Nick Chubb pens inspiring message to Browns fans ahead of season debut

Cleveland Browns RB Nick Chubb is planning to "pay ya back."

That was his message in a letter penned for The Player's Tribune on the Wednesday ahead of Week 7, where he is expected to make his season debut and play for the first time since a catastrophic knee injury took him down at the start of last season.

The title of the letter, "Cleveland Got My Back," is a perfect ode to an unwavering fan base clamoring for something or someone to root for this season. With a 1-5 team and a mid-season blockbuster trade that has sent Amari Cooper packing to the Buffalo Bills, Chubb is returning to a team with very different expectations than the one he left in 2023.

"That really meant the world to me. Look, I know the deal. I had no guaranteed money left. The Browns had all the leverage. They could’ve left me high and dry, like so many guys in this league. But they had my back. You all had my back.

"

- Nick Chubb

Cleveland could really use an injection of Chubb's motivation and positivity, especially on offense. Since last week, it feels like the team is moving in slow motion, going through postgame press availabilities with the same mantras and same words of encouragement that are starting to feel rehearsed. Chubb, with this letter, offers some genuine heart about this team and the city of Cleveland that is hard to find on this offense this season.

Chubb's football journey out of college was marked by another knee injury that could have been career ending. While with the Georgia Bulldogs, he found himself getting "get well soon" messages from 100 or so people, which Chubb explains was an anomaly as he was in college and not that popular yet.

He says in the letter that the college injury prepared him for the reality laying ahead of him after his 2023 injury. He knew he was no longer the young gun that could recover quickly from a blow to the knee - he knew it was serious, but he was determined to get back on the field to keep supporting not just the fans, but his family, as well.

"But I can’t lie to you. At that moment, I was thinking that I had probably played my last NFL down. "

- Nick Chubb

Chubb mentions in the letter just how scared he was of going to a team that, by the time he was drafted, had just gone 0-16. But, he was motivated to become the best running back in the league with the Browns, and he has gotten very close to that throughout his career in The Land. In 2022, he tallied 1,525 rushing yards, and he was already at 170 rushing yards through two games with Cleveland in 2023 before his injury. That would have had him on pace to have over 1,400 rushing yards and likely transformed the Browns offense in the team's lone postseason game.

At the end of the letter, Chubb says "That’s enough talking for me. There’s only one thing left to do now. I gotta pay ya back." If Chubb looks anything even remotely close to the star he was prior to his knee injury, he will be able to pay Browns fans back for suffering through this abysmal start and then some. He will give them something to root for each week, and that is already an improvement upon what the team has to offer on offense now.