Selected by the Cleveland Browns in the first round (1st overall) of the 2017 NFL Draft.
· 2023 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, the first Brown to win the award.
· Six-time Pro Bowl selection (2018, 2020-24), including starting honors from 2020-24. Owns the most Pro Bowl selections by a Browns defensive player and tied for the fifth-most in team history.
· Six-time All-Pro, earning first team honors in 2020, 2021, 2023 and 2024.
· Named to the PFWA All-NFL team from 2020-24, the only NFL player to make the team each of the past five seasons. Also named to the 2017 PFWA All-Rookie team.
· 2020 Browns Walter Payton Man of the Year.
· 2020 AFC Defensive Player of the Month of October.
· Named AFC Defensive Player of the Week in Week 4 in 2020, Week 3 in 2021, Week 7 in 2023 and Week 12 in 2024.
· Voted the 2021 PFWA Dino Lucarelli Good Guy.
· 2017 Browns Maurice Bassett Award winner, given to team's most outstanding rookie during training camp.
· Signed a contract extension with the Browns in 2025 that carries through the 2030 season.
· Set Browns single-season record with 16 sacks in 2021 and tied the mark in 2022.
· Is the only player in NFL history to record at least 14 sacks in four consecutive seasons (2021-24).
· Is the only NFL player with at least 10 sacks in each of the past seven seasons. Is the only Brown with multiple double-digit sack seasons.
· Joined Reggie White, John Randle, DeMarcus Ware, Jared Allen, Bruce Smith, Lawrence Taylor as the only NFL players to record seven straight 10-sack seasons. The other seven players are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
· Holds Browns record for career sacks (102.5), officially setting the mark with two sacks against the Patriots on Oct. 16, 2022, surpassing Clay Matthews Jr. (62.0).
· Became the first NFL player to record 100 career sacks before his 29th birthday.
· Led the NFL in 2024 with 22 tackles for a loss and finished second in the league with 14 sacks.
· Helped Browns defense lead the NFL in total yards allowed and passing yards allowed in 2023.
· Set Browns single-game record with 4.5 sacks against Chicago on Sept. 26, 2021.
· Recorded first NFL touchdown following a strip-sack fumble recovery for a 15-yard touchdown on Dec. 12, 2021
· Set a Browns record with at least one sack in six consecutive games (Weeks 2-7) in 2020 and tied the mark in 2021 (Weeks 5-10).
· Owns 29 career games with multiple sacks, a Browns record.
· On first NFL play, dropped Josh McCown for an 8-yard loss on Oct. 8, 2017, and finished the game with two sacks to became first No. 1 overall pick with multiple sacks in first game and first Brown with at least two sacks in his NFL debut since 1988.
· Joined DT Tommy Kelly (2004 Raiders) and LB Barkevious Mingo (2013 Browns) as only rookies since 2004 with a sack in each of first three NFL games.
· Earned first-team All-America honors at Texas A&M.
· Led the SEC in sacks in 2015.
· Native of Arlington, Texas and attended Martin High School. Became first person in school history to be drafted into the NFL.
· Brother, Sean Williams, was selected No. 17 overall by the New Jersey Nets in 2007 and has professional experience in the NBA and internationally.
· Sister, Brea Garrett, was an NCAA champion weight thrower on Texas A&M's track and field team.
· Enjoys studying dinosaurs in his free time. His love of dinosaurs started as a kid after he first saw Jurassic Park.
· Writes his own poetry.
· Majored in architecture and minored in geology at Texas A&M.
· Mother, Audrey was an All-American track athlete at Hampton University.
· Finalized a deal in 2023 to purchase a minority stake in the Cleveland Cavaliers.
· In his eighth year of serving on the Waterboys organization and his sixth as the active player captain. The foundation works to bring clean water to communities in need in East Africa. In his role as captain, Garrett leads a team of active NFL players committed to using their platform to engage their fans in the clean water crisis. Since its launch, Waterboys has funded 83 wells serving more than 570,000 people. Roughly 844 million people around the world are without basic water access -- more than twice the population of the United States. In 2020, traveled to Tanzania for a two-week trip to help install wells.
· In collaboration with local artist Glen Infante, unveiled a "Cleveland is the Reason" mural as part of Infante's #VoicesofCLE public art project, which was created in 2020 following civil unrest over social justice issues. The mural was inspired by Cleveland icons of sports, culture, and rock 'n' roll and features paintings of Jesse Owens, LeBron James, Jim Brown, Machine Gun Kelly, Tracy Chapman and Toni Morrison.
· In support of families who lost a loved one to police brutality, Garrett covered funeral costs for David McAtee, who was shot and killed by police in Louisville, Ky. in May 2020.
· Teamed up with the Cleveland Hope Exchange and local businesses to provide more than 24,000 pounds of food and additional resources to those in need in 2020.
· Participated in My Cause, My Cleats supporting the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in 2018, which his grandmother, Pauline White Johnson, was diagnosed with. Supported the Maya Angelou Foundation in 2020. Supported Mission of Haiti in 2021, serving as an advocate of Haiti after spending time there on a mission trip in 2016. Supported Boys and Girls Club of Cleveland in 2022. Supported The Jurassic Foundation for dinosaur research and Von's Vision Foundation for eye-care in 2023.
· Donated $25,000 to his mothers' alumna, Hampton University in April 2025 to invest in her legacy and contribution to the institution's mission of providing quality education to its students.
· Hosted an early screening of the new Superman movie to fans in July 2025.
