JuJu Smith-Schuster says he doesn't regret 'Browns is the Browns' comment
The Browns might be the Browns, but they’re going on to the divisional round. And they aren’t forgetting what one of the Pittsburgh Steelers said about them.
But even after his season ended by way of a loss to Cleveland, JuJu Smith-Schuster didn’t take back his “The Browns is the Browns” comment that became infamous in Ohio late this week.
“I don’t regret saying what I said,” Smith-Schuster said during a video conference call with media after the Browns beat the Steelers, 48-37.
Asked on Wednesday whether this playoff-bound Cleveland team was different than the ones that preceded it — the Browns hadn’t made the playoffs since 2002 or had a winning season since 2007 — Smith-Schuster gave an answer that included a Mike Tomlin cliche and a grammatically incorrect reference to Cleveland’s team:
“I think they’re still the same Browns teams I play every year. I think they’re nameless gray faces. Yes, they have a couple good players on their team, but at the end of the day … the Browns is the Browns.”
Even if Smith-Schuster winked and added, “They’re a good team,” it was, “The Browns is the Browns” that made the rounds in Cleveland after media in that city picked up on it a day later.
The Browns’ biggest stars referenced “The Browns is the Browns” via verified social media channels in the 24 hours leading up to Sunday’s wild-card playoff game: Myles Garrett included the sound in a “hype video” posted to his Instagram account, and Baker Mayfield wrote “Browns is the Browns” as the caption for a video posted to his IG account.
"The Browns is the Browns"
- JuJu Smith-Schuster
- Baker Mayfield(via @Tall_inc)pic.twitter.com/tOWrmKOOtB
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) January 11, 2021
After the game, Mayfield and many others ran off the field yelling, “The Browns is the Browns.” Several players posted similar messages to their verified Twitter accounts. Receiver Jarvis Landry used the hashtag “CORVETTECORVETTE, a clear reference to the song played during the dances Smith-Schuster has posted to his social media accounts all season.
“You don’t want to be disrespectful to anybody on any team, so we definitely didn’t appreciate it,” Garrett said. “And I think we made that known tonight with our performance … and getting this big win we got in their house.”
Hey, Steelers Nation, get the latest news about the Pittsburgh Steelers here.
Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.