3 former Cleveland Browns stars you forgot played for another franchise

There's not much in sports fandom that can be more jarring than seeing one of your favorite players suddenly in a different uniform. For the Cleveland Browns, there were a few instances of this happening lately, including Joe Haden putting on a Pittsburgh Steelers uniform.

While we thankfully never had to see Joe Thomas wear anything other than the orange and brown, there have been some huge stars that finished their careers outside of Northeast Ohio. Here are three such players that some might have forgotten decided to continue their careers elsewhere after leavingthe Dawg Pound.

3. Clay Matthews: Atlanta Falcons

A member of one of the NFL's royal families, Clay Matthews, Jr. is a semifinalist for the 2024 Pro Football Hall of Fame. His brother Bruce Matthews, a long-time NFL offensive lineman, is already enshrined and it wouldn't be crazy to think Clay Matthews III could have an outside shot of making it as well.

Matthews, Jr. is known best for his 16-year run with the Browns which ran from 1978 through 1993. He was there during the days of the 'Kardiac Kids' and nearly played with the franchise up until Art Modell moved them away.

What he's not as famous for was the final three years of his career, which were spent with the Atlanta Falcons. Despite being in his late 30s, Matthews still had a lot in the tank and even racked up 90 tackes for the Dirty Birds in 1994.

He played until the age of 40 and even had 6.5 sacks in a reserve role for Atlanta in his final season.

Even with the success he had with the Falcons, it's odd to see him in their uniforms since he's always been considered a fixture with the Cleveland Browns and is their all-time leading tackler with 1,430 in his career.