Browns QB Jacoby Brissett honored with Good Guy Award

Cleveland Browns quarterback Jacoby Brissett was honored this week as the recipient of the Dino Lucarelli Good Guy Award for 2022.

The award has been presented annually since 2001 by the local chapter of the Pro Football Writers of America in recognition of a player’s “cooperation with the media and for the way the player carries himself in the community and with his teammates,” according to clevelandbrowns.com.

The Browns signed Brissett as a free agent this past March as a veteran insurance policy for the impending suspension of quarterback Deshaun Watson for violating the league’s Personal Conduct Policy.

Brissett would end up starting the first 11 games of the season and completed a career-best 64.1 percent of his passes while leading the Browns to 23 or more points in eight of his 11 starts. He also posted a QB rating of 98 or higher in five of his starts.

Even though he returned to the backup role for the season’s final six games, Brissett has remained engaged with his teammates, as he told the team’s website:

“Just trying to be a good person and be there for guys. I found that I’ve talked to more guys than I have went up to. They’ve come to talk to me and things of that nature, and since I haven’t been playing and have been mingling around more, my relationship with guys have gotten stronger.

“I’ve learned a lot about myself and this game. I’m excited for what the future holds, but I’m excited I got to do this experience.”

For those who still believe that “QB wins” is an actual statistic, the Browns only going 4-7 with Brissett will relegate him to just another name on the list of quarterbacks the team has employed since returning to the NFL in 1999.

But for those who have graduated past that elementary level of thinking, they saw Brissett bring a level of professionalism and a calming influence to the position, one the team has been lacking from many of the quarterbacks that preceded him in Cleveland.

After the season, Brissett will be a free agent, so Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers might be his last with the Browns.

And while the season may not have played out with a playoff run, Brissett’s time with the Browns is one that still made an impact, both on and off the field.