'Greatest is defined by each person': Myles Garrett says he has 'so much further to go'

BEREA — The question brought a hearty laugh out of Myles Garrett.

"How do you define greatness?"

The laugh turned to reflection for the Browns star defensive end in an instant. Garrett searched his own internal dictionary for the right words — his words — to define what, to some, may seem undefinable.

Finally, the man who defined greatness among defensive players in the NFL a year ago came up with his own definition of the word.

"Greatness recognizes greatness," Garrett said in a sit-down interview with the Beacon Journal. "It sees it in others and in yourself. Greatness, it's hard work, it's dedication, it's devotion, it's commitment, it's performance. It's those times with your teammates staying late, coming in early. Greatness is those smiles you put on people's faces as well as those tears that you shed getting to where you want to go. All those things aren't greatness, but a culmination of those things become greatness. You recognize it easily."

Garrett's greatness has been recognized for some time by teammates and opponents alike . However, it's gone to another level in the time since he won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award in February.

While Garrett's definition of greatness was verbose, those who share a locker room with him often find themselves at a loss of words when asked to describe him. Or, they find themselves making statements that, on the surface, may seem both hyperbolic and straightforward at the same time.

"Myles can be the best player in the world and ever," defensive tackle Shelby Harris said at the end of training camp. "So it's just a matter of tapping into that potential, but he's already shown it and that's crazy. You're talking about the former DPOY, there's more levels to it, and so Myles is a special player and it's a blessing to play next to him."

The Defensive Player of the Year award was just the latest feather in Garrett's cap, or entry into what's trending toward his Hall of Fame resume. It's goes alongside the three first-team All-Pro selections, the five Pro Bowl berths and the Browns franchise sack records both in a season and in a career.

And, yet, the man who Harris said can be the greatest player of all time, the one who had multiple Minnesota Vikings players speaking in reverential terms during the teams' joint practices last month, wouldn't necessarily agree with their assessments. Garrett, in his own words, wouldn't say he's fit his definition of greatness just yet.

"Oh, I've had a small amount of success; I wouldn't say it's been greatness," Garrett said. "Greatest is defined by each person. It's a matter of perspective for each one and every level of greatness. We have the greatest of all time and you have people who are still great. That doesn't make it any lesser than those others, but I feel like there's still so much to achieve and chase after.

"In my mind, what I thought I can do and what we can become, we haven't achieved that greatness, and since we haven't achieved it, that means I haven't either."

The Browns are coming off their second 11-win season in the last four seasons, having captured the top AFC wild card spot. However, the playoff run came to a screeching halt with a humbling 45-14 loss at the Houston Texans in the opening round.

Garrett is going into his eighth season since the Browns made him the No. 1 overall pick out of Texas A&M. He's played exactly 100 regular-season games in that time, but only three playoff games, and only one playoff win.

Those last two numbers are the ones that stick with Garrett as much as anything. It's what prevents him from taking a moment to appreciate the journey he's taken.

"Rarely do I think about the times where it's like how far I've come because I just feel like there's so much further to go," Garrett said. "We still have to get to an AFC championship, we still have to get to the Super Bowl. First, we have to get one win. We've got to master ourselves before we can master our fate or our destiny."

That goes back to defining greatness. More specifically, it goes back to defining the greatest.

Think Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant or LeBron James and the tones they set for their respective teams. In football, think about Jim Brown, Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes and the paths to success they've set or are setting.

Garrett sees in all of those players, and others who could rightfully fall into their stratosphere, a commonality that draws them together.

"I feel like the greatest lead in different ways, but most of the greatest players have a singular mindset of the end goal being championship," Garrett said. "Most of them. Now, you have some outliers who are maybe a little bit more individual and, take nothing away, they know that their individual performances matter towards the end goal.

"But majority of the greatest players who ever played singularly think about how to return to the mountaintop and what it's going to take, and that as soon as they keep back in on that, it never leaves their mind."

There's another commonality all of those players share. None of them is ever satisfied.

That leads to the final part of Garrett's personal definition of greatness.

"Once you've finally reached it and then you realize what it takes, it's not a destination," Garrett said. "It's a culmination of things that you have along the way and you keep on traveling down the road of greatness. There is no final destination."

Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: 'Greatest is defined by each person': Myles Garrett says he has 'so much further to go'