There aren’t many players in the NFL scarier than Myles Garrett. The Browns edge-rusher has been one of the most fierce pass-rushers in the league since he was drafted first overall in 2017, with only three players in the NFL having more sacks than him in those six seasons.
So it should be no surprise that Garrett takes his job of scaring quarterbacks and dragging them to the turf to a whole new level. Last year, Garrett decorated his front yard with headstones of quarterbacks he has sacked.
This year, the quarterbacks he’s taken down are in the Upside Down, the alternate dimension in the popular Netflix show, “Stranger Things.” Some of the quarterbacks displayed as rotting corpses in Garrett’s front yard this year are Ravens’ Lamar Jackson, Steelers’ Kenny Pickett and Garrett’s old teammate, Panthers QB Baker Mayfield.
Floating in the air in front of Vecna is Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, who Garrett and the Browns will face on “Monday Night Football.”
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And if Garrett’s yard wasn’t enough, the fearsome defensive end also dressed as the “Stranger Things” season four villain as he made his entrance to FirstEnergy Stadium.
#Browns DE Myles Garrett aka Vecna has arrived for Monday Night Football #CINvsCLE pic.twitter.com/7p0az2Dl1h
— Baillie Burmaster (@bayburmTV) October 31, 2022
But why has he chosen the Upside Down as his Halloween yard theme this year?
Myles Garrett’s ‘Stranger Things’ yard and costume, explained
There are several layers to the choice of yard decorating and his costume. First, the show’s fourth season wrapped up in July this year with the kids in Hawkins taking on the monster they named Vecna, after the game Dungeons and Dragons.
In the show, Vecna haunts the characters and forces them to go through past traumas in life before killing them in the show.
“I feel like that’s the same way that I treat offensive linemen and quarterbacks,” Garrett said on ESPN. “There’s only one boogeyman in the AFC North, and really, the league.”
.@Flash_Garrett already won on Halloween with his pregame costume đź‘»
Ahead of #MNF, Garrett gives a closer look into his in-depth Vecna costume and themed house: pic.twitter.com/ZVtEX1JAyL
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) October 31, 2022
Garrett explained the quarterbacks in the yard are those he’s tackled this season, including Burrow, who he will face Monday night.
But there’s more to it than “Stranger Things” being a big talking point in 2022.
Garrett has long been a fan of the show, he told ESPN, but recently, decided to take his passion for the show further. He and Browns guard Wyatt Teller and former Browns fullback Johnny Stanton started a Dungeons and Dragons club called, “The Heathens.”
Stanton told SportsCenter that he saw Garrett wearing a “Stranger Things” shirt in the locker room and asked if he was interested in playing the game that is a major part of the show. Garrett said he wanted in.
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“Getting to know the actual game and trying to learn what’s really going on started from watching ‘Stranger Things’ and it being one of my favorite shows on TV,” Garrett said. “And so once he asked me, I was on board right away.”
SportsCenter feature for Monday Night Football on the #Browns Dungeons & Dragons Club… aka “The Heathens…” (part 1) pic.twitter.com/KCDGNdAoLH
— Jake Trotter (@Jake_Trotter) October 31, 2022
In this group, Stanton is the Dungeon Master, Teller is a half orc barbarian named Flapper and Garrett is a dhampir fighter named Alucard. Garrett said his character is inspired from the Alucard from the video game and animated show “Castlevania.”
“At D&D, he’s very mysterious, very trying to stay undercover and stuff, but also really taking advantage of the hero moments,” Stanton said of Garrett. “He’ll like act out the sword swipe.”
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Teller explained that some teammates questioned why the group were playing a game perceived as being “nerdy,” and the Pro Bowl guard responded that more people just need to give it a chance.
“That’s your perception of it until you actually learn hot to play,” Teller said. “It’s actually a lot of fun. It’s not just people sitting around in a basement in the 80s.”
SportsCenter feature for Monday Night Football on the #Browns Dungeons & Dragons Club… aka “The Heathens…” (part 2) pic.twitter.com/bUh3nxsk9v
— Jake Trotter (@Jake_Trotter) October 31, 2022
Garrett said he hopes that through “The Heathens,” they can start to change that perception, and said that a few players from the Cavaliers across town have asked about getting involved.
As to whether they’ll be allowed in, well, Garrett said it’s not that easy.
“He’s got to prove himself,” Garrett said. “You can’t just let anybody amongst The Heathens.”
