That’s what I’m working towards. When I get out, I’m going back to try to play football.’ A lot of them (inmates) pushed me, too. Everybody ain’t a bad guy in there. A lot of them, they hear my story so they gave me a lot of inspirational words and just telling me like, ‘Yeah, go out there,’ pushing, giving

me the motivational words to get out there and do what’s right.”

Five defensive tackles are on the Browns’ current roster. The starters are Andrew Billings and Malik Jackson. McDowell, Jordan Elliott and rookie Tommy Togiai are part of the rotation.

McDowell won his roster spot by the way he practiced and by the way he played in preseason. He had seven tackles and 1.5 sacks in the last two games.

“I think it’s a great example to all of us that you had some things go on in your life that he ultimately is responsible for and he owned up to it, and he has made sure to make the most of this opportunity,” Coach Kevin Stefanski said. “He’s going to have to continue to do that, and he understands that.

“He is very powerful — you saw that on tape — but also has versatility to play either tackle position and to slide out and play D end for us, so he has versatility in that way. The beauty of our sport is the tape is your résumé.

When you’re out there on the practice field and it’s showing up and it also shows up in the game film, that’s who the player is.”

The contract McDowell signed is not guaranteed, so for the Browns it is a lowrisk situation. McDowell wants to reward them for giving him a chance when no other team would.

“I told them how much I wanted it and how much I wouldn’t let them down by giving me this opportunity, even though I had chance after chance,” McDowell said about his first sit-down interview with Berry and Stefanski. “And this being my last chance and everything, you all giving me this opportunity, I won’t make you look bad, AB in particular, giving me this opportunity, bringing me in here, sticking his neck out for me and everything. I definitely don’t want to let anybody down.”

The Browns would own McDowell’s rights exclusively for two more years should they choose to resign him after this season.