Myles Garrett is one of the best defensive ends in all of football. A true monster on the field, who has already racked up over 20 sacks during his short tenure in the league, he's also one of the most unique players in the NFL. That balance is what makes Garrett stand out, not only in the NFL, but on a stacked Cleveland Browns roster featuring Baker Mayfield, Odell Beckham Jr., and more. Through it all, Garrett does things his own way.
Among what sets Garrett apart from most NFL players is his love for dinosaurs and the fact that he wants to be a paleontologist once his playing days are over. Another thing that makes Garrett stand out? His freakish ability to sack the quarterback. He's quickly become one of the most dominating players in the NFL on a team suddenly on the rise.
We had the chance to talk to Garrett about the Browns Week 1 loss to the Titans, his disappointment with the last season of Game of Thrones, and a ranking of all the Jurassic Park movies.
(This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.)
Has this season felt different from an excitement level?
Different because on paper we look good, but after the day we had [last week], we gotta put out. We gotta show that we're more than just a paper tiger. We're looking forward to showing our fans, and our city that there's 15 more games, and that we can do this.
When Andrew Luck retired, people talked about how much he had outside of football. You seem like another guy who has a lot going outside of football. How important is that to you to keep yourself grounded with things outside of the game?
It's very important. For your mental health, and for you to be able to have something for when that's over, cause you never know when it could end. So, if it's abrupt, or it's drawn out, the end of the day, you still got a lot of life to live after the game ends, and if you have nothing prepared, or set up, or leftover, then you're gonna be lost. Then you're gonna be in a bad place, and miserable, knowing that you gave up something that you thought was your everything.
I know you're big into dinosaurs, have you had an opportunity to think about your life after football? I know you said you want to be a paleontologist, but have you put more thought into that?
Yeah, I still want to do [that] for myself once I'm done. I'm a still try to work on it, trying to finish my degree in the offseason. And, then working at it. I know that it's gonna be a while til then, but it's something that I try to keep sharpening up on so I'm not a step behind, or lost when my time comes, or I'm finished playing football and it's time for another passion of mine.
If you had to rank the Jurassic Park films, what order would you go in? Can anyone beat the first one?
The first one's untouchable.
Untouchable?
Untouchable.
How would you go from there?
I'd go first one, Lost World, Jurassic World, Jurassic Park 3, and then Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom.
That's a good ranking. I feel like the second one's very underrated with fans.
It is. I mean it was generally a good movie, they do different concepts, and had some suspense, comedy. You know, just a little watered down version of the first one. They could of done more with what they had, but I enjoyed it.
Going into the Monday night game do you have to re-shift focus coming off the loss?
Take losses, big or small, they all hurt the same, you just gotta move onto the next team. We've been playing football most of our lives, and I tell the fellas that you take a loss then you on to the next one. You can't really hold on to that last win or loss, or then you're not prepared for what's coming ahead of you, so now you're already a step behind. Once you're behind, it's hard to catch back up, as we've seen. There's too many teams who are too well prepared, with a lot of talented players, for you to not be focused on them. When that one's done, on to the next one.
You're obviously going against Gregg Williams, who is your former interim head coach and former defensive coordinator on Monday. Does that add anything to the game?
I'll make sure I try to find him after the game. Other than that, it's just another game for us.
Are you finding yourself trying to block out the chatter right now?
We block out the chatter whether we won or we lost. It didn't matter the outcome.
Any TV you're really into right now? I know you were a big Parks & Recs fan.
Stranger Things.
Stranger Things. That's your No. 1 right now?
No. 1. Game of Thrones went and let me down for a season and a half, but Stranger Things, unanimous right now.
What did you think of the final season of Game of Thrones?
It was terrible.
Terrible.
It was terrible. You can't really try and speak for it, or defend it, it was just bad.
