Reflecting on a bittersweet retirement, Nick Chubb gets candid about his love for the city of Cleveland and the Browns fans who supported him throughout his seven years with the franchise.
Not all NFL players see their careers end the way they want to. Nick Chubb knows that as well as anyone.
The Cleveland Browns icon signed a one-day contract with the franchise on Friday to formally retire from the NFL, a little over a month after he announced his retirement in an emotional Instagram post. It was the start to an eventful weekend centered around honoring Chubb at the team's home opener with the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
It's the celebration that feels like it's happening much too soon for a player who at the peak of his powers, was headed for the Hall of Fame. Browns fans remember all too well the moment that changed the trajectory of Chubb's career forever. So does he. But the now-infamous hit by ex-Pittsburgh Steelers safety Minkah Fitzpatrick to his left knee, isn't something he's dwelling on three years later.
"I had to come to terms with it, obviously," Chubb said. "Not how I wanted it to end for me, but I mean it happened and that's all I can do is just accept that it happened and move forward. But I think everything happens for a reason and I don't know what that reason is yet, but I plan to find out here in the future and everything in my life that's happened to me, I try to take something from it."
Maybe more importantly, he doesn't want what was arguably the lowest moment of his career to be the defining moment of his career.
"I'm just blessed to be able to be back up here in front of you guys and to be able to walk and still run," he said. "And I played two years after that and I don't think that injury really sums up my career."
He's right about that. In the weeks since Chubb announced he was retiring, Browns fans have rushed to social media to share and talk about their favorite Chubb moments. Whether it be his three-carry, 105-yard, two-touchdown game against the Raiders in 2018, his 92-yard, record-setting run against the Falcons that same season or the time he purposefully gave up a touchdown to step out of bounds and ice a win over the Texans in 2020, there are plenty of highlights that come to mind.
It's why Chubb has a hard time choosing just one that is his favorite. But with his feet held to the fire a little bit, he did come up with one.
"It was great to beat Pittsburgh in the playoffs [in 2020]," Chubb admitted. "I think that whole COVID year was a mess, but that season was very fun to me, and I think just that season as a whole was probably my favorite memory."
Chubb rushed for 69 yards and a touchdown in that Wild Card win over Pittsburgh. It wasn't just one of the defining moments of his career, but one of the defining moments of the franchise since the team was reinstated in 1999.
It's rare that a player is universally adored by a fan base the way Chubb was and still is. The Georgia product admitted that he wasn't entirely sure what to expect when he first arrived in Cleveland in 2018. But he quickly fell in love with the city and the fans.
"I wasn’t sure what I was coming into because the team had just gone 1 and 15 (they were actually 0-16)," the 30-year-old said. "And so at that time, Cleveland wasn’t the team everyone talked about. And so, when I got here, I realized that what people on the outside thought was completely wrong about Cleveland. You know, it’s a special place, and you got to be here to see it. And the people, the team, the organization, the fans, you know, just everybody, a part of the city makes it special."
It's a message Chubb hopes resonates with current and future members of the team, that despite what others may say about the city he now calls his second home, nobody should be so quick to judge a book by its cover.
"You have got to be there to see why it’s special," he said. "You got to be in the building, you got to meet the people, you got to meet the team, and you got to just be around to see why everybody loves it."
And I think when people come here and they meet everybody and they see everything and they go out there and they practice and think about Cleveland, is you got to be in the building to know what’s special. And you can only trust the guy to your right and to your left. And that’s a team built on trust and camaraderie with everyone inside of it. And I think that’s what makes Cleveland different.”
It's a shame Browns fans won't have more memorable moments with Chubb on the football field, but his impact on the team's culture, his aura and his greatness will live on in this city, in the team's record books and, likely, as a Browns Legend one day inside the new stadium.
