Two Browns legends one step closer to HoF

LB Clay Matthews and HC Marty Schottenheimer advance to the next round of Pro Football Hall of Fame voting.

A pair of Cleveland Browns legends have moved one step closer to immortality.

Linebacker Clay Matthews, a first-round draft pick in 1978 who played 16 of his 19 years with the Browns, and head coach Marty Schottenheimer, who led the Browns to four playoff appearances in five years, have both advanced to the next round of voting for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025.

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Matthews advanced from a group of 60 senior candidates to a list of 31 players after the latest vote by the hall’s seniors committee. The next round will cut the candidates to nine, with a maximum of one player ultimately making it to the full voting panel.

Matthews was a mainstay on a Cleveland defense that helped the team reach three AFC Championship Games in the 1980s. During his 16 seasons with the Browns, Matthews posted 75 sacks – still second on the franchise’s career list and just two-and-a-half off Bill Glass’ unofficial record – 1,430 tackles, 14 interceptions, and 24 forced fumbles.

He also made the Pro Bowl four times, with three consecutive trips from 1987 to 1989 as a key part of a Browns team that made the playoffs five consecutive years.

Matthews closed out his career by playing three seasons with the Atlanta Falcons.

The full list of candidates in the senior category is available on the hall’s website.

Schottenheimer is one of 12 candidates in the coach category. Over the next several weeks, the voting committee will narrow the field to one finalist for the Class of 2025.

Schottenheimer started his coaching career in 1974 as the linebackers coach with the Portland Storm of the WFL. He would move on to the New York Giants in the same role (1975 to 1977) and Detroit Lions (1978 and 1979) before joining head coach Sam Rutigliano’s coaching staff in Cleveland as defensive coordinator in 1980.

Rutigliano was fired midway through the 1984 season, and Schottenheimer was named head coach. His first full season in charge was in 1985, and he would go on to lead the Browns to the playoffs four consecutive years, which included two appearances in the AFC Championship Game.

Schottenheimer was not retained following the 1988 season after getting into a dispute with then-owner Art Modell and moved on to the Kansas City Chiefs, where he won 101 games over 10 seasons.

Schottenheimer also coached Washington for one season (2001) before closing out his NFL coaching career with a five-year run with the San Diego Chargers, where he went 14-2 in his final season in charge.

In 21 years as a head coach, Schottenheimer went 200-126-1 (the one time coming in his return to Cleveland in 1989), which is good enough to currently leave him at No. 8 all-time in wins.

The full list of the semifinalists among the coaches is available on the hall’s website.