Jadeveon Clowney: Baltimore Ravens Season Was 'Kobe Year'

Jadeveon Clowney hoped his single season with the Baltimore Ravens resembled the relentlessly competitive mindset of Kobe Bryant in more ways than one.

By Geoff Maggliocchetti

Dec 25, 2023; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) throws
Dec 25, 2023; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) throws / Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

Jadeveon Clowney hoped he brought a little Bean to Baltimore.

The top pick of the 2014 draft is moving on to the Carolina Panthers after a single season in the Baltimore Ravens' purple. That campaign was a bit of a prove-it deal for Clowney, but he wound up proving his worth to sources beyond Baltimore, well enough for the South Carolina alum and Rock Hill native to land a two-year, $20 million contract from his home team.

Clowney's Ravens jersey bore the No. 24, a stark departure from the digits he wore in prior stops with Houston, Tennessee, Seattle, and Cleveland. He previously donned more traditional numbers for defensive linemen like 90 and 99, but those numbers were already taken by David Ojabo and Odafe Oweh. In his first public comments as a Panther, Clowney said that the change was meant to be a tribute to late NBA legend Kobe Bryant.

"That was my Kobe Bryant year, the return of the killer,'' Clowney said of his sole Baltimore tour, per David Newton of ESPN. "I said Kobe because when I was in Cleveland a lot of stuff happened my last year there when I didn't have my best season."

Dec 17, 2023; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars running back D'Ernest Johnson (25)
Dec 17, 2023; Jacksonville, Florida, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars running back D'Ernest Johnson (25) / Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

Clowney was looking for a late rewrite to his professional narrative at this time last year: controversy surrounded his exit after the latter of two seasons with the Cleveland Browns, as he was charged a suspension for the final game of the 2022 season for negative comments concerning franchise face Myles Garrett. Bryant similarly changed his number from 8 to 24, prior to the 2006-07 season and won two championships as the Los Angeles Lakers' undisputed headliner.

While Clowney and the Ravens fell short of their own championship aspirations, he completed a full season for the first time since 2017 and he tied his career-best in sacks set that same year. That led the Panthers to enter a bidding war against the New York Jets for Clowney's services, and his veteran talents will now partly headline their ongoing rebuild.

"(Last season) was very important, really for myself because I already knew I could play the game and make plays,'' Clowney said. "I tell people all the time if I play in 16, 17 games, it's going to look like a Pro Bowl season. That's all I've got to do, is just be out there playing. I know I can make the plays no matter what team I'm on. I've just got to be available and take care of myself. The older I get the more I figure out how to stay healthier."

Newton's report says that Clowney will not repeat the Bryant gambit in Charlotte, as it has "served its purpose." He will instead return to his collegiate digit, re-donning the No. 7 he had as a South Carolina Gamecock. It's all part of his apparent goal to keep the past both behind and ahead of him.

"I said I just need one opportunity to show these people I still can do this at a high level and I'm not the guy they make me out to be,'' Clowney said. "That's all I wanted to do that whole offseason, prove that to people. Baltimore gave me that opportunity to come out there and play.''