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As former Kansas City Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt ran his first youth football camp on Thursday in Willoughby, Ohio, he spoke about his current team — the Cleveland Browns — and their chances to reach (and succeed) in the 2021 postseason.
“I definitely believe we’re real contenders,” he told the kids attending his camp, per the Akron Beacon-Journal. “And I feel like we can beat anybody in the NFL.”
Despite the absence of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes during most of the second half of the 2020 Divisional Round game between the two teams, Hunt and his teammates were unable to defeat his former team and advance to the AFC Championship. Still, Hunt remains confident in this Browns team.
“I don’t guarantee a Super Bowl or anything, but we all got one goal,” he said. “Every NFL team, all 32 of us, got a goal, and that’s to win the Super Bowl. I know I want to win a Super Bowl, and I’m going to be working every day to win a Super Bowl.”
For the Browns, reaching that goal could largely depend on the first game of their 2021 schedule: a rematch with the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. Like Kansas City tight end (and Cleveland native) Travis Kelce — who said that the two teams would be “neck and neck” in the coming season, Hunt acknowledged that it would be a tough game.
“That’s a very good test,” he admitted. “That’s a great team, a great program, and I can’t wait to play some of my old teammates and brothers. We’re excited. It’s a game we believe we should have won last year, and now we’ve got another chance to get back out there Week 1.”
Himself a Cleveland native, Hunt is happy to be with the team he idolized as a kid, saying would do anything to help the Browns reach (and win) their first Super Bowl, which would mark the team’s first NFL championship since 1964.
“If they told me to go rush off the edge and sack Patrick Mahomes, I’m going to try to do that, too,” he said. “It’s whatever they ask me to do. I just love the game of football. I’m a competitive person and always trying to win.”