The Current Browns Do Not Care About Tortured History in Pittsburgh

Any self-respecting Cleveland Browns fan can't stand the Pittsburgh Steelers. Those same fans are also abundantly aware of the tortured history their team has against their division rivals in the Steel City. 

The Browns haven't won a regular-season game in Pittsburgh since 2003. To put that in perspective, there are ten players on the current roster who weren't even born the last time the franchise accomplished that feat. That list includes key rookies like KC Concepcion, Denzel Boston, Spencer Fano and Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, but also second-year running backs Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson and tight end Harold Fannin Jr. 

While some would say ignorance is a bad thing, for this young, upstart Browns team and their first-year head coach Todd Monken, ignorance appears to be bliss. As numerous players around the locker room were asked about the history of losing in Pittsburgh, a distinct message emerged: the current players simply do not care about the past. 

"I think this is a new game. I don't look at the history or look at what happened," veteran CB Denzel Ward said. "This is two different teams, those different people, and we just got to go in, and it's the same thing, try to go 1-0 this week and get this win.

Ward has been part of this rivalry and the road losing streak longer than anyone on the roster in 2026. As the third-longest-tenured member of the team, quarterback Deshaun Watson has experienced the Steelers rivalry three times, including twice on the road. His last trip to Pittsburgh was back in 2023, on the haunting night that legendary running back Nick Chubb suffered a gruesome knee injury. 

Similar to Ward, Watson isn't worried about whatever has happened in the past.

"Just another opportunity for us to be able to go out there and just showcase what we're capable of. So again, we're focusing on putting in the plan today and taking it one day at a time. And then Sunday we have, opportunity to go out there and try to get a W."

It makes sense that the players, many of whom haven't been involved in any or most of the franchise's losses to the Steelers, but surely head coach Todd Monken, seeking any extra sources of motivation for his team would lean into the forgettable streak, right?

Apparently not. 

"I really honestly don't get into that," Monken asserted. "I know it's a divisional game and I know it's next and they're all important and that's why I try to not get too much into that because it's one of 17 ...The last one was critically important to get us to five. This one's critically important to try and get us to six and then you go from there

"I try not to put too much emphasis in what ifs, if this, if that, whether it's win or lose. I don't control that part of it."

Regardless of whether or not those inside the organization are treating Sunday simply as the next game, for an organization that has said throughout this 5-2 start to the season that it's a different era of Browns football, a win over the Steelers in their home stadium would go a long way in proving that statement to be true. 

One young player acknowledged that on Wednesday. 

"Obviously, it mean a lot," said Fannin Jr. Every week we just try to go out there and come [out] one and one. We want to change that, obviously soon, starting this weekend.