CLEVELAND — This offseason, Browns safety Rodney McLeod made a decision. After the 2024 season, he would be hanging up his cleats and entering retirement from the NFL. While this last season hasn't quite gone the way he'd hoped or expected, McLeod is full of love and gratitude as he enters the final game of the season and the final game of his career.
McLeod has been playing football since he was six years old. Each year he played, his passion grew. He played collegiality and showed grit and determination as he signed with the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2012—earning his spot in the league and never easing on his commitment to his craft.
It was a journey that saw him fight for a roster spot, move into a starting role, develop into a talented player who earned top dollar for his value in the defensive backfield—and, in 2018, win a Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles. He's played for four teams over the years, including the Indianapolis Colts and now the Cleveland Browns.
But having accomplished so much and having played 12, now 13, seasons, McLeod decided that he would retire at the end of the season, looking to spend more time with his family, especially his wife Erika and their 7-month-old baby girl Zaia.
As Rodney McLeod entered his second year with the Browns, it also marked what he had decided to be his last year in the NFL.
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Now, McLeod had high hopes for his last season. He had some individual stats he hoped to achieve. He envisioned a Super Bowl run. The Browns are entering the final game of the season with a disappointing 3-13 record, going against the high-powered Baltimore Ravens on the road, a team that is playing for the division title while the Browns are starting their QB3 in Bailey Zappe while numerous starters are sidelined with injuries.
That, however, hasn't detracted from McLeod's experience. He's recorded two touchdowns this season and led the Browns in that category offensively and defensively for several weeks into the season. He's played well this season, but more importantly, he's been a glue guy for the Browns locker room amid all of the adversity of the year.
“He’s meant a lot to this organization, to the city, he’s meant a lot to me personally. I’ve coached Rod seven years now. Seven of his 13 or 14, whatever it’s been for him. He’s a guy that everybody in the locker room looks up to because he’s a consummate pro, but he also backs that up with quality play on the field," said defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. "He’s been an inspiration for a lot of people, but he’s been a great example for the young guys on our team and we owe it to Rod to be able to come out and make his last game a successful one, come out with a win. That would be a big thing for us to win on the road at Baltimore.”
The coaches within the Browns organization love McLeod. They love his knowledge of the game and work ethic to make that knowledge translate to the field. They love his positivity and the way he leads guys around him.
“He’s a pros pro. He’s a joy to coach. He brings it every single day. He’s a tremendous leader. And all the superlatives that I say about him as a football player, he’s a better person. He’s a new dad, so if he looks tired, that’s what that is. But great person. Has played great for us. So, I’m a big Rod McLeod fan," said Head Coach Kevin Stefanski.
That leadership translates to locker-room relationships, and McLeod's are strong.
Ask around the locker room for guys to describe McLeod, and the words all share a similar theme.
"Consistent," said defensive end Ogbo Okoronkwo.
"A leader," said wide receiver Jerry Jeudy. "Somebody that you can count on, that's going to be there when you need him."
"Philosophical," said fellow safety Grant Delpit, who smiled when he eyed McLeod walking towards him in the locker room.
The dynamic between McLeod and many of his teammates is one full of love and respect. When Delpit saw McLeod, he immediately called him over to talk highly of him in earshot.
"OG, Rodney, why don't you come over here, if you would! She asked me what you mean to me these past couple years, man," Delpit said to McLeod directly. "I said 'He's taught me a couple things.' No, but respect to the OG man, all the young bulls, you want to be like him. This is a man who comes in the building every day, is the same guy every day. He lifts the spirits, the intellectual level of his peers around him, makes everybody better. Shout out to Rodney McLeod man, respect."
The relationships McLeod has forged with the Browns begin with football, but in his two seasons in Cleveland, they developed into so much more.
Okoronkwo shared the story of his relationship with McLeod, one that he values deeply. Holding McLeod's practice jersey after Thursday's session, McLeod's final NFL practice, Okoronkwo praised McLeod on and off the field.
"Rodney is just the epitome of a pro. He's just a leader, he's a friend, he's a great teammate. Fun fact, when my baby boy turned one this year, Rod was one of two teammates to get him a gift. Rod, he does things he doesn't have to do. He's just a really good guy, really good football player, greater person," Okoronkwo said. "Love Rod to death."
After McLeod's final practice, the defense gathered with him inside the fieldhouse as Schwartz gave a speech to honor the moment. They were going to do something to recognize McLeod one more time before his final game.
"Rod has walked off the practice field about 2,00 times. Today he's not going to walk off, we're going to carry him off," the defensive coordinator told his unit.
And just like that, McLeod was hoisted on the shoulders of his defensive teammates. They carried the 13-year veteran safety off the field and into a surprise. A toss into the pool. Like a rowdy group of brothers celebrating their own. Like a family.
Through the highs and lows of his time with the Browns, McLeod has remained steadfast in his positivity. Despite the season going sideways in a way he could have never imagined, it didn't sway his desire to call it a career.
He's looking forward to spending that time with his family and is excited for the next chapter. Perhaps it's life in sports media. Perhaps it's another avenue. Whatever it is, McLeod is ready for it.
McLeod is hopeful that the Browns will find more success next season than they were able to this year. He believes the defense is a solid core that should be kept intact, McLeod a missing piece they'll have to fill, but a solid unit nonetheless.
To the young guys, McLeod is leaving some words of wisdom and lessons he gathered throughout his journey to and within the NFL.
"It's always being ready for your moment and seize the moments that are presented to you. I think I am a perfect example of that. Coming in undrafted and not necessarily knowing if tomorrow existed for me and just putting it all on the line, then presented with a moment for me to showcase my abilities and show my worth and I took full advantage of that," McLeod said. "So that's really my message to everyone and honestly, just always have that chip on your shoulder. It is a tough league, it's a tough business knowing that every single year people want your seat and you got to earn it, you keep it. And so you got to have that mindset. You reinvent yourself every single year that you step foot inside these doors because it's a humbling league. So those are just some words of wisdom that I can leave with a few guys."
There's no question those lessons have been imparted on many in the Browns locker room over the past two years. It's a locker room that adores McLeod, and after he walks off the field on Saturday in Baltimore for the last time ever, it's a locker room that will miss McLeod greatly.
And McLeod expects to miss the locker room just as much.
"I think for a lot of my fellow OGs, that's what they say they miss the most—and I think it'll hold true for me—just those locker room moments, the things that people don't see, I think is what I'll cherish the most and hold close to my heart," McLeod said.
