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Few beat reporters are as synonymous with an NFL team as Mary Kay Cabot.
She has covered the Cleveland Browns since 1988, serving as the backup writer for The Cleveland Plain Dealer before moving into the top spot in 1991. At the time, Cabot became the first female media member to cover a major pro team in the Cleveland market.
In 2025, Cabot was honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame after being named the Bill Nunn Memorial Award winner by the Professional Football Writers of America. You can still find Cabot covering the Browns for Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. She also provides analysis for WKYC-TV.
Awful Announcing recently caught up with Cabot to discuss her career and this year’s Browns.
Note: This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
What’s the secret to your long career?
Mary Kay Cabot: “Well, first of all, at The Plain Dealer and Cleveland.com, we’ve always pushed the envelope and forged ahead. Even now, we are embracing AI and making sure we stay on top of the technology. A long time ago, we got very involved in podcasts. We’ve been doing the Orange and Brown Talk podcast for years, and we actually do it daily. We tape a podcast every single day. We do shorts on YouTube. And Cleveland.com, or Advance Local, our parent company, has just done a really good job of embracing the whole digital nature of journalism today.”
When you were growing up, what was your dream job?
“I always knew I wanted to be a writer, a journalist of some sort. And there were not very many women in sports or covering the NFL at that time. There were a few, but not many. So I didn’t really view it as a viable career path because there just weren’t that many role models. There just weren’t that many people doing it. But when I got an opportunity to do my internship at The Plain Dealer, I jumped at the chance because I’ve always been a huge sports fan. My dad passed some years ago, but he was probably the biggest sports fan in Cleveland back then. And we always had the games on. I always watched the games with my dad.”
Do you see yourself as a role model?
“Not just a role model, but I would also say a trailblazer. A few came before me, but I took it as an enormous responsibility. I fought a lot of battles in the early going. Anyone covering the NFL back then in the 1980s had to overcome a lot, and everything has changed since then. We broke a lot of barriers. We dealt with a lot of things that, fortunately, the young women coming up through the ranks now don’t have to deal with anymore because I think we took care of so much of that. And it’s a great environment to work in now.”
Could you give an example of something you dealt with?
“When I first tried to get into the locker room on the road, way back when, they wouldn’t let me in, even though the policy was that we were all allowed to get in. I said this in my Hall of Fame speech, but I literally had to kick the door open. I was not allowed to get into the locker room to do my job. My deadline was fast approaching, and they were trying to keep me out of the locker room. So, things like that happened.”
Do you have any regrets about the Bill Belichick joke you told at last year’s Hall of Fame ceremony?
“I bounced it off my daughter, who, at the time, and still does, some stand-up comedy in New York City, where she lives. She was 24 at the time, but I always kid around with her. She’s one of my life advisors because she’s so smart.
“I read the speech to her and asked, ‘Do you think I should tell the joke?’ She said, ‘Absolutely. That joke’s going to kill.’ So I took her advice, and I had no idea it would go viral the way it did. But it was all in good fun, and I still have no regrets. If I had it to do over again, I would tell the joke again.”
How close did you come to joining ESPN?
“I’ve had plenty of opportunities to move on and go elsewhere. I had a chance to join ESPN as a TV reporter. The last time I interviewed with them was probably 20 years ago. At that time, I just didn’t feel like I was going to be able to do that with my three small children. They were four, two, and not even one years old. With all the travel and other things, I talked it over with a few people and wasn’t 100% certain I could handle the demands of the full-time ESPN TV job I had been offered. So I kept building my brand here. And I feel like it’s worked out really well for me, because I’ve enjoyed covering the Browns, even though I haven’t covered very many winning seasons.”
Let’s talk about the Browns. What’s your reaction to the Myles Garrett trade?
“I think it’s a win-win. When I see Myles Garrett out there in L.A., he’s with his girlfriend, Chloe Kim, who lives in California. He’s getting more into commercials and becoming more of a celebrity. And so he’ll be able to do all of that out there. He will also have a chance to win that elusive Super Bowl he’s always wanted. And I think it’s great for the Browns because they have an opportunity to get a really good player back in Jared Verse….
“And then, of course, the Browns also got a first-round pick next year, a second-round pick the year after, and a third-round pick the year after that. So, to be able to maximize that deal and get that much for Myles Garrett, I think it was great.”
Who will win the QB battle, Deshaun Watson or Shedeur Sanders?
“That’s a tough call right now because I really did think it was going to be Deshaun Watson. That’s the way it looked at the end of voluntary minicamp in April. He looked like he had more command of the offense. But as OTAs and minicamp went along, Shedeur closed that gap. And now, heading into camp, it’s sort of a dead heat for that job. And I don’t know how it’s going to turn out. I really don’t. I think when Todd Monken says he has two starting quarterbacks, he means it. I don’t think this is lip service. I don’t think they’re just trying to puff up Shedeur Sanders for a trade opportunity.”
What are realistic expectations for Cleveland?
“Well, it depends on quarterback play. If Deshaun or Shedeur goes out there and they’re top 16 or 17 in the NFL, then I think you can maybe get to 8 wins. Maybe even one or two more than that. If quarterback play is above average, it’s going to come down to that because they have weapons now. They added KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston, and if the second-year players step it up a notch, they’ll be even better, including Harold Fannin, Quinshon Judkins, Dylan Sampson, and Isaiah Bond.”
What’s the most memorable Browns game you’ve covered?
“I would say it’s the last one at Cleveland Stadium, before they moved to Baltimore. It was a surreal experience to be in that stadium with fans crying, players sticking around afterward to hug and cry with fans, and people ripping seats out of the stadium. And just knowing that all of our livelihoods, everyone who was connected with the Cleveland Browns, were going to halt for a period of time. There was uncertainty about what would happen and how it would all go down. That was a game that I will never forget.”
The post Mary Kay Cabot reflects on 38 years covering Browns: ‘I literally had to kick the door open’ appeared first on Awful Announcing.
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