While a 13-6 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers costs the Cleveland Browns some vital draft position, players inside the locker room rebuffed the idea of tanking
There are ripple effects that accompany the Cleveland Browns 13-6 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 17. Most notably, what it means for the team's draft position this offseason as they hope to restock a flawed roster as quickly as possible, and perhaps even consider drafting a quarterback.
Inside the Browns locker room, though, those conversations are out of sight and out of mind. As veteran defensive tackle Shelby Harris said after the game, "it's so hard to win in this league." Those comments were echoed by Harris' teammates, who rebuffed the entire concept of tanking meaningless December games.
"You guys say we’re not playing for much, but we trying to spoil people’s dreams and stuff like that," Joel Bitonio said of the win. "We're not making it, but anytime that we could spoil a division opponent’s dreams of getting into the playoffs, we’re going to try to do that."
Bitonio is the longest tenured member of the team, so he knows more than anyone what beating the Steelers means. He also knows that this time of year in Cleveland, is dominated by conversations about the Browns' future, not dreams of magical postseason runs.
However, that doesn't mean the players are willing participats in that commentary.
"I’ll tell you what, I do not blame the fans for thinking about the future and everything like that," But as players in this locker room, every time you go on the field, it’s a resume, and this is a real sport. This is the NFL. You’ve got to put your best foot forward when you go out there and you’ve got to compete."
It's the nature of the NFL machine. Fans have the luxury of disassociating from the individuals who put on the jersey each week. They cheer primarily for the name on the front of that jersey. But the players, well, what they put on tape each week will define the name they wear on the back of it.
Harris highlighted that even further.
"It's not in our blood to lay down and be like 'oh get a better draft pick," no. I'm out there fighting," he asserted. "Look at it like this, it's one-on-one, it's man vs. man. And if I sat there and caved, how's that gonna look on me? That means I'm letting him push me back, I'm letting him man-handle me and that's just not gonna happen. There's no such thing as tanking in the NFL cause it's a lot of one-on-ones in this sport, and nobody is gonna let themselves get their ass kicked."
From a player perspective, Eeven during the worst of seasons, there is always something to play. It could be as simple as trying to earn a job next season, whether that be with the Browns or elsewhere. Regardless, draft picks are the last thing on their minds.
“No one signed up to lose," star DE Myles Garrett said. No one signed up to lose at all. So I don’t care what the situation is with the record. Not a single one of us want to line up and lay down to a team or a man that’s in front of us. No, we got put here in this place or selected, whatever it was – drafted to come here and win. Has it always been that way? No, but I’ll be damned if I’m just going to go out there and lay down to another team just because we want some more draft picks. That’s not me."
Football is a muse for fans. But for the players, who put their bodies on the line every week, it's their livelihood.
"Every time we step on that field, we’re trying to win, Pro Bowl CB Denzel Ward said. "That’s the main goal. We let them, everybody else worry about the draft position and things after the season, but every time we’re on that field, we’re trying to win."
There's also the fact that at the core of the Browns roster this year is a key class of rookie contributors, who figure to be part of a bright, new future. If they want to make winning the expectation here in Cleveland, every one of these helps.
"You look at Carson [Schwesinger]. You look at Mason [Graham], Shedeur [Sanders], Dylan Sampson, Harold Fannin with that touchdown catch," Bitonio explained. "These guys are trying to build a culture for the future, and to go out there and be like, ‘Oh, yeah, we’re going to lose our last couple games to get a better draft pick,’ it would never cross a player’s mind."
It's true Sunday's win over the Steelers probably altered the franchise's offseason plans. It just isn't something players are going to have much sympathy over. They'll leave that to the fans.