Nick Chubb was a top four back in the Browns' glorious history of running backs. More than his play on the field, he stood out as a selfless teammate who cherished wins over personal statistics. (TheLandOnDemand)
You must have an active subscription to read this story.
Click Here to subscribe Now!
Editor's note: Tony Grossi is an analyst on the Cleveland Browns for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland. He has covered the Browns since 1984.
I don’t usually admit these things, but Nick Chubb was my favorite player.
And it has nothing to do with a juicy quote or a news tidbit he ever gave me in my job. In seven years of our mutual professional relationship, I never had an off-the-record conversation with Chubb. Not one.
That’s probably more on me than on him. But I didn’t need to butter-up to him to appreciate him.
Everybody in the media knew how much Chubb disdained being interviewed. Although he felt more at ease as he matured into the job, Chubb would practically sprint away from the cameras and microphones as soon as there was a pause in questions.
If anybody rushed to approach him at his locker, the conversation was no more than a sentence or two.
So I kept my distance and just admired his work.
One of the few times Chubb stepped out of his reticence and opened up in an interview occurred in the 2023 training camp at The Greenbrier Resort.
Chubb had participated in a conference call with the leading running backs in the NFL just the day before. It was a rare “summit,” in which the backs discussed their collective plight of not getting paid properly in their second or third contracts.
In his appearance in front of assembled media under a tent shading everyone from the unrelenting West Virginia sun, Chubb was the most introspective I’d ever heard him. He talked about the concerns he had about the devaluation of the position and how teams run their backs into the ground and then discard them for younger legs.
“Next year it could be me in the same situation,” Chubb said. “I can't say I haven't [thought about it], but I'm so focused and locked in. I'm there with those guys, too. I understand the situation. I know it can be me one day and yeah, I'm just kind of playing both sides. I'm here for my team, but I'm also understanding the situation that I could be in.”
Fifty-seven days later, Chubb’s career was changed forever when Pittsburgh safety Minkah Fitzpatrick crushed Chubb’s left knee with a low hit with his helmet, severing Chubb’s MCL, ACL and meniscus.
The injury is just one reason why Chubb won’t finish his career with the Browns.
The Mount Rushmore of Browns backs
On the field, Chubb was one of the top four running backs in Browns history. And that’s saying a lot for the pre-eminent franchise steeped in Hall of Fame running backs.
A case can be made that had he not suffered that terrible knee injury in Pittsburgh in 2023, Chubb could have made a run at Jim Brown’s franchise record of 12,312 yards. Even so, his Browns career ended with 6,843 yards – just 432 yards shy of surpassing Leroy Kelly for second on the Browns’ all-time list in 51 fewer games.
Aside from the stats, the Mount Rushmore of Cleveland Browns running backs is made up of Marion Motley, Jim Brown, Leroy Kelly and Nick Chubb. The three that came before him are Hall of Famers. Chubb was on that path.
Motley’s average yards per rush: 5.70.
Brown’s average yards per rush: 5.21.
Chubb’s average yards per rush: 5.10. But before his final eight-game stint in 2024 coming back from two knee surgeries: 5.25.
But what made Chubb my favorite player beyond his performance was his character.
After he set the record for longest run in Browns history with a 92-yard touchdown as a rookie in 2018, Chubb said, “Just a great job up front. Those guys blocked hard the whole game, and it was wide open.”
In a game in 2020, Chubb stepped out of bounds at the Houston 1-yard line rather than complete a 60-yard touchdown with 56 seconds left and the Texans out of timeouts. It preserved a hard-fought, 10-7 win in thunderstorm conditions. “I should have just taken a knee or slid to keep the clock running,” Chubb shrugged afterwards.
My favorite image of Chubb’s utter selflessness was the video of him sitting next to a miked-up Odell Beckham Jr. as the Browns romped past the Miami Dolphins, 41-24, in a 2019 game. Beckham had one of five Browns touchdowns, but had seen teammate Jarvis Landry score two.
“I want a [another] touchdown,” Beckham said.
“I want to win,” said Chubb.
He was the ultimate teammate.
Anyone old enough to have seen Jim Brown, or passionate enough to Google highlights of him, loved the fact that Chubb never spiked the football after a touchdown, never signaled “first down” after grinding one out with the toughest yards imaginable.
The sight of Chubb simply handing the ball to an official after scoring a touchdown was priceless.
Those undeserving Texans
Chubb’s last carry for the Browns resulted in a broken left foot on December 15. His recovery is complete, and he will reportedly sign with the Houston Texans on Monday after passing a physical.
Good for him that he will join a team that has legitimate Super Bowl aspirations.
But it is cruel and unusual punishment for Browns fans that the Texans should squeeze one last benefit out of the Browns from the epic Deshaun Watson trade of 2022.
There is no doubt in my mind that Chubb was a victim of the salary cap ramifications of the Watson contract as much as his injury. Because of Watson’s enormous salary cap charges, the Browns had to make sacrifices on their roster. Older, higher-priced players had to be replaced by rookies on much cheaper contracts.
Sure, the Browns needed a set of fresher legs at the position, which led to the drafting of Quinshon Judkins and Dylan Sampson. But there easily could have been room for Chubb on the roster, in a reduced role, if not for the need to cut salary-cap corners.
Thus, you can now include Chubb in the convoluted collateral of the Watson trade.
After the Browns traded six draft picks, including three No. 1s, to Houston for Watson in 2022, the Texans parlayed the picks with seven additional trades into 13 players over four years.
The Houston bounty from the Watson trade:
* Guard Kenyon Green (traded in 2025 to the Eagles for safety C. J. Gardner-Johnson and a 2026 sixth-round draft pick).
* Wide receiver John Metchie.
* Linebacker Christian Harris.
* Defensive tackle Thomas Booker (waived and signed by the Eagles in 2023).
* Running back Dameon Pierce.
* Edge rusher Will Anderson.
* Wide receiver Tank Dell.
* Center Juice Scruggs.
* Safety Brandon Hill (waived).
* Safety Kamari Lassiter.
* Linebacker Jamal Hill.
* Safety Calen Bullock.
* Tight end Cade Stover.
I’d be OK with the Texans winning the Super Bowl this season so that Chubb can earn a ring. He deserves it.