On June 9, Joel Bitonio walked into the Cleveland Browns facility to a thunderous round of applause. He was carrying his youngest, his two older children—Zoey and Benny—followed behind with their mother, Courtney. For one last time, the team came together to celebrate a talent who quietly gave his all. Now, Bitonio plans to focus on the more special things in life.

“It was time,” he said on SiriusXM NFL Radio. “I got three young kids now, seven, five, and two. And it’s time to spend time with them and golf a little bit more and do those things. But I’ll be so appreciative of what the Browns gave to me, and I have no regrets looking back on my career.”

Joel Bitonio was always regarded as one of the better offensive linemen entering the 2014 draft. The Browns picked him in the second round, and since then, the guard grew into a centerpiece of the team’s offensive line. During the course of these 12 years, Bitonio was able to make seven Pro Bowls and five All-Pro nods. The only dream that was left unfulfilled, per an open letter he’d written in light of his retirement, was winning a Super Bowl.

Unlike the trajectory Bitonio was on, the Browns consistently failed throughout his career, save for the two times they made the playoffs. Those were the only two instances Cleveland even registered winning seasons during Bitonio’s tenure. There had to be a day when he had to put himself first.

For the first time in his long career, he was staring at the possibility of becoming a free agent. The offensive line had also changed around him. Head coach Todd Monken had tried to persuade him to play for some more time earlier this year.  But Bitonio seemed to have already given a lot of consideration to the idea of retiring.

“I was at the point where my body, the prep for the games, the prep for the season, it’s not just like, oh, show up on Sundays and play,” Bitonio added, referencing the Browns winning the games against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals. “To be where I want to be, I have to train a certain way to keep your level of play, and especially when you’re losing a step athletically or just getting a little bit older. You need to put in that extra time. And I just couldn’t do that to my fullest ability.”

Monken, in a press conference after the aforementioned meeting, thought it was “unbelievable” how Bitonio continued to deliver despite playing for 12 years, taking numerous hits in that duration. But now that he was in his mid-30s, it was time to step back and allow his body to catch a break.

As Bitonio now focuses on spending time with his family, he hopes to have left a legacy fans can look up to.

Joel Bitonio gets real and emotional on his farewell

“I poured myself into it,” the veteran guard said in his final press conference, via BrownsRoundtable on YouTube. “I was 100% committed to this team and this organization, and I truly always wanted to be the best version of myself, to help make the team as good as we could be. That’s what I hope people remember; This guy was tough, he was going to be out there, he was going to fight for his teammates and was just a consistent guy.”

In his initial years, Joel Bitonio formed a great relationship with Hall of Famer Joe Thomas, another Browns legend. He mentored the OL and guided him on the path of becoming a key contributor. Since getting injured in the 2015 and 2016 seasons, Bitonio did not miss a single game until injuring his knee in 2023.

Between the 2017 and 2023 seasons, Bitonio made 6,481 offensive plays straight and started 102 games back-to-back. He concluded his career having started 178 games, the most a Browns player has made since 1999. He will go down as one of the greatest players to wear a Browns jersey.

Former Browns star Myles Garrett, who crossed divisions to play for the Los Angeles Rams, has pitched him as a future Hall of Fame candidate. Everyone at the Cleveland Browns building will wish for the same, in honor of the grind Joel Bitonio has put himself through for these 12 years.