Browns David Njoku Discusses Rocky Start To Relationship With Kevin Stefanski
Life is good for David Njoku following a career year with the Cleveland Browns.
Named a Pro Bowler for the first time in his career, Njoku posted career highs in receptions (81), yards (882) and touchdowns (six) during the 2023 campaign. He also was the top tight end in football in terms of yards after catch, registering 599 such yards.
The truth is though, it hasn't always been rainbows and butterflies for the 2017 first-round pick. In fact, as he discussed on Up and Adams with Kay Adams this week, when head coach Kevin Stefanski arrived in 2020 the two weren't on the same page initially, leading to a rough start to their time together in Cleveland and his infamous trade request.
"Our relationship is night and day from when he first got here," Njoku said. "Obviously his first year I was trying to leave and it was a bunch of turmoil, a bunch of dramatic things that wasn't really necessary at the time. But I felt like it needed to happen to build our relationship as strong as it is now.
"I mean, it's like a 180. I had my exit interview with him a couple days ago and that was the first thing we talked about was how crazy this all transpired. It's really, like a beautiful story, but the story's not finished yet."
Njoku has opened up about his desire to be traded early on in Stefanski's tenure before, sighting the team's signing of Austin Hooper as one of the biggest factors in wanting to go elsewhere. But Stefanski and company stuck to their guns and held onto Njoku. It's clearly paid dividends as the 27-year-old realized his full potential in 2023.
That was another thing the Miami product discussed with Adams, calling this past season the most meaningful of his career.
"After this last game, I kind of just like, not fell off but just like took a step back from my phone, you know social media and everything," he explained, "because this season probably meant most than past seasons. Especially with everything that happened, you know, from my personal things that happened with my face, to the injuries and everything that transpired; the adversity that we had this year was like no other. ... this one hurt because I almost felt like this wasn't how it was supposed to end, but that's the beauty of it."
Of course the personal things Njoku referenced were the incident at his house where he burned his hands and face just days before a Week 4 meeting with the Ravens. The situation gave Njoku a different perspective on life, even speaking out about his experience to other burn survivors.
While Njoku's early years in Northeast Ohio may not have been what he expected, he'll enter year eight with the franchise next fall as a core member of the team, looking to build on a career year and take the Browns on a deeper playoff run.
