The most exciting moment of the Cleveland Browns’ preseason win over the Washington Redskins on Thursday night came when Damon Sheehy-Guiseppi returned a punt 86 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, and the reaction from his teammates said it all.
Sheehy-Guiseppi’s touchdown return put the Browns up 30-10 in an exhibition game, but the team celebrated like it had just won the Super Bowl. Check out the way the speedster was greeted in the end zone:
WHAT A MOMENT
Damon Sheehy-Guiseppi returns a punt 86 yards for a TD — and the whole bench clears to celebrate pic.twitter.com/anLZ3EEgAT
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) August 9, 2019
If you’re familiar with Sheehy-Guiseppi’s story, you understand why his teammates could not have been more thrilled that the 24-year-old made one of the biggest plays of the night. Sheehy-Guiseppi played football at the junior college level and dropped out to pursue bigger opportunities after not being able to earn an athletic scholarship. He spent what little money he had traveling to FBS schools hoping to convince someone to watch his film, but he realized he only had one year of eligibility left and was nine credits short of being able to officially transfer.
“Only one school wanted to watch it, but I went to every big-time school in the SEC you could think of, Big 12, and then I came back and I didn’t have any money to go back to school,” Sheehy-Guiseppi told Nick Shook of the Cleveland Browns’ official website for a feature back in April.
Sheehy-Guiseppi then camped out in Miami this offseason — oftentimes sleeping on a bench and using guest passes to gain gym access — and essentially crashed an NFL workout. He did some research and found out Browns vice president of player personnel Alonzo Highsmith would be there, so he learned what Highsmith looked like and convinced the man in charge of the event that he knew Highsmith and was invited to be there. He was able to get his name on the player list from there, and he impressed Highsmith to the point where he was invited to an official Browns workout a week later.
The rest is basically history, and the story is still being written. Sheehy-Guiseppi is a long shot to make Cleveland’s 53-man roster, but his big night on Thursday certainly gives him a better chance. We’ve heard of players getting opportunities after camping out and not taking no for an answer, but rarely do those players enjoy a moment like the one Sheehy-Guiseppi had. Whether he makes the team or not, no one can ever take that 86-yard touchdown away.
