Nick Chubb Back Where He Belongs: Browns Legend Returns to Cleveland to Retire
There was never much flash with Nick Chubb.
No elaborate touchdown celebrations. No need to command the microphone. No interest in making himself bigger than the name stitched across the front of his jersey.
Chubb simply took the football, found daylight and ran — usually through somebody along the way.
Today, one of the most respected players to wear a Cleveland Browns uniform returned to Berea for one final piece of business. Chubb signed a one-day contract with Cleveland, allowing him to officially retire with the organization that drafted him and the city that embraced him for the better part of a decade. (Cleveland Browns)
It is a ceremonial transaction on paper. In Cleveland, it means considerably more.
From Georgia to Cleveland
Long before the chants of “CHUBB” rolled through the Dawg Pound, they were coming from Saturdays in Athens.
A native of Cedartown, Georgia, Chubb arrived at the University of Georgia and quickly developed into one of the most productive running backs in program history. Across four seasons with the Bulldogs, he rushed for 4,769 yards and 44 touchdowns, finishing his college career second on Georgia’s all-time rushing list. He recorded 24 games with at least 100 rushing yards and surpassed 200 yards three times. (Cleveland Browns)
But Chubb’s college career also provided the first major test of the resilience that would eventually define him.
A devastating knee injury during the 2015 season threatened his future. Instead, Chubb worked his way back onto the field, eventually closing his Georgia career with 1,345 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns as a senior in 2017. (Cleveland Browns)
Cleveland was paying attention.
The Browns selected Chubb with the 35th overall pick in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft.
It didn’t take long for Cleveland to understand what it had.
No. 24 Becomes a Cleveland Staple
Three carries.
That’s all Chubb needed against the Oakland Raiders in Week 4 of his rookie season.
He turned those three opportunities into 105 yards and two touchdowns, including a 63-yard score. Later that season against Atlanta, Chubb ripped off a 92-yard touchdown run — still the longest rushing touchdown in Browns history. (Cleveland Browns)
From there, No. 24 became one of the few constants during another unpredictable stretch of Browns football.
Quarterbacks changed. Coaches changed. Expectations rose, disappeared and rose again.
Chubb kept running.
He put together four consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons from 2019 through 2022, culminating with the finest statistical season of his NFL career: 1,525 rushing yards in 2022. He earned four Pro Bowl selections along the way. (Cleveland Browns)
His place in Browns history is secure.
Chubb leaves Cleveland third on the franchise’s all-time rushing list with 6,843 yards, trailing only Hall of Famers Jim Brown and Leroy Kelly. His 51 rushing touchdowns rank third in franchise history, while his 30 games of at least 100 rushing yards rank second. (Cleveland Browns)
Those numbers tell you how good Nick Chubb was.
They don’t completely explain why Cleveland loved him.
One play might do that better.
Against Houston in 2020, Chubb broke free for what could have been a 59-yard touchdown. Instead of padding his statistics, he deliberately stepped out of bounds at the 3-yard line, allowing Cleveland to kneel out the remaining time and secure the victory.
Touchdown available. Game already won.
Chubb chose the latter. (Cleveland Browns)
That was Nick Chubb.
The Run That Changed Everything
For years, watching Chubb run became almost routine.
The patience behind the line. The sudden cut. The balance through contact. And once he reached the second level, the surprising speed that could turn an ordinary rushing attempt into six points before a defense realized what had happened.
Then came Pittsburgh.
In Week 2 of the 2023 season, Chubb suffered a catastrophic injury to the same left knee he had injured at Georgia. It required two surgeries, repairing damage that included his MCL, medial capsule, meniscus and ACL. (Cleveland Browns)
For most players, getting back onto an NFL field after an injury like that would have been the story.
Chubb actually did it.
More than a year later, he returned against Cincinnati in October 2024. He played eight games during his comeback season before a broken foot brought it to an early end. (Cleveland Browns)
Cleveland and Chubb eventually went separate ways. He signed with Houston for the 2025 season, rushing for 506 yards and three touchdowns before announcing his retirement in August 2026. He finishes his NFL career with 7,349 rushing yards, 54 rushing touchdowns and exactly 100 games played. (Yahoo Sports)
But there was still one thing left to do.
Come home.
Forever a Brown
Chubb could have simply retired.
Instead, he chose Cleveland.
“I love Cleveland. It’s a second home to me,” Chubb said as he returned to the Browns. “The decision to retire a Brown was an easy one.” (Cleveland Browns)
There is something fitting about that.
For a franchise with no shortage of complicated chapters over the last several decades, Nick Chubb was remarkably uncomplicated.
Give him the ball.
Watch him work.
For seven seasons, Cleveland watched one of the NFL’s premier running backs build a career that now places his name alongside some of the greatest players the Browns have ever had. And even after his year in Houston, there was never much question which colors belonged at the end of his story.
Brown and orange.
Chubb will be back in front of the Cleveland crowd Sunday for the Browns’ home opener against Carolina, where he is scheduled to serve as Dawg Pound captain and smash the guitar before kickoff. (BrownsZone with Scott Petrak -)
One last roar from a crowd that spent years chanting his name.
One final goodbye for No. 24.
Nick Chubb came to Cleveland as a second-round running back from Georgia.
He leaves as something much harder to become.
A Cleveland Brown for life.
