NFL Hall of Famer linebacker, the late Dick Butkus, played on many bad Bears teams over his career. Butkus signed a contract extension during his career to stay in Chicago where he was from. He made a name for himself because of the defense he played. He was feared all over the league. Opposing teams game-planned around him, but he still created havoc on offenses zeroing in on him to take him out of the game. In present times I think you can say Myles Garrett, defensive end for the Cleveland Browns, is going down the same career path as the great Butkus. On Sunday, Garrett sacked Patriots quarterback Drake Maye 5 times and even forced a fumble. With that kind of performance you would think the Browns would have won the game. The Patriots won the game 32-13. The Browns record now is 2-6 and they are on their way to yet another losing season. Meanwhile Garrett is on pace to be the new sack king of the NFL if he continues his current pace. With longevity he should end his career with over 200 sacks.

This is Myles Garrett’s 9th season in the NFL, all with the Browns, and he already has 112.5 sacks in his career. On Sunday Garrett’s 108th sack of his career broke the great Reggie White’s record of most sacks before the age of 30. White played 15 seasons in the NFL and tallied up 198 total sacks before his career came to an end. Let’s remember White played in the USFL for two seasons before coming to the NFL.

In 1984 & ’85, White played for the Memphis Showboats. He played in 34 games and tallied up 23.5 sacks. White has tallied up 198 total sacks in the NFL and is second all-time on the league’s sacks list. Garrett could shatter White’s second place on the sacks totem pole list and surpass the current king of all sacks. That is former Buffalo Bills defensive end Bruce Smith who tallied 200 total sacks. Smith ended up in Canton, Ohio like White & his devastation on the quarterback position.

Myles Garrett has size, speed, and athleticism, determination, and will not turn 30 until this December. He has plenty of time to increase his numbers this season with only 8 games in. He will still have multiple games left to play at the age of 29. He already has 10 sacks for the season which will be the 8th straight season of getting double digits in the quarterback smash. It did not take very long to be the number 1 in sacks in Browns history. Clay Matthews is second in Browns history with 62 total sacks which he broke years ago. He is six sacks away from tying his personal best of his career when he had back-to-back years getting 16 in 2021 & ’22. The 5 sacks on Sunday meant he broke his own personal sack record in one game. In 2021 he had 4 1/2 sacks versus the Bears. Since the NFL has counted sacks since the year 1982, 20 players have had 5 sacks or more in one game. Only 4 of those players ended up losing the game.

In 2017, the Browns drafted Myles Garrett with the first pick of the NFL draft from Texas A&M university. If the Browns went quarterback that year, the player would have been a bust. They had a sure thing picking Garrett who is a game wrecker. A game changer. If the Browns were a winning organization, he would have been a closer. Everyone remembers Garrett ripping off Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolf’s helmet in the Browns/Steelers melee and beating him over the head with it. When it comes to Garrett that is the first thing I think about. That moment does not take away from his play on the field on any given Sunday. I thought during the off-season, the Browns were going to trade their game wrecker because Garrett wanted out of Cleveland. He demanded a trade out of town. They have been a bad team, they paid all the guaranteed money, and gave away a ton of draft capital for a bum of a quarterback in Deshaun Watson. A guy who is a sexual predator. The Browns ownership should have never traded for this guy. Now they are set back years because of this bad deal which may be the worst trade in history by a NFL franchise The Browns ownership suddenly ponied up a 4 year extension worth 204.8 million to keep their defensive end in town and we have not heard a peep out of Myles every since. There are no clear signs in Cleveland that this franchise will turn things around. Garrett may be heading down the same path as Dick Butkus. I’m not saying anything wrong with playing for only one franchise as that is not done anymore. Butkus was the best player on a bad team. So is Garrett. These two guys would be one of the top players on a very great team. No question about that. Reggie White did win a Superbowl. Bruce Smith was part of 4 AFC Championship wins and 4 Superbowl loses. Garrett could be supreme king of the all-time sacks list when his career comes to an end. He may get to play in some future playoff games. When is the biggest question. No guarantee he will do that suited up for the Browns. He may set a new sacks record like Babe Ruth did to the home run record where it took decades to break. He will never get that ring with the Browns.