Joel Bitonio knew the final game last season in Cincinnati was the last game he would ever play.
It was a perfect ending for him — a Browns victory over a division rival, with friends, former teammates and family in attendance that January day in Paycor Stadium.
He informed GM Andrew Berry just before free agency started in March that he was retiring. Berry left the formal announcement up to Bitonio and promptly signed three interior offensive linemen in the first days of free agency.
But it took Bitonio until Tuesday – five months after he knew – to announce his retirement after 12 seasons with the Browns.
“It’s just an emotional time, because it’s what I’ve done,” Bitonio said in prepared remarks he read before answering questions. “You know, my whole adult life has been here and been a Cleveland Brown. So it’s a big moment.
“I learned how hard it is to say goodbye. This place is so special that it was hard to truly say goodbye. I’m so glad I got to learn and be a Cleveland Brown my entire career. Thank you.”
The left guard retired after 178 games – sixth-most by a Browns player and second-most in the expansion era to kicker Phil Dawson’s 215. His accolades include five All-Pro selections and seven consecutive Pro Bowl berths – putting him in the same company as Browns Hall of Famers Jim Brown, Lou Groza and Joe Thomas.
Bitonio also earned six “Good Guy” citations awarded by the Cleveland chapter of the Pro Football Writers of America for his cooperation with media and was the team’s 2022 Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee for his work with organizations such as A Kid Again and the Cleveland Food Bank.
“I think Joel Bitonio embodies everything any team, but particularly the Cleveland Browns, would value,” owner Jimmy Haslam said. “I would argue very strongly that he’s a Hall of Fame player, and when you look at what he achieved here, it compares very favorably to names like Jim Brown and Joe Thomas and Lou Groza in terms of quality of play, games played, etc.
“He did what I think you ask everybody to do in any organization, and that is come to work, work hard, do your job, be a good team player, go home, spend time with your family, and come back and do it again. He did that for 12 years.”
Bitonio said his agent heard from several teams at the NFL Combine inquiring about him, but Bitonio could not fathom playing for another team. Like Thomas, with whom he played alongside for four seasons, Bitonio wanted to be a one-helmet player – retiring with the team that drafted him.
A native Southern Californian, he arrived in the second round of the 2014 draft with a Midwest blue-collar work ethic that connected him with Cleveland fans.
“I was always appreciative of the team drafting you,” Bitonio said. “I got picked in the second round, and I played here, and early in my career, they trusted me [with a second contract]. I wanted to always prove [them] right. And by the time we got things rolling, we made the playoffs, and we’re having these runs. I was kind of in, you know, years seven, eight, and nine in my career, and, by that point, you’re so committed … you put in so much work here. I was ready to see it through, and I was ready to see the ultimate goal was to win a Super Bowl, and that was my goal here.
“Once you get through it for me, I could never just picture myself in a different uniform.”
Bitonio played with 23 different quarterbacks in his 12 years in Cleveland; more than Thomas’ 22 in his 11 seasons.
Asked to name his favorites, he cited Brian Hoyer, his first QB with the Browns; Josh McCown, who was “so wise when he was back there”; Baker Mayfield, “who obviously changed our directory of our franchise and led us to the playoffs, and that was unbelievable, and some of the coolest moments of my career were that season”; and Joe Flacco, who took the Browns to their last playoff appearance and was “a pretty cool guy.”
Haslam and Thomas have touted Bitonio as a future Hall of Famer, but guards historically have the toughest road to Canton, especially without team success.
“I’m proud of my career, and I would love, like I said, to be in the Hall of Fame some day, but I don’t need it,” Bitonio said. “I’m happy with I’ve done, and, and I’m proud of that.”
Asked how he’d like to be remembered, Bitonio said, “I poured myself into it. I was 100 percent committed to this, this team and this organization, and I truly always wanted to be the best version of myself to help make the team as good as we could be, and that’s what I pushed for. That’s what I hope people remember: this guy was tough, he was going to be out there, he was going to fight for his teammates, and it was just a consistent guy.”
After an emotional day, Bitonio posed for photos with the Haslam family and with media who chronicled his Cleveland career for 12 seasons. After more photos with wife Courtney, and children Bennie, Zoe and Ada, Bitonio gathered his family and walked out of the media room to begin the next chapter of his life.
He will be remembered as one of the rare Browns players who would fit in with any great Browns team in any era. Unfortunately, those great teams didn’t coincide with his great career. His Browns teams were 69-127-1 in regular-season games and were 1-2 in two post-season appearances.
Joel Bitonio by the numbers:
178: Career starts.
23: Browns QBs he blocked for.
7: Pro Bowl selections
6: Cleveland PFWA “Good Guy” Awards.
5: All-Pro selections.
2: Post-season games.
1: Cleveland PFWA player-of-the-year award.
1: Browns Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year nominee.
He became one of my favorite players ever his rookie season when he ran down Devin Hester from across the field on a kickoff return (Joel was on kickoff special teams) that would’ve gone for a TD! One of the all-time greatest dudes ever to wear a Browns uniform.