Myles Garrett

Early life

Garrett attended Martin High School in Arlington, Texas, where he was a letterman in football, basketball, and track. In football, he had 19.5 sacks as a senior and was the 2013 recipient of the Landry Award, given to the top high school player in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Garrett was rated as a five-star recruit by the Rivals.com recruiting network and was ranked as the second best overall player in his class. He committed to play college football at Texas A&M University in October 2013. In track and field, he was a state qualifier in the throwing events, with top throws of 16.01 meters in the shot put and 50.84 meters in the discus throw.

College career

Freshman year

Garrett came to Texas A&M as the #2 overall prospect in the nation. As a true freshman in 2014, Garrett broke the Aggies' freshman sack record of 5.5 in only six games. In only nine games, he broke Jadeveon Clowney's Southeastern Conference (SEC) freshman sack record of eight. Garrett finished the season with 11.5 sacks (second in the SEC), 53 total tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 10 quarterback hurries, and a blocked kick (which teammate Deshazor Everett returned for a touchdown against Auburn). He was a consensus Freshman All-American by USA Today and Freshman All-SEC selection. After the conclusion of the season, Garrett announced that he would undergo surgery to repair torn ligaments in his hand, an injury that occurred in the sixth game of the season, against Mississippi State.

Sophomore year

Garrett led the SEC with 12.5 sacks as a sophomore. He recorded 57 total tackles (36 solo), 19.5 tackles for loss, five forced fumbles, and a blocked punt (which came against Alabama). In addition, Garrett recorded his first interception, off his own-tipped ball, in the game against Ole Miss. The season earned Garrett a first-team All-American selection by the Walter Camp Football Foundation and the Football Writers Association of America. Garrett was the Bill Willis Trophy winner as the top defensive lineman.

Junior year

Garrett's junior year found him limited by injuries. He suffered a high-ankle sprain to his left leg in the fourth game of the season against Arkansas, and did not appear in the games against South Carolina and New Mexico State. Garrett also found his availability limited to third downs in some other games while he recovered from the injury. For the season, Garrett recorded 8.5 sacks, 32 total tackles (18 of them solo), 15.0 tackles for loss, 10 quarterback hurries, two forced fumbles, and a pass breakup. The season resulted in Garrett earning a Unanimous Consensus All-American designation by being voted to the first-team by the Walter Camp Football Foundation, the Football Writers Association of America, the American Football Coaches Association, The Sporting News, the Associated Press, Pro Football Focus, and SB Nation.

Professional career

Pre-draft

On December 31, 2016, Garrett announced his decision to forgo his remaining eligibility and enter the 2017 NFL draft. He was projected to be a top ten selection and was ranked No. 1 on ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr.’s big board. Garrett attended the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis and completed the majority of combine drills, but opted to skip the three-cone drill and short shuttle. Garrett solidified his position as a top ten pick with an impressive combine performance. His 41” vertical jump was the top performance of all defensive linemen, and he also finished with the second-best performance in the bench press and broad jump. Garrett also had the third fastest 40-yard dash of all defensive linemen at the combine, which highly impressed scouts due to his size. On March 30, 2017, Garrett attended Texas A&M's Pro Day and chose to perform the 40-yard dash (4.65s), 20-yard dash (2.71), 10-yard dash (1.57s), and broad jump (10’6”).

Garrett attended pre-draft visits with the Jacksonville Jaguars, San Francisco 49ers, and Chicago Bears. At the conclusion of pre-draft process, Garrett was projected by NFL draft analyst and scouts to be the first overall player selected. He was ranked the top overall prospect and defensive end by Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Pro Football Focus, and DraftScout.com. Garrett was also ranked the top edge rusher in the draft by NFL analyst Mike Mayock.

Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns selected Garrett with the first overall pick of the 2017 NFL draft. Garrett became the highest draft pick from Texas A&M in the history of the NFL draft.

On May 19, 2017, the Browns signed Garrett to a fully guaranteed four-year, $30.41 million contract that features a $20.25 million signing bonus, offset language options, and a team option for a fifth year.

Garrett entered training camp slated as a starting defensive end. Head coach Hue Jackson named Garrett and Emmanuel Ogbah the starting defensive ends to begin the regular season. They started the season alongside defensive tackles Trevon Coley and Jamie Meder.

On September 7, Garrett suffered a high ankle sprain during practice, causing him to miss the start of the season. After missing the first four games, Garrett played his first regular season game on October 8 against the New York Jets, and sacked Josh McCown twice, including once on his first ever NFL play. The Browns lost to the Jets 17–14. Despite having four sacks in his first three games, Garrett's injury woes continued as he suffered a concussion during Week 8 against the Tennessee Titans. Because he was on concussion protocol, he could not travel to London for the next game.

Overall, Garrett recorded 31 combined tackles (19 solo), seven sacks, a forced fumble, a pass defensed, and a fumble recovery during his rookie season. Due to injury, Garrett only played 11 of 16 games, but still finished first on the team in sacks. He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team.

Garrett was named a defensive captain for the 2018 season. In the season-opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Garrett sacked Ben Roethlisberger twice and forced two fumbles, both of which were recovered by the Browns, during the 21–21 tie game. Two weeks later against the Jets, Garrett sacked rookie quarterback Sam Darnold twice during the 21–17 win. During Week 7 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Garrett sacked Jameis Winston twice in the 26–23 overtime road loss.

In the 2018 season, Garrett started all 16 games and recorded 13.5 sacks, 44 combined tackles, 12 tackles-for-loss, 29 quarterback hits, three passes defensed, and three forced fumbles. His 13.5 sacks ranked sixth in the NFL that year. He was ranked 49th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2019. He was named to his first Pro Bowl for his efforts in the 2018 season.

Los Angeles Rams

On June 1, 2026, Garrett was traded to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round pick, a 2028 second-round pick, and a 2029 third-round pick. At an introductory press conference the following day, it was confirmed that Garrett would wear No. 95, which he had done throughout his professional career. Poona Ford had been wearing the number. Following the trade, the Rams and Garrett agreed on a restructured five-year, $208.2 million deal, with $37 million fully guaranteed ⁠in 2026 and $99 million guaranteed through the 2028 season.

Career statistics

Personal life

Garrett's half-brother, Sean Williams, was a standout basketball player for Boston College and was selected with pick number 17 in the first round of the 2007 NBA draft by the New Jersey Nets. He then played in the NBA from 2007 to 2012. Brea Garrett, his older sister, was a track and field athlete at Texas A&M. She won the 2014 NCAA title in the 20-pound weight throw, and is the first weight throw champion in Aggie history.

During the 2015 offseason, Garrett decided to stop using his social media account on Twitter, citing: "There's a lot of negativity on there I don’t need in my life. I felt like If I want to move forward as a person and as a football player, I don’t need other people's opinions and other things to stick with me or be in my mind when I have other things to keep doing." Garrett later resumed using Twitter regularly. Garrett also writes poetry and was working on a dinosaur book for children.

On April 30, 2017, two days after the 2017 NFL draft, Garrett, along with fellow first rounders Jabrill Peppers and David Njoku, were at Progressive Field, and threw out a ceremonial first pitch.

On September 28, 2021, a mural of Garrett (as a young child) and his grandmother Juanita was unveiled in the Playhouse Square district in downtown Cleveland.

On September 26, 2022, Garrett was involved in a one-car crash leaving the team facility. The incident occurred near Wadsworth, Ohio. He suffered minor injuries and was released from the hospital the same day.

On October 25, 2023, it was announced Garrett had purchased a minority ownership stake in the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Along with his ownership stake, Garrett serves as an ambassador for the team.

As of 2025, Garrett is in a relationship with Olympic gold medalist snowboarder Chloe Kim.