CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – When the Browns signed Kareem Hunt in February 2019, they gave him a second chance in the NFL.
Some 17 months later, it is Hunt who is doing his part to give his hometown team a new lease of life.
Cleveland leads the AFC Wild Card race at 9-3 and has fans buzzing about the team’s potential for the first time in years.
“They have seen a lot of losing before and so have I,” Hunt said Wednesday. “We still have a lot to prove.”
It is the best record through 12 games for the franchise since 1994 and the Titans victory secured just the third winning season since the team returned in 1999.
“Being born and raised here, it is huge,” Hunt said. “Everybody is happy. I have never seen it growing up. To be a part of it means so much to me. I definitely want to just keep rolling and keep winning. It is fun winning. That is the biggest thing.”
The Browns are coming off their most impressive victory of the season – a 41-35 thriller at Tennessee that saw them score on their first five possessions, quarterback Baker Mayfield throw four first half touchdowns and build a 31-point lead.
Aside from a traffic stop for speeding in January, Hunt, who served an eight-game suspension last season for violence related off the field transgressions, has been on his best behavior and has worked to repair his image.
Hunt, who has 739 yards rushing to go with 175 more yards receiving and 8 touchdowns combined this season, is also helping the Browns, once the doormat and laughingstock of professional sports after losing 50 of 55 games between 2014-2018, return to contention.
“I have been a part of some winning programs so I know what winning looks like,” Hunt said. “It is nice to see us putting it together, click and seeing it really develop.”
Hunt and Nick Chubb are the only running back duo in the league with at least 700 yards on the ground and they’re trying to become the first Browns duo since Kevin Mack and Earnest Byner in 1985 to rush for 1,000 yards each in the same season.
“Kareem is an awesome back. He is incredible,” Chubb said. “He can do a lot of things that I probably can’t do to be honest. I was not sure what was going to happen and how it was going to be when he came in. I knew I had eight games on him to prove that I could do something, too. I am glad how things are now. I am glad that we are working together, and I am glad that he is on the team. I would not want it any other way.”
Hunt has done something few have or are able to – get Chubb, who is reserved and doesn’t say much, to smile, talk and even laugh.
“He is funny, and he is a cool guy to be around,” Chubb said. “He makes you laugh about everything. On the field, too, he is just great in every way. He is just a nice person to be around.”
With four games to play, the Browns are on the verge of securing their first playoff berth in 18 years.
Their next two games will be in prime time – against the 6-5 Ravens on Monday Night Football and then the New York Giants, who are tied with Washington atop the NFC East despite their 5-7 record, in Week 15 on Sunday Night Football.
“We have just been finding ways to win,” Hunt said. “That is what you have to do to be a good team, no matter what. Every game is not going to be perfect. There are going to be some bad plays and some mistakes made out there, but if we find a way to win at the end of the day, it is a positive.”
The Steelers loss to the Washington Football Team in Pittsburgh cracked the door slightly for the Browns in the AFC North race, but a Pittsburgh win this week and a Browns loss to the Ravens Monday night would slam it shut.
“We still have to take care of business so I am not really excited,” Hunt said. “I am more worried about us and worried about us going out there and taking care of business the next game.”
