Countdown to 2020: Best Browns player to wear No. 98

The Cleveland Browns have a rich and illustrious history. With only 98 days until the Browns season opener, we look at the best Browns player to ever wear No. 98.

The countdown to the 2020 NFL season is upon us. With 98 days remaining until the Browns season opener, we continue the countdown by celebrating the best Cleveland Browns player to ever wear number 98 — Anthony Pleasant.

Anthony Pleasant was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the third round of the 1990 NFL draft out of Tennessee State. Although not a day one starter, Pleasant made an impact as a rookie starting seven games and registering 50 combined tackles with three and a half sacks and a forced fumble.

When Bill Belichick arrived as the new head coach in Cleveland in 1991, he recognized what he had in Pleasant. At 6-foot-5 and 280 lbs., Pleasant played with excellent leverage and a high motor.

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Belichick made Pleasant one of his bookends alongside left defensive end Rob Burnett. From there Belichick was able to build the defense he desired.

By Pleasant’s third year in the league, he had cemented himself as the Browns right defensive end on a permanent basis. While their record didn’t reflect it, the Browns had quietly built a defensive front that was one of the most formidable in the NFL. Pleasant’s ability to set the edge was a large reason for the defense’s improvement.

In 1993, Pleasant enjoyed his best year in the NFL. The defensive end racked up 11 sacks, which tied him for sixth-most on the Browns single-season sack list, along with 66 combined tackles a forced fumble and a safety.

Pleasant was also a major contributor to a Browns defense that surrendered only 204 points during the entire 1994 regular season, which led the NFL and is still a team record. The following season, Pleasant racked up another eight sacks and led the entire NFL in forced fumbles with six. Pleasant, along with the rest of the team, would be forced to unceremoniously leave the city of Cleveland after the 1995 season.

Pleasant spent six seasons as a member of the Cleveland Browns. During his time in Cleveland he racked 297 combined tackles and 33.5 sacks. He bounced around the league for five seasons after leaving Cleveland until Belichick was named head coach of the New England Patriots.

Belichick put Pleasant back at defensive end, and he was a key contributor to the Superbowl winning 2001 Patriots and was still on the roster when the Patriots won their second ring in 2003.

Another notable number 98 in Browns’ history: Superfan John ‘Big Dawg’ Thompson.