Patriots: Beckham Jr. wants Browns to emulate New England
Odell Beckham Jr. has grand aspirations for the revamped Cleveland Browns, including winning enough championships to become “the new Patriots.”
The hype train for the Cleveland Browns in 2019 is hurtling towards September at an increasingly breakneck speed.
Quagmired for decades as the NFL’s perennial punching bag, the Browns suddenly became frisky last season behind impressive rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield. Now, behind a solid draft and a slew of high-profile free agent signings and trades – none more ballyhooed than the addition of superstar wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. – the cause for optimism has never been higher in the state of Ohio.
And while the arrow is certainly pointing up on paper for Cleveland’s beloved football franchise, OBJ is now making headlines by publicly proclaiming just how grandiose the expectations are for the Brownies: they want to – and are planning to – win a number of championships in the coming years.
“I plan on being (with the Browns) for the next five years and trying to bring as many championships there as possible,” Beckham told GQ in a recent interview, “turning [the Browns] into the new Patriots.”
Even a year ago, any player comparing the Cleveland Browns to the New England Patriots would have been laughable. But thanks to Beckham Jr., Mayfield, and other ascendant talents like Jarvis Landry, Olivier Vernon, Nick Chubb, Denzel Ward, and Myles Garrett, plus a fresh new face at the head coaching position (Freddie Kitchens), the comparison is being made more and more frequently.
In other words, people are starting to pencil in the Browns not just as threats in the AFC North division, but as threats in the AFC itself as a conference… a conference that has absolutely been dominated by the Patriots for most of the past two decades.
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Count Beckham Jr. as a vocal member of the believers – and also quite the spewer of flattering (and potentially hyperbolic) comparisons. In the same interview, he likened his new quarterback to a living legend who used to play for Green Bay. “(Mayfield’s) Brett Favre — he’s going to be a Hall of Famer.”
Fans of both the Browns and the Patriots will have a chance to see just close the gap between the two franchises really is, as the teams are scheduled to face off in Foxborough on October 27.