BEREA, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Joel Bitonio has just about seen it all with the Browns.
Coaches, GMs and quarterbacks came and went with regularity, but Bitonio has stood the test of time.
Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles, Bitonio will make his 100th career regular season start for the Browns, rarified air in the expansion era for the franchise, which prior to the arrival of Kevin Stefanski and Andrew Berry in 2020, resembled a three-ring circus.
“Anytime you get to put on the helmet, it is an honor, and it is a privilege to play this game,” Bitonio said. “To be here for the 100th time and hopefully a bunch more, it’s pretty dang cool. You think back to your first game and all of the games in between, and there’s a lot of memories there. It kind of goes quick. I heard about the 100 thing a couple of games ago, and I was like, ‘Man, it feels like yesterday I was just getting back out here and getting things started.’”
Bitonio, who turns 30 on Monday, will become just the 12th player since 1999 to appear on 100 regular season games for the Browns and just the fourth to start that many behind Joe Thomas (167), Orpheus Roye (102) and Alex Mack (101).
He’ll get to hit the milestone in front of family and friends less than 25 miles from where he grew up in Long Beach, California.
“We are going to have a lot of people there — friends, family, old coaches,” Bitonio said. “I do not really know if anybody knows it, per se, but it is pretty special for me at least to be in front of them and play in front of them.”
Other than a slew of ticket requests, Bitonio won’t make a big deal of it.
We will, and should.
Through thick and thin, good and bad, Bitonio remains the model of professionalism and consistency.
“There’s a reason he’s been here for so long,” right tackle Jack Conklin said. “It’s because he’s a great player and he keeps playing at a high level. A lot of times it’s different when it’s the same coaching staff because he really knows the ins and outs of the offense. But for Joel to be able to stay here and have a different playbook over and over again, I think that’s even more impressive to see him keep playing at a high level after having all this turnover, it’s very impressive.”
As Conklin indicated, Bitonio has outlasted many regimes.
Ray Farmer drafted him, three more GMs have followed. Andy Moeller was his first position coach. Stefanski is his fifth head coach if you count Greg Williams’ eight-game stint as interim coach.
Ask him to name all the quarterbacks prior to Baker Mayfield, and well, it’s understandable that he gets tripped up.
“There’s a lot, actually,” Bitonio said. “I’m not on Joe Thomas’s level of memorizing. If I had a piece of paper, I could probably figure it out, but no, there’s quite a few there.”
Bitonio blocked for Brian Hoyer, Johnny Manziel, Conner Shaw, Josh McCown, Robert Griffin III, DeShone Kizer, Kevin Hogan, Tyrod Taylor and Mayfield. He missed out on the Cody Kessler and Austin Davis experience.
Bitonio does remember his first NFL game – a 30-27 loss to the Steelers that saw the Browns rally from 24 down at halftime to tie the game, only to lose on a 41-yard field goal as time expired.
“I was gassed,” Bitonio said. “It was a crazy environment. We ended up losing, shocker. I had all the emotions. We were getting blown out, we came back, one of the biggest comebacks in Browns' history, then we ended up losing at the buzzer.
“That atmosphere and that experience was a heckuva way to start your NFL career. I just remember sitting on the sideline and I was like, ‘I guess this is why they have oxygen.’”
Little did Bitonio know, he’d need plenty of oxygen to survive the whirlwind of turmoil that would follow in the ensuing years.
He hit a few roadblocks too.
His second and third seasons were cut short due to injury.
In 2015 Bitonio suffered an ankle injury that limited him to 10 games and the following year Bitonio ended back on IR after just five games in due to a Lisfranc injury.
“When you go through it back-to-back, that was tough,” Bitonio said. “You are thinking in your head, ‘Man, am I ever going to stay healthy?’ To me, it was not something that I was training wrong. It was something that was very unfortunate and an unlucky situation. A lot of times, injuries are like that – it's just unlucky plays.”
Then there was the losing.
Bitonio survived the worst of the worst that included a 4-44 stretch over three seasons.
Since selecting him in the second round of the 2014 NFL Draft, the Browns have gone 38-81-1, and that includes their 14-6 mark under Stefanski. In games Bitonio played, 33-61-1.
After helping the Browns end the NFL’s longest playoff drought last season, Bitonio tested positive for COVID-19 and was forced to miss Cleveland’s thrilling 48-37 playoff victory at Heinz Field. He returned the following week, a 22-17 loss to the Chiefs in the divisional round.
Lost in the longevity is the fact that Bitonio is playing some of his best football. He’s been named to the Pro Bowl each of the last three seasons and is on track for a fourth consecutive selection.
“I feel like I'm in a good place,” Bitonio said. “It really is a privilege and honor to play for as long as I have played and hope that I can continue to do that into the future. I feel really good.”
Following their 14-7 win at Minnesota, Bitonio was given a game ball.
“He is a leader of that line, there is no doubt,” offensive coordinator Alex van Pelt said. “Probably could give him one every week. He plays really well and consistent. That is the biggest thing with Joel, a really smart player and very consistent.”
There’s no better description.