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Myles Garrett Wants to Spoil Baltimore Ravens' Birthday Party

The Ravens will be celebrating their 30th season since the franchise relocated from Cleveland to Baltimore and was rebranded.
Garrett is well aware of just how heavily favored the Ravens are.
Garrett is well aware of just how heavily favored the Ravens are. | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

On Sunday, the Ravens will celebrate the franchise's 30th season since former longtime owner Art Modell moved the original Browns from Cleveland to Baltimore ahead of the 1996 season. The catch? The Ravens are celebrating this monumental moment against the current Browns, whose fans were hurt by the move, which deprived them of a football team until Cleveland returned as an expansion team in 1999.

And Browns star defensive end Myles Garrett wants to spoil this Ravens birthday party of sorts.

"I mean, [I] wanna go down there and play spoiler, that's about it," Garrett said when asked if such a celebration adds any motivation.

Garrett said he does empathize with Browns fans who are still angry about the move years later.

"That's usually an older crowd than I hang out with," Garrett said. "But I do hear it every now and then when I go to get gas. So yeah, I do understand the feelings and the motives behind people's dislike of them [the Ravens]. And I'm one with the city. I try to carry that on my back when we go in there or they come to our place."

Adding more fuel to the fire is the fact that the Ravens are heavily favored over Cleveland. And that is not lost on Garrett. The four-time All-Pro defensive end corrected a reporter who said the Browns were 11.5-point underdogs, noting that he thought it was 12.5 points, "the last I checked."

And while the Browns seemingly have some added motivation, they haven't been shy about providing Baltimore with bulletin board material as well. Browns wide receiver Jerry Jeudy, when asked what challenges the Ravens secondary presents, responded by saying they present "no challenges." Browns safety Grant Delpit, in a similarly bold vein, said it was "not hard" to tackle All-Pro Ravens running back Derrick Henry.

At the very least, one can bet it will be an emotionally-charged game between two bitter division rivals. Ravens-Browns kicks off at 1:00 p.m. ET on Sunday.


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Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer for Sports Illustrated, primarily covering MLB, college football and college basketball. Before joining SI in November 2023, Capurso worked at RotoBaller and ClutchPoints and is a graduate of Assumption University. When he's not working, he can be found at the gym, reading a book or enjoying a good hike. A resident of New York, Capurso openly wonders if the Giants will ever be a winning football team again.