For as long as he was with the Cleveland Browns, former NFL running back Nick Chubb made sure to establish himself as one of the best running backs in franchise history. Across seven seasons, Chubb was well on his way to cementing that legacy. During the 2023 season, however, he suffered a brutal knee injury.

Since then, his career never truly returned to the same level, and he eventually left the Browns following the 2024 season. This week, the 30-year-old running back announced his retirement from the NFL. Shortly after the news broke, 92.3 The Fan radio host John Colavita gave a blunt assessment of Chubb’s Browns career.

“He’s not the greatest Browns running back of all time, but he’s second or third, if you go look at his stats,” said Colavita. “Over the course of his career, he’s third in rushing yards in Browns history. This isn’t something that was unexpected. He wasn’t with a team. He wasn’t gonna be Nick Chubb. He was gonna be a guy that would be a rotational piece, a change-of-pace back, just, you know, probably back on the depth chart, and when you’re Nick Chubb and when you’re used to stuff like that, it’s hard to stay in the background.

“When you are the face or at least one of the faces of the franchise, and you’re just a guy now. You’re just a guy on the end of the bench. I wouldn’t say end of the bench, but you’re just one of the running backs on the roster. Maybe you get in, maybe you don’t. I think that, especially because you know how many injuries he had. He knew it was time, and you can respect that when you know it’s time. It’s something that I really respect.”

The Browns drafted Nick Chubb out of Georgia in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft. Across seven seasons in Cleveland, Chubb earned four Pro Bowl nods, while recording four 1,000+ rushing-yard seasons from 2019 through 2022. During his Browns tenure, Chubb recorded 6,843 rushing yards and 51 rushing touchdowns.

He currently ranks third all-time in franchise history in career rushing yards, behind only Jim Brown (12,312) and Leroy Kelly (7,274). At the same time, Chubb holds the franchise record for the longest rushing touchdown, a 92-yard run against the Atlanta Falcons during the 2018 season, while his 30 career 100-yard rushing games rank second in team history.

At his peak, Chubb was undoubtedly one of the faces of the franchise. That, however, changed during the 2023 season when he suffered a gruesome knee injury in the Week 2 matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was the same knee he had previously injured in 2015 while playing at Georgia. Subsequently, Chubb missed the remainder of the 2023 season and the first six games of the 2024 campaign.

Ahead of the 2025 season, Nick Chubb signed a one-year, $2.5 million deal with the Houston Texans. While he spent the season in Houston, Colavita now believes that Chubb was no longer likely to return as “Nick Chubb” following multiple injuries. And his retirement note only reinforced that.

“Dealing with injuries was something else that wasn’t part of the plan,” the former Browns’ RB said. “The only thing I could control after hurting my knee twice was getting back up, getting back to work, and getting back on the field. And I was able to do that both times.”

Still, Chubb’s retirement at the age of 30 shocked the NFL community. While he may not be the best running back in Browns’ history, the team also paid tribute to its former player via an X post, which read, “congrats to @NickChubb on a legendary career. forever a dawg.” What will Chubb’s post-retirement life look like from here remains to be seen.