Joe Haden was always a fan favorite during his seven years playing cornerback for the Browns. It turns out the player loved the Cleveland fans, too — enough that he still loves the Browns and the city even though he now plays for the rival Steelers.
Haden played in Jarvis Landry’s charity softball game on Saturday in Eastlake. He made it clear that he cherished being a Browns player and admires what the team has become since his departure before the 2017 winless season.
“The Cleveland fans and city have always deserved a great football team,” Haden said via 92.3 The Fan. “Dorsey has done a great job of having the money and assets and going and getting it. Not being afraid to make moves, not being afraid to make decisions.”
“This is going to be my third year, but at first it was a little weird,” Haden said about playing in the charity game despite not being a Browns player anymore. “But I can still respect the Cleveland Browns, the fan base, the city. I love Cleveland. Literally I still love it to my heart. But it’s just the organization-wise, the way things were ran, you can’t control that. I was here for seven years, just the switching of the guard and everything, but now it looks good.”
He holds no ill will to the team or the legion of fans who made him one of the most popular Browns players of the last 20 years
“I’m so, so happy for them, and the people, they show me nothing but love, so that’s why I always want to make sure there’s no hate there. It’s just a business. You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”
Haden’s team lost to Landry’s team in a rain-shortened affair, 17-10. Fitting that it would be a football score…
