BEREA — Nick Chubb smiled. He laughed. He even cracked a joke or two.
Reserved during his playing days, especially with the media, Chubb was at ease and talkative Friday after signing a one-day contract to retire as a member of the Browns, with whom he spent the first seven seasons of an eight-year career. He announced the retirement in August but wanted to officially finish where he started.
“It’s great to be back,” the four-time Pro Bowl running back said. “Cleveland is where my journey started and it’s where it’s going to end today. And I’m just blessed to be able to be in front of you again and thanks for the owners, everybody having me. Yeah, it’s a blessing to be back.”
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Chubb, 30, will be honored Sunday during the home opener vs. the Panthers at Huntington Bank Field … and will have to get over the awkwardness.
“I’m not the best in those moments. Even coming in today, everybody’s clapping for me, I didn’t know what to do with my hands or how to stand,” he said of the members of the organization cheering his entrance. “But, yeah, it’s something that I’ve come to, I guess, get used to. And now that I’m not playing, I’m a little more relaxed, so I can kind of embrace everything and take it as it comes.”
Chubb’s last game in Cleveland was Dec. 15, 2024, a loss to the Chiefs in which his foot broke, ending his season. He had returned that season after a devastating left knee injury in Week 2 of 2023 in Pittsburgh that effectively cut short his career.
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“It’ll be emotional for me. I know that,” he said of his return to the stadium. “I think for everybody, too, just with how things went here with me, how I had so much success and then just to get taken down like that and then never really come back. It was just kind of a sad ending.
“So I think now it’s better closure for everyone just to see me finally back in the stadium and to be in high spirits, be up and walking and moving and just for me to be back in Cleveland watching the Browns.”
The connection between Chubb and the fans has been strong since he burst on the scene as a rookie. His quiet, determined, unselfish personality fit rugged Northeast Ohio.
After growing up in Georgia and starring at the University of Georgia, he didn’t know what to expect when he was drafted No. 35 in 2018 after the Browns went 0-16.
Former Browns RB Nick Chubb on Cleveland: It’s a special place. pic.twitter.com/bmGy8T1djp
— Scott Petrak ct (@ScottPetrak) September 25, 2026
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“So at that time, Cleveland wasn’t the team everyone talked about,” he said. “And so when I got here, I realized that what people on the outside thought was completely wrong about Cleveland. It’s a special place and you got to be here to see it. And the people, the team, the organization, the fans, just everybody a part of the city makes it special.”
Chubb is third in Browns history with 6,843 rushing yards, trailing Hall of Famers Jim Brown and Leroy Kelly, and third with 51 rushing touchdowns. His 30 100-yard games rank second.
“As a running back, all I care about numbers-wise is rushing yards. So I did want to get behind Jim Brown. I wasn’t able to do that,” said Chubb, who plans to spend the early part of retirement with his family and traveling. “It’s just the history of the running backs here, starting with Jim Brown. It’s just a blessing to be able to come to a place and to have that history and to have someone to chase and to look up to and just to admire, playing the same position that he did here.”
He finished his career with one season with Houston and 7,349 rushing yards, 1,109 receiving yards and 59 touchdowns in 100 games.
He watched part of practice, mingled with former teammates and addressed the team.
“He said, you never know when it’ll be taken from you,” said safety Grant Delpit, who was teammates with Chubb from 2020-24. “We’re all going to be in this position one day coming back talking to the team. His message was just to make sure that you’re doing what you’ve got to do because you never know when it’s going to be the last game. Just have no real regrets when you’re done. You gave it all you got and that’s all you can do.”
Browns S Grant Delpit on Nick Chubb’s message to team. pic.twitter.com/spAMAPT3yQ
— Scott Petrak ct (@ScottPetrak) September 25, 2026
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As special as Chubb was on the field, his impact may have been greater behind the scenes.
“It was an absolute honor to see Nick Chubb today and everything he brought to this franchise and to us,” run game coordinator/linebackers coach Jason Tarver said without prompting. “As a coach, watching Nick every day give us his best and bringing his best all the time regardless of the situation, he never changed. And his learning how to set your brain to overcome anything, it was an honor to be around Nick for his career. So thanks, Nick, for everything he did for me, the Browns, our organization and all of our players, teaching us how to do things the right way.”
Tarver said Chubb would notice something he didn’t like and whisper to a teammate.
“Then all of a sudden they’re doing it right. Amazing,” Tarver said. “Of course, you know how he played, but that’s how he lived, too. Nick’s the best.”
Managing partner JW Johnson introduced Chubb, thanking him for changing the culture and leading by example.
“I’ll let you guys handle all the superlatives from his career that was unfortunately cut short, but an amazing career that he did have,” Johnson said.
Chubb is still processing the knee injury, what it did to him as a player and not being with the Browns last season.
“I wasn’t playing for Cleveland anymore, so I didn’t feel like playing football,” he said when asked about retiring. “It was just a time that I thought I pretty much had done all that I could.
“I wish things had ended differently. Obviously I wanted to play here, end my career here, but it was great to play one more season and to be healthy and to have a winning season.”
He said he’s “come to terms” with the knee injury that robbed him of a season and his explosiveness but is still processing it.
Ex-Browns RB Nick Chubb said he’s still processing devastating knee injury. Believes everything happens for reason but not sure what that reason is yet. pic.twitter.com/sH4T37XCFj
— Scott Petrak ct (@ScottPetrak) September 25, 2026
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“All I can do is just accept that it happened and move forward,” he said. “I think everything happens for a reason, and I don’t know what that reason is yet, but I plan to find out here in the future.”
He said he’s got so many great memories of his Browns career that it’s hard to pick a favorite.
“It was great to beat Pittsburgh in the playoffs,” he said. “I think that whole COVID year was a mess, but that season was very fun to me, and I think just that season as a whole was probably my favorite memory.”
The bond with Northeast Ohio isn’t going anywhere.
“Obviously I’m Cleveland forever. I’m a Brown for life now,” he said.
