Tag: browns news

Watch: Former UGA RB Nick Chubb scores on Thursday Night Football

Former UGA football and Browns star RB Nick Chubb scores vs the Bengals on Thursday night.

Former Georgia running back Nick Chubb is at it again, scoring from 11 yards out for the Cleveland Browns in their Thursday night game versus the Cincinnati Bengals.

The former Bulldog got the first touchdown of the game, scoring in classic Chubb-fashion.

Dean Legge of DawgPost said it best.

“He. Does. Not. Quit.”

Watch: Nick Chubb’s 10 greatest Georgia plays

Watch this highlight video of Nick Chubb’s 10 greatest Georgia football plays.

Nick Chubb became the NFL’s second leading rusher in 2019, making him a household name among football fans.

But prior to that, he became The University of Georgia’s second all-time leading rusher by the time his collegiate career came to an end.

Watching Chubb at Georgia was special. It was like he was playing against my cousin’s Pop Warner team, bouncing off nearly every tackle.

Related: Checking in on Nick Chubb’s cousin, Harlem Diamond – a rising Cedartown star

Chubb started his UGA career with a 4 carry, 70 yard and 1 touchdown performance against Clemson in 2014. By the time he left Georgia, he had tallied 4,769 rushing yards.

Now he’s an NFL Pro-Bowler with the Cleveland Browns, but the kid from Cedartown will always be a Georgia Bulldog.

Here are Chubb’s top-10 Georgia players, according to video creator Hex Highlights.

 

 

 

Checking in on Nick Chubb’s cousin, Harlem Diamond – a rising Cedartown star

An interview with former Georgia football RB Nick Chubb’s first cousin Harlem Diamond, who is a rising star at Cedartown High School.

Nick Chubb will be a household name with Georgia Bulldog football fans for the rest of eternity.

The former Bulldog great trails just one other running back in the all-time Georgia rushing rankings, and that man is Herschel Walker. Chubb is second in yards (4,769) and touchdowns (44) in the school’s history.

The kid out of Cedartown, Georgia blew away expectations, helping the Dawgs win an SEC Championship and a Rose Bowl and becoming one of the greatest Georgia Bulldogs of all time.

Chubb, who currently plays for the Cleveland Browns, is now the highest graded PFF running back in the NFL, but the family’s football blood doesn’t stop with Nick.

Chubb’s first cousin Harlem Diamond is a rising sophomore at Cedartown High School in Chubb’s hometown, where he is a three sport athlete.

“I play football, basketball and baseball.  I started playing football at the age of 5.” Harlem told me in a phone interview.

I asked Harlem which sport was his favorite and the answer was clear.

“Football. I love football, it’s not an easy sport, you really have to work hard at it. Not anyone can play football. You have to be tough and may be a little crazy.”

Harlem is a two-way player, playing running back just like his cousin, in addition to playing defensive back. Apparently ball carrying style and his work ethic resemble that of his role model’s.

“Nick Chubb is my role model, he is a great person.” Harlem said. “I look up to him. He works hard in the weight room and is very humble, so I try to copy his work ethic… My vision at running back is something I have heard (that mimics Nick’s game). I would say just bringing a winning attitude to the game overall.”

And just like Nick, Harlem is not to be messed with in the weight room. At 15 years old, standing at 5-foot-6, 145 pounds, Harlem is benching 205, power cleaning 200 and squatting 305 pounds. Those are some legit numbers for a rising sophomore in high school.

Harlem’s performance in the classroom is also something not to be overlooked, as he currently has a 3.7 GPA.

I spoke with Harlem about his expectations for next year as well as his personal goals for the season.

“I’m just ready to prove myself. Our team’s mindset is to play hard every game, win regions and go to states. The goal I have set is to work hard, encourage my teammates and rush for 1,000 yards or have 100 tackles.”

Harlem has had incredible support from his family his entire life, with his father being the ultimate sports dad. Harlem’s father, James, is the all-time tackle leader at Cedartown High.

“Just knowing that he is on my side is motivation.” Harlem said.  “He believes in me regardless of the sport.  He was the defensive player of the year in high school in 1999 and holds the tackle record at Cedartown High School so I listen when he talks. He just wants to see me be successful in life, on or off the field. I have great support from my entire family.”

Harlem reminisced on his favorite memory with his cousin.

“I was at a football all-star game in Athens and Nick came over to the dorms, picked me up and gave me a private tour of the UGA facilities during the All-Star week.”

Harlem is just as good a baseball player as he is a football player, but you can just refer to him as the Bass Master from now on.

“I love to fish.  I consider myself a Bass Master, my biggest bass weighed 8.5 pounds.”

From the looks of it, the two have an unbreakable bond through family and football.  Harlem is now trying to make a name for himself in the football world and hopes to get recruited by a top program soon, as it is still early in the recruiting process for him.

Dawgs fans would love the idea of having Nick Chubb’s cousin Harlem taking over as the next great Georgia running back, and we hope that becomes a reality.

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Nick Chubb named to list of top NFL players under age of 25

Georgia football great and current Cleveland Browns RB Nick Chubb considered one of the best young NFL talents.

Former Georgia running back Nick Chubb is a rising star in the NFL and he’s only 24 years old.

He just finished as the second leading rusher in the league and is widely viewed as one of the best ball carriers in pro football.

CBSSports recently ranked the top 25 NFL players who will begin the 2020 season under the age of 25, and included Chubb on its list.

The Cleveland Browns star checked in at No. 20 on and was the fifth highest ranked running back behind Christian McCaffrey (No. 8), Ezekiel Elliot (No. 15), Saquon Barkley (No. 17), and Alvin Kamara (No. 18).

Here’s what CBSSports wrote about Chubb:

Chubb is yet another example of how teams don’t really know how to evaluate players in the draft. In the 2018 NFL Draft, the Browns grabbed Chubb with the third pick in the second round. Which means Chubb was the fourth running back off the board. The three running backs taken before him? Saquon Barkley, Rashaad Penny, and Sony Michel. Only Barkley is a better player than Chubb, but considering where they were drafted (No. 2 overall compared to No. 35), it’s Chubb who represents better value. Put another way, the Giants would’ve been better off drafting someone else (they had a ton of options) at No. 2 and then getting Chubb at No. 34. Through two seasons, Chubb has totaled 2,917 yards and 18 touchdowns from scrimmage while averaging 5.3 yards per touch. In that span, he ranks fifth in yards from scrimmage among all running backs.

James Harrison says Mike Tomlin gave him ‘an envelope’ after being fined for hard hit on Georgia great Mohamed Massaquoi

NFL LB James Harrison talked 2010 hit on Cleveland Browns Mohamed Massaquoi, a UGA football great. Not a good look for Pittsburgh Steelers.

Former Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison was one of the hardest hitting players in the game during his 15 year NFL career.

He delivered a number of cringe-worthy hits, but maybe none worse than his 2010 helmet-to-helmet one on former Georgia wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi, who was playing for the Cleveland Browns at the time.

You can watch a replay of it here.

That hit resulted in a $75,000 fine from the NFL.

On May 6, Harrison told Barstool’s “Going Deep” podcast that Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin handed him an envelope following the hit.

“Listen, everything I love, on my daddy’s grave, I hit that man with about, max, 50 percent of what I had, and I just hit because I wanted him to let loose of the ball. If I had known they were going to fine me $75,000, I would have tried to kill him. Dude, I’m telling you, 75?

“I ain’t going to lie to you. When that happened, right? The G-est thing Mike Tomlin ever did, he handed me an envelope after that. I ain’t going to say what, but he handed me an envelope after that.”

The comment led to plenty of speculation from NFL fans that Tomlin had a system similar to the Saints’ “Bountygate” in place.

The hit actually did not get flagged in that game and the $75k fine was eventually reduced to $50k. As for Massaquoi, he suffered a concussion on that play.

On Friday, Harrison posted on Instagram to clarify that Tomlin never paid him for that hit.

“Wow y’all really comparing what I said to BOUNTYGATE?!?,” Harrison wrote. “Mike T. Has NEVER paid me for hurting someone or TRYING to hurt someone or put a bounty on ANYBODY! If you knew the full story of what happened back then you’d know that BS fine for a Legal Play wasn’t even penalized during the game.”

In response to the story, Steelers president Art Rooney II disputed Harrison’s initial claim.

Massaquoi is one of the greatest receivers in Georgia history. From Charlotte, North Carolina, he came to UGA in 2005. By the time he left in 2008, he had 158 catches for 2,282 yards and 16 touchdowns, which ranks seventh best in school history.

Picked in the second round of the 2009 NFL Draft, Massaquoi played four seasons with Browns. He left Cleveland after the 2012 season, and in August of 2013, he was released by two teams – the Jaguars and the Jets.

He finished his NFL career with 118 receptions for 1,745 yards and seven touchdowns.

Nick Chubb wants to show small-town kids that you CAN make it big time

Cedartown native and Georgia football RB Nick Chubb, now of the Cleveland Browns, wants to show small-town kids that you can make it to NFL.

Nick Chubb came to Georgia as a five-star recruit in the class of 2015 out of Cedartown, Georgia, a small town with a population of around 10,000.

Chubb wasted no time putting his hometown on the map, rushing for 1,547 yards during his freshman year at UGA. Within months, Cedartown was featured in ESPN segments, was written about in nearly every article discussing Chubb and was receiving plenty of recognition.

Chubb’s stellar career continued, and eventually he finished as the school’s second all-time leading rusher. Trailing only Herschel Walker.

He went on to become the 35th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns. After a solid rookie season in which he did not receive nearly enough touches, Chubb again put Cedartown in the national spotlight, tallying 1,494 rushing yards during the 2019 NFL season. He came 46 yards shy of leading the league in rushing.

Chubb wants to be an example for kids not only from Cedartown, but from small towns all across the country.

“Now, I use myself as an example for the kids who still go there. No matter if we do come from a small town, you can still fulfill your dreams. You can still play college at a D-1, and you can still go to the NFL,” Chubb said to CBS Sports’ Jim Rome.

Chubb also mentioned that growing up in Cedartown, people would tell him that he needed to move to a bigger city where he can garner more national recognition.

But Chubb stayed put and perfected his craft in his hometown.

“Just coming from the small town I came from, older guys that lived there said I should move away,” Chubb said. “I’d never get attention there. College coaches never come looking in this small town. I’d never make it. That just motivated me to go harder in high school.”

So he stayed, and he signed with Georgia as the fifth ranked running back in his class.

“So, I’m using myself as an example for them to keep their head on straight and not listen to the outside world. Just keep focusing on what’s important.”

Georgia RB Brian Herrien, a fan favorite, signs UDFA deal

Georgia football RB Brian Herrien has signed an undrafted free agent deal with the Cleveland Browns following the NFL Draft.

Georgia running back Brian Herrien, a fan favorite during his four years as a Bulldog, has signed an undrafted free agent deal with the Cleveland Browns, WSB-TV’s Zach Klein reports.

During his time at Georgia, Herrien served as a backup to NFL backs Nick Chubb, Sony Michel, D’Andre Swift and Elijah Holyfield, but always made the most of his opportunities when on the field.

As Klein said in his tweet, Herrien runs angry. And when he does, he has no issue running over you.

Herrien accumulated 1,413 rushing yards in four seasons at Georgia, adding 15 total touchdowns.

2020 NFL Draft: Georgia football OT Andrew Thomas to Cleveland Browns?

Georgia football OT Andrew Thomas says that the Cleveland Browns are interested in him ahead of the 2020 NFL Draft.

Georgia’s Andrew Thomas is considered one of the best, if not the best, offensive tackles in the 2020 NFL Draft class.

He’s a guy that pretty much every NFL team will want to meet with prior to the draft, however, coronavirus has forced said meetings to be conducted via FaceTime or video conference chats.

One team that’s met with Thomas is the Cleveland Browns, where Bulldog legend Nick Chubb is making a name for himself as one of the league’s top ball carriers.

Cleveland holds the No. 10 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, and it appears they’re eyeing Thomas as a possible selection.

Thomas said that Browns GM Andrew Berry is impressed with him both on and off the field.

“Andrew (Browns GM) said I had a lot of the intangibles that they’re looking to add to their team, good character,’’ Thomas told cleveland.com in a phone interview. “They feel that translates to playing on the field, so I feel that’s something I have.’’

Referring to a separate phone call with the Browns, Thomas discussed how new head coach Kevin Stefanski viewed him.

“He was saying me being athletic is something that they like as far being able to open up holes in the wide zone,’’ Thomas said.

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Top NFL players under 25: One Bulldog makes the cut, but way too low

One Georgia football player, Nick Chubb of the Cleveland Browns, made Bleacher Report’s rankings of the top-25 under the age of 25.

This week, Bleacher Report ranked the top-25 NFL players under the age of 25.

As expected, Georgia had one player on the list, however, he was ranked a bit lower than I would have had him.

Bleacher Report ranked former Georgia running back Nick Chubb, now with the Cleveland Browns, as the 20th best NFL player under the age of 25.

20th? No disrespect to Bleacher Report, I know they can’t possibly please everybody with a list like this, but Chubb finished second in the NFL in rushing last season. And I don’t care what changes Cleveland has made…he did it on the BROWNS.

Chubb, who dons the jersey #24 for the Browns, is also 24 years old.

On Chubb, BR wrote:

Among 25 running backs who have carried the ball 300-plus times since Nick Chubb came into the NFL in 2018, Chubb ranks first with 5.1 yards per attempt.

The 24-year-old 2018 second-round pick doesn’t get as much publicity as several star running backs yet to be named on this list, and his numbers related to fumbles and receiving could be better. But from a statistical standpoint, he’s right there with the top offensive weapons in the league.

Running backs ranked ahead of Chubb include:

No. 18: Dalvin Cook

No. 14: Ezekiel Elliott

No. 13: Saquon Barkley

No. 12: Alvin Kamara

No. 11: Christian McCaffrey

All those guys are great backs, but are we really going to sit here and say that Chubb, who I’ll remind you again finished No. 2 in rushing last season by only 46 yards, is the sixth best running back under the age of 25?

Yeah, I can’t get on board with that.

PFF ranks Nick Chubb highest-graded RB in the NFL

Former Georgia football running back Nick Chubb is the highest-graded RB in the NFL per Pro Football Focus.

Pro Football Focus released its list of the NFL’s highest-rated running backs with a minimum of 500 snaps.

Atop that list stands Cleveland Browns running back Nick Chubb, with a rating of 88.7.

Chubb had a historic sophomore season in the NFL, coming 2nd in rushing yards with 1,494, trailing only Tennessee Titans’ RB Derrick Henry at 1,540.  He averaged 5 yards a carry last season, breaking the pylons for a total of 8 touchdowns.

Chubb has proved himself as an elite NFL back and a serious offensive weapon in the AFC North.

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