BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Joel Bitonio had a good idea in January that he would be retiring after 12 seasons with the Cleveland Browns.
On Tuesday, it was time for the offensive lineman to make it official.
“This place is so special that it was hard to truly say goodbye. I’m so glad I got to learn and be a Cleveland Brown my entire career,” Bitonio said during a news conference after he announced his retirement via the team website earlier in the day.
The 34-year-old Bitonio reminisced about his career and future plans while his wife, Courtney, and three children looked on. The announcement also came on the day the Browns opened their three-day mandatory minicamp.
Bitonio played his entire career in Cleveland after he was selected in the second round (35th) of the 2014 draft. He was a stalwart at left guard and emerged as the leader of the offensive line when Hall of Fame left tackle Joe Thomas retired after the 2017 season.
Bitonio’s 178 games — all starts — are ninth in franchise history. He has made the most starts in orange and brown since the franchise’s return to Cleveland in 1999.
“He was a model of consistency. I hardly ever remember Joel having a bad game,” owner Jimmy Haslam said. “He did what I think you ask everybody to do in any organization, and that is come to work, work hard, do your job, be a good team player, go home, spend time with your family, and come back and do it again, and he did that for 12 years.”
Even though Bitonio was still coming into the facility to rehab from offseason elbow surgery, there wasn’t any rush to make the retirement announcement until Bitonio felt like the time was right.
“We signed like three interior linemen on the first day of free agency, so that was kind of like me and AB (general manager Andrew Berry) had already discussed that I was going to retire and I was finishing up my career,” said Bitonio, a two-time All-Pro pick and selected seven times for the Pro Bowl. “I know my agent talked to a bunch of teams during the combine, and people asked if I was interested in continuing to play, but there never got anything where I was telling people I wanted to play for another team.”
The highlights of Bitonio’s career were being part of two playoff squads in 2020 and ’23. He missed the AFC wild-card game in Pittsburgh in January 2021 due to COVID-19. Cleveland’s 48-37 victory over the Steelers was their first playoff win since the 1994 season.
Bitonio had to watch the game at home.
“My neighborhood knew I was at home, and they started lighting off fireworks after the game, and they threw a little parade down the street. So it was an unbelievable experience because we got the win. I think it would have been heart-wrenching if you’re sitting there and the team loses,” he said.
Bitonio also had a front-row seat to the Browns’ fruitless quest to find a franchise quarterback. He was on the offensive line for 23 different quarterbacks, including 22 who made at least one start.
He was also the only Browns’ lineman to start and play all 17 games last season. Cleveland started 10 different line combinations last season because of injuries.
The Browns have made steady progress in rebuilding the offensive line. They drafted left tackle Spencer Fano with the ninth pick. They also signed left guard Zion Johnson and center/guard Elgton Jenkins while acquiring right tackle Tytus Howard from Houston.
The lone holdover from last season might be Teven Jenkins, who played all 17 games, including four starts at right guard.
“I think I was telling my wife the other day, it still kind of feels like an offseason right now. I’ve still been working out. I’m obviously not training as much, not at minicamp right now, but I think when training camp starts is going to be the real moment like, ‘OK, I’m retired from this,’ because that’s when everything really cranks up,” Bitonio said.
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FILE - Cleveland Browns guard Joel Bitonio (75) walks off the field before an NFL football game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean, File)
Adam Scott doesn't feel any differently now than eight years ago when he was 30 feet and two putts away from securing a spot in the U.S. Open at a grueling 36-hole qualifier. He got it done and extended his streak to 17 years in a row playing all the majors.
It was gratifying, yes, but not what he was chasing.
“I am playing all these majors to win them, not just to show up,” Scott said on that humid Ohio evening in 2018.
Nothing has changed except the number, and it's one worth celebrating. When the 45-year-old Australian tees off Thursday in the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, it will be his 100th consecutive major.
Jack Nicklaus is the only other player to reach 100 majors in a row, topping out at 146 straight, a record as untouchable as any in sport. Scott simply getting to 100 feels out of reach.
Jordan Spieth is next among active players at 52.
“And then you think of doubling that, and it's insane,” Spieth said. “It's not only playing at a high level, it's taking care of yourself the right way, it's the longevity of a sport that most people ... almost every single person you think of that could have reached 100 missed it because of an injury.”
It happened early for Tiger Woods — 46 in a row until reconstructive knee surgery after he won the 2008 U.S. Open — and for Rory McIlroy, who would be playing 70 in a row next week except for a freak ankle injury playing soccer that knocked him out of the 2015 British Open.
Tom Watson was at 87 in a row when he hurt his left shoulder preparing for the 1996 British Open. Sergio Garcia's streak stopped at 84 when he tested positive for COVID-19 at the 2020 Masters.
Scott avoided all that.
“For nothing to go wrong? It's so easy to miss golf tournaments,” Scottie Scheffler said. “You can get sick. You name it. Something is going to happen. One hundred in a row? It's insane.”
Scott's streak began at the 2001 British Open, and there has been a few close calls. He slammed his right hand in the door of his car before the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines and still played, finishing in a tie for 26th.
And then there was 2024, the last time he played a U.S. Open qualifier. He lost in a playoff for the final spot and was first alternate. Scott fell to No. 61 in the world the following week — the top 60 were exempt — but a week earlier, Grayson Murray had taken his life.
World ranking officials, consistent with what they had done when Payne Stewart died, kept Murray in the ranking for four weeks. The USGA removed Murray from consideration — he was No. 59 — and Scott moved up a spot to No. 60 to get in the Open.
Scott goes to his 100th consecutive major looking for a trophy, not a tribute. Even so, he appreciates what he's done to get there.
“It's not something you set out to do, obviously,” Scott said. "I take a lot of pride in my game and everything I put into it. The fact that Jack is the only other one to pass 100 ... and he’s way up there. I told him he didn’t have to worry about that.
“I’m proud of that achievement," he said. ”I would love for my record to be a little better than it is. There’s still a little time."
Scott has won 29 times around the world, including the Masters in 2013. He has reached No. 1 in the world. And now he has a feat that might be equally impressive.
“Absolutely incredible,” McIlroy said. “To even just play 100 majors throughout your career is an amazing achievement, but to play 100 in a row? I just think about the level that you need to be at and no injuries. There's a lot of things that need to fall in line — births of children that fall on those weeks, all that sort of stuff.”
Nick Faldo played 65 in a row, a streak that ended in 2003 with the birth of his daughter.
“To be prepared and be able to play and stay healthy so you can play is quite an achievement,” Nicklaus said.
Nicklaus played the 1962 Masters and didn't miss a major until sitting out the 1998 British Open. He can't think of a time he nearly missed a major. Nicklaus chalked that up to good health, and that's one thing to which Scott can relate.
“Adam is physically gifted as an athlete,” said Justin Rose, who played 48 in a row until he hurt his back during a practice round at the 2022 British Open and had to withdraw.
“He's very limber, strong, the kind of guy who just rocks up to the driving range," Rose said. “You don't see him spending tons of time in the gym warming up. And he swings it so well, he doesn't put a ton of stress on his body."
Scheffler uses the same trainer as Scott and shared a story of when Scott was going to try a dead lift. The Australian started arching his back instead of using his legs, and by the time trainers rushed in to stop him, Scott completed the lift.
“He should have broken his back. I would have been out for a year," Scheffler said. “He's hyperflexible, hypermobile. Very few people are built like that.”
As much as Scott would love to win at Shinnecock Hills — he set the course record in 2013 playing with members, but he has missed the cut there twice in the U.S. Open — he still acknowledges the feat of being in a class only the great Nicklaus occupies.
Scott doubts many more — if any — will be joining them. The modern game is about power, and bodies are breaking down.
“An extreme example I would use is Tiger,” Scott said. "He pushed extremely hard and got to 14 majors really quick and then it all broke down a little bit and he couldn't quite get to the record (18 majors) we all thought he was going to cruise past.
“Relative for everybody else, if they’re going to push themselves really hard, can they keep it together for these long careers we are kind of used to seeing in the game?”
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
J.T. Poston poses with the trophy and Jack Nicklaus after winning the Memorial golf tournament, Sunday, June 7, 2026, in Dublin, Ohio. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Adam Scott, of Australia, hits out of a bunker on the 18th hole during the first round of the Memorial golf tournament in Dublin, Ohio, Thursday, June 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
