Justin K. Aller/Getty Images Chase Claypool of the Pittsburgh Steelers catches a touchdown pass in front of Robert Jackson of the Cleveland Brown during the AFC Wild Card Playoff game at Heinz Field on January 10, 2021.
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster may have served as the instigator when he said “The Browns is the Browns” prior to last Sunday’s Browns-Steelers playoff game. But it’s Steelers rookie receiver Chase Claypool who has continued the back-and-forth dialogue with the Cleveland Browns long past the postgame. So much so that one has to wonder whether he’s crazy like a fox and trying to distract Cleveland from focusing on its next opponent—the No. 1 seeded Kansas City Chiefs.
Chase Claypool’s DAZN Interview
On Wednesday Claypool did a Zoom interview with DAZN Canada, in which he explained why he made earlier comments in which he predicted that the Browns would “get clapped” by the Chiefs.
“Not that I’m praying on them getting beat really bad, but someone had asked me for a score prediction and that was just kind of a way of me saying I think the Chiefs are going to beat the Browns,” Claypool said. “If the Browns had won with more class, then I wouldn’t have been so salty about it, but them mocking JuJu [Smith-Schuster] during the game and after the game just didn’t sit right with me.
“They were just super classless, you know against JuJu, towards JuJu what they were saying on the field towards the end of the game, so I’m not going to have respect for a team that doesn’t have respect for us,” he added.
Claypool was responding to the reaction of Browns players to his original “get clapped” prediction, including 10th-year defensive end Adrian Clayborn, who dismissively suggested that Claypool “go on vacation.”
Then there was wide receiver Jarvis Landry, who took a moment to approve of the sentiment expressed by NFL analyst (and former Steelers safety Ryan Clark).
But that didn’t prevent Claypool from reiterating his prediction that the Browns are going to lose to the Chiefs on Sunday afternoon.
“They can enjoy the win and another week of football but they’ll be right on the couch next to me, so it’s all good,” he concluded.
Sione Takitaki Tries to Shut Down the Conversation
On Thursday, second-year Browns linebacker Sione Takitaki seemed to recognize that continuing the dialogue with Claypool wasn’t a good thing for the Browns, saying, “I have nothing to say about that. I feel like the game’s over. We’re not playing those guys. We want to lock in on Kansas [City]. But obviously he’s a great player. A great player, a good kid. But, yeah, we’re locked in for Kansas. So hearing all that, we’re way past that.”
After that Claypool tried to close things out, engaging in a little revisionist history while also trying to leave things on positive note.
Perhaps we’ll hear more from Claypool on Sunday if the Chiefs knock the Browns out of the playoffs. Kickoff is on Sunday at 3:05 E.T. at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
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