“I had a dream I didn’t get it,” Myles Garrett said quietly as he recounted his overnight battle with the Sandman before Sunday’s encounter with the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium, a game that turned into a 20-18 season-ending victory for his Cleveland Browns and, in the closing minutes, made him the new sack king of the NFL.
When Garrett — the Browns’ 6-foot-4, 272-pound defensive end so aptly nicknamed Superman by his high school coaches back in Arlington, Texas — finally was able to down Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow with 5:04 left in the fourth quarter, he had his 23rd sack of the season.
That topped the old NFL record jointly held by former New York Giant Michael Strahan and current Pittsburgh Steeler T.J. Watt, who accomplished the feat in 2021.
But in Sunday morning’s predawn — around 6:30 — Garrett said he awoke in panic:
“I felt despair. I was scared as hell.
“I told my guy John, ‘Let’s eat. Let’s talk. I got to talk through this and prepare early. There’s no way I’m gonna allow anything to get in the way of history.”
Lately though that’s been easier said than done.
A week earlier against the Pittsburgh Steelers — who double teamed him all day long — he hadn’t been able to get to their 42-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
The Bengals used much of the same strategy and he said that’s when he used that dream to his advantage:
“Anytime today I started to feel tired or fatigue was setting in, I thought about that dream and picked my (butt) up.”
It’s a trait he has shown since the Browns made him the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2017.
Considered an elite pass rusher when he came out of Texas A&M, he then registered a sack on his very first NFL snap.
Last season — before his late December birthday, when he was still 28 — he became the youngest player in NFL history to reach 100 career sacks.
That Superman tag given to him by his coaches at Martin High — where he registered 19.5 sacks as a senior — didn’t turn into teenage hype once he became a pro.
Although he wasn’t “able to leap tall buildings in a single bound,” he twice has leaped over an offensive guard and a long snapper to block a field goal attempt.
He did that last season against the Philadelphia Eagles and the year before that versus the Indianapolis Colts.
Moments like those add to the Garrett lore, just as did this year’s game with the again-mighty New England Patriots when he had five sacks.
Garrett has freakish ability for a man so large, he’s able to explode from his defensive stance. Next Gen Stats measures “get off speed’ and it timed the Garrett burst that finally got Burrow was 0.23 seconds. That was faster than any other player on a sack this season.
“That was probably the best get-off I ever had,” Garrett said afterward.
Just as impressive is the way, after that forward explosion, he’s able to dip and make a hairpin turn from a blocker to the quarterback.
In the process he often uses other tricks, sometimes adding a Euro step to glide and turn, and other times showing that leaping ability he’s deployed on kickers.
Garrett has the hops of a basketball player which he once was in high school.
His half-brother, Sean Williams, was the No. 17 overall pick in the 2007 NBA draft and played several years in the league.
Now a minority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Garrett sometimes mimics dribbling between his legs as he sets up in his defensive position. And after a sack, he sometimes punctuates the moment with a nod to Kobe Bryant as he simulates a fade-away jumper.
Sunday, though he was pretty much stymied by the Bengals.
Until late in the game the closest he got to upending Burrow was when the quarterback scrambled from the pocket late in the third quarter and began a zigzagging scamper with him in hot pursuit.
During the frantic run, Burrow looked back once over his shoulder to see where Garrett was. Spying him closing in, he took a few more strides and slid to the ground.
“Yeah, when he looked back at me, that (expletive) was disrespectful,” Garrett said with a laugh and feigned indignation. “He knew who was chasing him.
“I was like ‘Pleeease somebody pull him up. Let him stay behind the line.’ When he’s healthy, he’s a threat … I’m glad he’s competitive like that.”
Garrett finally did get that fourth quarter sack when he slipped around the Bengals 6-foot-8, 350-pound tackle Orlando Brown Jr. and then turned to touch down Burrow who had been forced from the pocket and was starting to slide down.
After the record-breaker, a relieved Garrett pointed to the sky and then briefly buried his face in his hands.
Play was momentarily halted — a move Bengals coach Zac Taylor took issue with — and Garrett’s teammates mobbed him.
They tried hoisting him on their shoulders and an assistant coach acted as though he were placing a crown on his head.
Credit: JEREMY MILLER
Credit: JEREMY MILLER
The only certainty
Garrett had trouble catching Burrow after the game, too.
When players from both teams met on the field, the 30-year-old defender looked for the 29-year-old quarterback.
The two share a real bond. They are both elite at their position, revered by their teammates and respect each other.
“I was trying to get to him but there were all these different obstacles and I couldn’t talk to him afterward,” Garrett said. “My teammates were grabbing me up. My parents were coming down (from the stands.) A lot of people were pulling me in different directions.
“I got a lot of love for Joe. He’s a hell of a guy, a hell of a player. I hope to catch up with him in the offseason.
“He did just send me a text, but I’ll keep what he said between him and I.
“But he’s exceptional all around.”
Both of them are highly paid — Burrow has a multi-year deal worth $220 million and Garrett signed a 4-year $160 million contract extension last year — and both were one of the only highpoints for their franchises in what was a disappointing season for both teams.
The Bengals ended the year 6 -11 and the Browns finished 5-12.
At least the Bengals also have marquee players in Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
As the Browns season wound to a close there were only a few topics that enlivened conversations and two were up for debate: Would Coach Kevin Stefanski keep his job? Was rookie Shedeur Sanders really the quarterback of the future?
The only thing that was certain was Myles Garrett.
Record or not, he was the sack king of the NFL.
‘The feeling couldn’t be better’
Garrett shows up at every postgame press conference with walk-up music.
Sunday he chose Kanye West’s “I Wonder,” which begins:
“Find your dreams come true.”
As he explained: “In a way, that’s my whole life, my whole football career.”
He wore a t-shirt with a big picture on the front of Godzilla, up on his haunches, coming out of the sea.
Getting the record was everything he expected, he said: “The feeling couldn’t be better.”
He praised his Browns teammates — “I couldn’t imagine doing this with a better group of men,” — and he tipped his hat to defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz.
When asked about Stefanski’s fate, he sidestepped a direct answer. The team announced Monday it was firing their head coach after six seasons.
Credit: JEREMY MILLER
Credit: JEREMY MILLER
He didn’t shy away from his feelings about his parents being there Sunday:
“It means a lot that they’re here. I wasn’t doing this just for myself. I want to bring pride to my last name. To my dad, my mom, all those who came before me.”
He said he would meet with his parents after the game.
Someone asked how he’d celebrate his record-setting day.
“I’ll probably have some pizza and some ice cream,” he said.
Then, with a smile, he added: “And I’ll probably get some Garrett oatmeal tomorrow morning.”
He knew he would enjoy that.
It likely would come after a sweet-dreams, no-despair night.
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