Myles Garrett
Myles Lorenz Garrett is an American professional football defensive end for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League. He played college football for the Texas A&M Aggies, receiving unanimous All-American honors in 2016. Selected first overall by the Browns in the 2017 NFL draft, Garrett is the team's all-time career sacks leader. Garrett was named Defensive Player of the Year in 2023, along with receiving seven Pro Bowl and five first-team All-Pro selections. He also holds the NFL single season sack record, which he set in 2025.
Early life
Garrett attended Martin High School in Arlington, Texas, where he was a letterman in football, basketball, and track. In football, he had 19.5 sacks as a senior and was the 2013 recipient of the Landry Award, given to the top high school player in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Garrett was rated as a five-star recruit by the Rivals.com recruiting network and was ranked as the second best overall player in his class. He committed to play college football at Texas A&M University in October 2013. In track and field, he was a state qualifier in the throwing events, with top throws of 16.01 meters in the shot put and 50.84 meters in the discus throw.College career
Freshman year
Garrett came to Texas A&M as the #2 overall prospect in the nation. As a true freshman in 2014, Garrett broke the Aggies' freshman sack record of 5.5 in only six games. In only nine games, he broke Jadeveon Clowney's Southeastern Conference freshman sack record of eight. Garrett finished the season with 11.5 sacks, 53 total tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 10 quarterback hurries, and a blocked kick. He was a consensus Freshman All-American by USA Today and Freshman All-SEC selection. After the conclusion of the season, Garrett announced that he would undergo surgery to repair torn ligaments in his hand, an injury that occurred in the sixth game of the season, against Mississippi State.Sophomore year
Garrett led the SEC with 12.5 sacks as a sophomore. He recorded 57 total tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss, five forced fumbles, and a blocked punt. In addition, Garrett recorded his first interception, off his own-tipped ball, in the game against Ole Miss. The season earned Garrett a first-team All-American selection by the Walter Camp Football Foundation and the Football Writers Association of America. Garrett was the Bill Willis Award winner as the top defensive lineman.Junior year
Garrett's junior year found him limited by injuries. He suffered a high-ankle sprain to his left leg in the fourth game of the season against Arkansas, and did not appear in the games against South Carolina and New Mexico State. Garrett also found his availability limited to third downs in some other games while he recovered from the injury. For the season, Garrett recorded 8.5 sacks, 32 total tackles, 15.0 tackles for loss, 10 quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles, and a pass breakup. The season resulted in Garrett earning a Unanimous Consensus All-American designation by being voted to the first-team by the Walter Camp Football Foundation, the Football Writers Association of America, the American Football Coaches Association, The Sporting News, the Associated Press, Pro Football Focus, and SB Nation.Statistics
Professional career
Pre-draft
On December 31, 2016, Garrett announced his decision to forgo his remaining eligibility and enter the 2017 NFL draft. He was projected to be a top ten selection and was ranked No. 1 on ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr.’s big board. Garrett attended the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis and completed the majority of combine drills, but opted to skip the three-cone drill and short shuttle. Garrett solidified his position as a top ten pick with an impressive combine performance. His 41” vertical jump was the top performance of all defensive linemen and he also finished with the second best performance in the bench press and broad jump. Garrett also had the third fastest 40-yard dash of all defensive linemen at the combine, which highly impressed scouts due to his size. On March 30, 2017, Garrett attended Texas A&M's Pro Day and chose to perform the 40-yard dash, 20-yard dash, 10-yard dash, and broad jump.Garrett attended pre-draft visits with the Jacksonville Jaguars, San Francisco 49ers, and Chicago Bears. At the conclusion of pre-draft process, Garrett was projected by NFL draft analyst and scouts to be the first overall player selected. He was ranked the top overall prospect and defensive end by Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Pro Football Focus, and DraftScout.com. Garrett was also ranked the top edge rusher in the draft by NFL analyst Mike Mayock.
2017
The Cleveland Browns selected Garrett with the first overall pick of the 2017 NFL draft. Garrett became the highest draft pick from Texas A&M in the history of the NFL draft.On May 19, 2017, the Browns signed Garrett to a fully guaranteed four-year, $30.41 million contract that features a $20.25 million signing bonus, offset language options, and a team option for a fifth year.
Garrett entered training camp slated as a starting defensive end. Head coach Hue Jackson named Garrett and Emmanuel Ogbah the starting defensive ends to begin the regular season. They started the season alongside defensive tackles Trevon Coley and Jamie Meder.
On September 7, Garrett suffered a high ankle sprain during practice, causing him to miss the start of the season. After missing the first four games, Garrett played his first regular season game on October 8 against the New York Jets, and sacked Josh McCown twice, including once on his first ever NFL play. The Browns lost to the Jets 17–14. Despite having four sacks in his first three games, Garrett's injury woes continued as he suffered a concussion during Week 8 against the Tennessee Titans. Because he was on concussion protocol, he could not travel to London for the next game.
Overall, Garrett recorded 31 combined tackles, seven sacks, a forced fumble, a pass defensed, and a fumble recovery during his rookie season. Due to injury, Garrett only played 11 of 16 games, but still finished first on the team in sacks. He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team.
2018
Garrett was named a defensive captain for the 2018 season. In the season-opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Garrett sacked Ben Roethlisberger twice and forced two fumbles, both of which were recovered by the Browns, during the 21–21 tie game. Two weeks later against the Jets, Garrett sacked rookie quarterback Sam Darnold twice during the 21–17 win. During Week 7 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Garrett sacked Jameis Winston twice in the 26–23 overtime road loss.In the 2018 season, Garrett started all 16 games and recorded 13.5 sacks, 44 combined tackles, 12 tackles-for-loss, 29 quarterback hits, three passes defensed, and three forced fumbles. His 13.5 sacks ranked sixth in the NFL that year. He was ranked 49th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2019. He was named to his first Pro Bowl for his efforts in the 2018 season.
2019
During the season opener against the Titans, Garrett sacked Marcus Mariota twice in the 43–13 loss. In the next game against the Jets, Garrett finished with three sacks but also committed two roughing the passer penalties as the Browns won 23–3. On September 28, Garrett was fined a combined $52,639 for three fouls, a face mask hit on Delanie Walker as well as the two roughing the passer fouls on Trevor Siemian, the second of which resulted in Siemian injuring his ankle and putting him on injured reserve. During Week 6 against the Seattle Seahawks, Garrett sacked Russell Wilson twice in the 32–28 loss.Brawl with Mason Rudolph
During Week 11 against the Steelers, with eight seconds left in regulation, Garrett pulled Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph to the ground following a late hit. Upset by the late hit, Rudolph attacked Garrett, kicking him in the groin and attempting to pull off Garrett's helmet. After getting back up, Garrett forcibly removed Rudolph's helmet as Steelers offensive linemen Maurkice Pouncey and David DeCastro tried to hold him back. Garrett then swung Rudolph's helmet at him, striking him in the head with the bottom of the helmet. A fight ensued that resulted in Garrett, Pouncey, and Browns defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi being ejected; Pouncey punched and kicked Garrett's head several times after the strike, while Ogunjobi pushed a helmetless Rudolph to the ground as he stood watching the fight.Garrett's actions were questioned by his head coach and quarterback in interviews conducted immediately after the game. Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield called Garrett's action "inexcusable," while Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens expressed embarrassment. Garrett later apologized for his actions, which he described as "foolish" and "out of character," while at the same time thanking the players who had backed him up. The next day, the NFL suspended Garrett indefinitely, and at a minimum for the remainder of the 2019 season. He was also fined $45,623 while Rudolph was fined $50,000. Another 33 players were fined $3,000 for entering a fight zone, and the Browns and Steelers organizations were fined $250,000 each. Garrett appealed the suspension and lost, sitting out the remainder of the season. It was the second-longest suspension for on-field misconduct in NFL history and the longest for a single incident.
ESPN reported that in his appeal hearing Garrett had told NFL officials the incident was fueled by Rudolph's alleged use of a racial slur. In a statement, Garrett said he had not intended for his remarks to become public and that hearing the alleged slur was no excuse for his actions. Rudolph vehemently denied the accusation.
Garrett met with officials from Commissioner Roger Goodell's office on February 10, 2020, and was reinstated for the 2020 season. After being reinstated, Garrett reiterated his claim, saying he discussed the alleged slur immediately after the altercation with former general manager John Dorsey, head coach Freddie Kitchens, and Ogunjobi, his best friend. This was confirmed by Dorsey and Ogunjobi. Garrett asked the NFL to check their on-field audio; league spokesman Brian McCarthy said there were no recordings, and therefore they "found no such evidence" to support Garrett's claim.