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Cleveland Browns pass-rusher Myles Garrett is one of the most recognizable players in the NFL today. The first overall pick in the 2017 draft has gone on to be a three-time Pro Bowler, set a new franchise record for sacks in a season and has twice been named a first-team All-Pro selection.
In 2020, Garrett was named the Browns’ Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee.
While Garrett is on a Hall of Fame trajectory, the 26-year-old can’t be defined by his on-field performances alone. Like many other NFL players, Garrett has an intriguing variety of outside interests, some of which we’ll dive into below.
NFL Waterboys
Garrett is known for racking up sacks—he has 58.5 of them in five seasons—but fans may not know that his sacks help a good cause. Garrett is the captain of the NFL Waterboys, a charity program designed to help provide clean water to communities both in the United States and abroad.
“I am thrilled to be the Waterboys NFL captain and continue my work in ensuring that people have access to safe water,” Garrett said via the Waterboys’ official site.
Garrett took over as captain for Waterboys founder and longtime NFL pass-rusher Chris Long in 2019. This past February, Garrett helped raise further awareness for the program while participating in the NBA All-Star celebrity game.
What began as Garrett’s bet with Shaquille O’Neal led to a series of commitments from Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith—with Barkley pledging $1,000 for every point Garrett scored and Smith pledging $1,000 for every Garrett rebound during the celebrity game.
Garrett finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and a couple of crowd-stirring dunks.
“Twenty-one thousand, not bad hauling,” Garrett said, per Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal.
According to the Waterboys’ official site, the program has served 480,000 people thus far.
Dinosaurs, Dungeons and Dragons, Oh My!
When Garrett isn’t busy chasing down signal-callers, throwing down one-handers or raising money for a good cause, one might find him deep in a paleontology book or rolling some dice with friends.
Garrett’s love of dinosaurs is well-known and even led to him receiving a dinosaur-themed birthday cake last year.
“Myles Garrett is very much into dinosaurs,” Deb Rogers of Sensational Cakes and More said, per Megan Gallagher of WKYC 3News. He actually has some internet relationships with paleontologists, and he follows what they know about spinosaurus.”
Garrett has also recently become a fan of the tabletop role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons. He has a regular playgroup that also includes Browns fullback Johnny Stanton IV, Browns guard Wyatt Teller and Garrett’s girlfriend, Serra Tumay—former Browns tackle Kendall Lamm was also in the group before leaving Cleveland.
Calling themselves “the Heathens,” the group features Stanton as the Dungeon Master and provides the players with a fun and friendly off-the-field outlet.
While D&D might not seem like an obvious pastime for All-Pros like Garrett and Teller (second-team), they’re unconcerned with what non-gamers might think.
“Moments you spend together are more important than guys being like, ‘Hey, what are you doing playing friggin’ D&D?'” Teller said, per Alex Prewitt of Sports Illustrated. “Well, it’s fun. It’s different, but it’s a good time.”
What’s After Football?
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Garrett seems to have no trouble finding ways to have a good time outside of football. And that’s likely where his interests will take him when his playing career is over.
“I don’t want to be a commentator. I know that,” Garrett told Zach Frydenlund of Complex. ” … Once I’m done with football, I’m out.”
Another celebrity basketball game could be in the cards for Garrett or perhaps a career in film or television.
“I’d liked to do voiceover work with certain shows that I’ve watched, like anime,” Garrett said, per Frydenlund. “That’d be real fun. Get into movies and TV shows, and find a way to just stay busy, as well as to entertain that historical and paleontological side in my brain that wants to go do things all over the world.”
Garrett certainly has a wide variety of passions and projects outside of football, and whatever he decides to do after the NFL, it’s not going to come as a surprise.