The Cleveland Browns appear to be back on the upswing now, with first-year head coach Todd Monken leading the team to a 3-1 start. While there are still 13 games to go, that's a better start than the Browns have had in any of their previous four seasons.
Yet, there was a time, not all that long ago, when things looked extremely bleak in Cleveland. In 2017, under head coach Hue Jackson, the Browns went winless for the entire season, finishing 0-16.
Now, a Super Bowl champion is opening up about just how bad life got during those dark days in the Forest City.
Kevin Stefanski may have been a two-time NFL Coach of the Year winner in Cleveland, but after the Browns went just 8-26 over the past two seasons, the front office felt like it had no choice but to move on.
As bleak as those times were, there was a period when the Browns were truly horrible. It doesn't get much worse than 2016 and 2017, when Jackson's Browns went just 1-31 across two seasons.
Former Super Bowl winner Jason McCourty was on that 2017 Browns team that went winless over 16 games.
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Now, almost 10 years later, McCourty appeared alongside his twin brother Devin on the "Traina Thoughts" podcast to open up about his short stint in Cleveland and why he would have retired before signing up for another season.
"I get released from Tennessee, and that was a whole thing in itself," McCourty remembered. "(Devin) was (expletive) that I got released the way I got released. So he was mad about that… So, this happened in April. I get released.
"Now the season's going, the draft happens, and no one's calling. Teams called, but they wanted to wait and see how OTAs was gonna go. So, now it's getting to the end of May, and I'm to the point where I've never not been on a team. I'm getting antsy."
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That's when the Browns became interested in adding the veteran cornerback to their core. McCourty, who was eager to sign anywhere, was naturally interested in what Cleveland had to offer.
"The Cleveland Browns call," McCourty continued. "They bring me in for a visit. One of their rookies ended up getting hurt. So I'm on the visit, and I call him (Devin) the morning after the visit because the visit went well and they were offering me a contract.
"So I'm talking to my wife, and I call him. I'm like, 'Yo, they offered me a two-year deal. What do you think?' He goes, 'Don't go to Cleveland. Don't do it.' I'm like, 'Bro, I don't have any other options.'"
Despite his brother's advice, McCourty did end up signing that two-year deal with Cleveland, only to later regret the decision. In that season with the Browns, he posted a PFN CB Impact Score of 75.4, ranking 50th at his position.
"Jimmy, it was miserable," McCourty admitted. "On our exit interviews, at that point, we had fired Sashi Brown. Our general manager, John Dorsey, had got hired.
"[Dorsey] made a statement of something to the effect: We've got to get some real players in here to start winning. Like, come on."
That's when McCourty defended his teammates while taking shots at the Browns' general manager and head coach.
"The team was young; I was one of the only veterans, and I basically, in the media, was like, that's (expletive)," McCourty recalled.
"We do have real players. The problem here is everything outside of the players. It's not the players in the locker room. There are young guys that are working their tails off. But when your head coach and general manager don't like each other. I said it starts at the top, and that's the issue here."
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McCourty ultimately got his wish to leave Cleveland when the Browns traded him to the New England Patriots during the 2018 offseason.
"I remember later on in the offseason," McCourty added, "I get the call from John Dorsey. He's like, 'Hey, where we are right now, we've brought in some other guys, we want to give you an opportunity to go make another team.'
"I'm looking at him like, 'You brought in some other guy. Come on, dude. You didn't bring in anyone better than me.' My agent was in Cleveland. We went to dinner. I was like, 'It's been cool hanging out with you a little bit more, but I'll retire before I come back here next year."
Thankfully, McCourty didn't have to hang up his cleats.
He spent the next three seasons with Bill Belichick's Patriots before finishing his playing career with the Miami Dolphins in 2021. Since then, McCourty has stayed around the game, now working as an analyst.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network .
