The Cleveland Browns face off with the Houston Texans in Week 2 of the NFL season with the goal of washing away their Week 1 loss. One similarity between the Browns first two opponents is that each has a Cleveland area native as their tight end.
For the Kansas City Chiefs, Travis Kelce is well known and well known for his Cleveland history. For the Texans, Pharaoh Brown’s Cleveland roots are less known.
Most fans are aware that Brown played for the team for two seasons, mostly seen as a blocking tight end, before moving on to the Texans in 2020. As noted in Texans Wire, Brown is taking it personally:
“I have a bunch of family, bunch of friends that are Browns fans,” said Brown. “I’ve been hearing it. I can block out the social media, but I can’t block out the family calls. So, I hear this stuff all week, and they talk the most, those Cleveland Brown fans, they just talk the most stuff that you can ever believe. They think that they have a great team.”
From the rest of his comments, it doesn’t seem that Brown sees Week 2 as a revenge game but a chance to shut his family up.
In nine games with Cleveland, Brown had two receptions for 27 yards. In his 2020 matchup with the Browns, also in Cleveland, Brown had two receptions for 21 yards.
In Week 1, former Cleveland quarterback Tyrod Taylor targeted Brown five times leading to four receptions for 67 yards. If that usage continues, Brown may just have a chance to try to dominate his hometown team and shut his family up.