The hoop dreams, even in pick-up games, are now gone for Browns defensive end Myles Garrett.
“He retired,” coach Kevin Stefanski said after Wednesday’s workout in organized team activities. “So congratulations on a great career for Myles. I’m really proud of him, but he’s done.”
Garrett recently flashed his basketball skills in what appeared to be a pick-up game in a viral video. At one point he posterized an opposing player, who tried to challenge him at the rim, with a dunk.
Garrett said when he looked at the guy on the floor afterward, he could only wonder what was going through his head.
"I knew you didn't think you were going to go up there and get that," Garrett said. "He must've wanted to be in the highlight or he saw the video and wanted to be a part of it somehow, but he made the video."
Stefanski would not say whether he spoke with Garrett about hanging up the sneakers.
“I feel it’s more like a [Michael] Jordan retirement,” Garrett said when asked about his play. “I went to baseball/basketball for a second and now I have to go back to what I’m good at, which I usually do, which is playing football, rushing the passer, stopping the run.
"Next season you never know. I may go back to basketball. I may go play baseball, see if I can get on a team. There’s more on the horizon [but] right now I have to go back to what my main focus is.”
At least Garrett got to go out on his own terms with a dunk.
"I think that last dunk was either a reverse or double pump or windmill, so I had to go out with a bang," he said.
