Linebacker Jared Verse has a new NFL team. But he’s still rooting for his old NFL team. Especially when his old NFL team faces one specific foe.
Via Cameron DaSilva of USA Today, Verse recently told Nathan Zegura of ClevelandBrowns.com that his final message to the Rams focused on their biggest current rival.
“I told them, ‘The most important thing, make sure’ — and I’m not going to cuss — ‘make sure you beat the Seahawks. That’s all I care about,’” Verse said.
Last year, the Seahawks and Rams were the best two teams in the NFL. The division, the top seed, and the Super Bowl berth turned in large part on a fluky two-point play that was fueled in part by Verse deflecting with his helmet a throw that turned out to be a backward pass.
Verse had asked coach Sean McVay for the opportunity to inform the other Rams players about the trade. McVay agreed.
“My mindset was, ‘I’ve got to leave my teammates, I’ve got to leave my brothers behind, because I don’t want to leave my brothers,’” Verse told Zegura. “So if I’m going to — I want to address them. I don’t want them to find out from ESPN or from this news site or that news site. I want them to hear it from me.
“Went to the team room. Coach, he released it, he told everybody that, ‘We’re trading Jared,’ and I got to tell everybody. I said, ‘It sucks I’m not going to be here. I love you guys to death. You guys are going to go out there, you guys are going to dominate, you guys are going to do everything you can do and you guys are going to play the best you can. You guys got 17 games for sure. Who knows what’s going to happen after that but just go dominate.’”
It would be something (and highly unlikely) if the Browns have a dominant season, too. Of all the potential storybook endings to 2026, the Browns against the Rams in the Super Bowl would be among the very best.
One of the two teams is far more likely to be there than the other. Especially if they heed Verse’s call to beat the Seahawks.
