CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – It was a clean sweep for the Cleveland Browns at NFL Honors Thursday night.
Myles Garrett is the NFL’s AP Defensive Player of the Year for the first time in his career.
Kevin Stefanski is the AP Coach of the Year for the second time in four years.
Joe Flacco coming off the couch in mid-November to save the Browns season and guide them to the playoffs earned him AP Comeback Player of the Year.
Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz was named the winner of the AP’s Assistant Coach of the Year award prior to the broadcast on NFL Network and CBS after transforming Cleveland’s leaky D in 2022 into the league’s best in 2023.
The official league recognized awards handed out by the Associated Press were voted on by a panel of media members nationwide.
Garrett tallied 14.0 sacks, 30 QB hits, 17 tackles for loss and four forced fumbles, three batted passes, a fumble recovery and a blocked field goal in 2023. According to Pro Football Focus, Garrett registered a whopping 86 quarterback pressures.
“I want to thank the Browns organization for y'all believing in me – Jimmy [and] Dee Haslam, Andrew Barry, [Jim] Schwartz,” Garrett said as he accepted the award.
“And to the city of Cleveland, this one's for you. We're going to bring home something bigger next time. Let's go.”
Garrett also thanked his family, high school coach as well as his personal support staff.
The Browns’ all-time franchise sack leader with 88.5 for his career was selected to his fifth Pro Bowl, was named first-team All-Pro for the third time and made the All-Pro teams for the fifth time by the AP.
“I'm running out of superlatives for him,” Stefanski said. “That's what Defensive Player of the Year looks like. What we saw week in and week out, his work at practice, what he provides to this team as a leader. I'm so proud of Myles and this honor is very well deserved.”
Garrett, who is the only player in the NFl to tally 14 or more sacks in each of the last three seasons and at least 10 sacks in each of the last six, beat out Cowboys cornerback Daron Bland and linebacker Micah Parsons, Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby and Steelers outside linebacker T.J. Watt.
“Hopefully the first of several,” Browns executive vice president of football operations and general manager Andrew Berry said. “We are so proud of him. We see how hard he works every day. He represents our city and our franchise at such a high level. It’s not just what he does on the field, but what he does off the field as well. Obviously, he’s as dominant as a force as there is in the entire league and we're so proud.”
Flacco, who was signed to the Browns practice squad on November 20, threw for 1,616 yards with 13 touchdowns that also saw him win four of five starts down the stretch to help the Browns clinch their second playoff berth in four years.
“Big thanks to the city of Cleveland and just everybody in Cleveland,” Flacco said as he accepted the award. “I want to say thank you to my teammates just for welcoming me into that locker room at that point in the year, to welcome a new guy is not the easiest thing. So I want to say thank you to those guys. I want to say thank you to the organization for just giving me the opportunity to do what I love to do and let's play football. And I want to say thank you to the city just for making me and my family feel at home for a couple months of truly special. And before I get out of here, I want to say thank you to my beautiful wife. None of this would be possible without her running the show back at home and being the woman that she is.”
Flacco won the award over Buffalo’s Damar Hamlin.
“From the couch to the playoffs, he was such a stabilizing force for our team this season,” Berry said. “We're so thankful that he decided to join us for the playoff push. I couldn't be more proud.”
Hamlin was the sentimental favorite for the award following his recovery and return from a cardiac arrest suffered in the middle of a game on January 2, 2023. Former Browns quarterback and Buccaneer Baker Mayfield and Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford were also finalists.
Stefanski, who won Coach of the Year in 2020 following an 11-5 season that ended the NFL’s longest playoff drought at 18 years, won the award again after guiding the Browns back to the playoffs despite 15 season-ending injuries and five different starting quarterbacks, with four of them winning at least one game.
“I'm honored and I could not do this thing by myself,” Stefanski said. “I get incredible support from everyone in this building. Our coaches, our players, our staff. I'm so lucky. I am so blessed. I could not do this thing by myself. And then outside this building with the fans. We have the best fans in the National Football League, the best fans in the world. The Browns Backers around the world and here in Northeast Ohio, I can't tell you how appreciative I am of the support they give this football team. We feed off that energy and we really want to give them a team that they're proud of. That's our goal. That's why we're working so hard. I appreciate all our fans.”
Stefanski edged out Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans. Both received 165 points, but Stefanski had one more first-place vote that Ryans, 21-20.
Stefanski is the only Browns coach other than Hall of Famer Paul Brown to win 11 games in the regular season for the franchise multiple times.
“We are so lucky to have Kevin as a leader of our organization,” Berry said. “What he's been able to navigate throughout the first four years here has been nothing short of remarkable. Battling all the adversity that we had this season and guiding us to another playoff appearance is just phenomenal and we're so lucky to have Kevin as a steward of our program the last four years and really into the foreseeable future.”
Ryans, Lions coach Dan Campbell, Ravens coach John Harbaugh, and 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan were the other finalists.
Schwartz helped transform one of the NFL’s worst performing defenses into the No. 1 overall unit in 2023. It was the first time in the Super Bowl era and since 1955 that Cleveland finished a season leading the NFL in overall defense and fifth time in franchise history.
“What he was able to accomplish in year one with this defensive staff, with these players was truly historic,” Stefanski said. “I'm so proud of coach and I'm so proud that I get to work with him every single day.”
Cleveland finished ranked first in overall defense by allowing the fewest average yards per game in the NFL since 2014 and the fewest by a Browns team since 1957 as well as pass defense, third down percentage while allowing the fewest first downs in the NFL.
Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken and defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald along with Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik were also finalists.
“Jim Schwartz, just the Schwartz impact on our organization and our team,” Berry said. “And not just what Jim and the defensive staff were able to do with a dominant and historic defense, but in the building his impact spans far beyond just getting the guys ready to play on the field. He's an incredible organizational partner, an incredible human being, cares about our players, cares about our staff. We are very, very fortunate to have him as a part of our team.”