More than 100 NFL players have come from Long Beach, which has been one of the sport’s top producers of talent for more than a century. Wilson alum Joel Bitonio has been towards the top of the list of most accomplished Long Beach NFL products for years as an interior offensive lineman with the Cleveland Browns.
Last week, he received a major honor as he was named to his sixth consecutive NFL Pro Bowl. Bitonio, who is in his 10th NFL season, has now received more Pro Bowl selections than any other player from Long Beach. This year’s honor breaks a tie between Bitonio and Long Beach Poly alum Jurrell Casey, who made it to five Pro Bowls as a defensive tackle with the Tennessee Titans.
Millikan receiver Gary Garrison still stands alone in third place with four Pro Bowl appearances.
Bitonio, who headlines a group of five Browns going to the 2024 Pro Bowl, didn’t just make history in his city, he made history with the Browns as well. With his sixth honor this year, he is now tied for fourth-most selections in Browns history, with the only three players ahead of him (Joe Thomas, Jim Brown, Lou Groza) all in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Bitonio is the first guard to be named to six straight Pro Bowls since Hall of Famer Gene Hickerson did it from 1966-71, according to a Browns press release.
Bitonio also earned a major award from the Pro Football Writers of America, who was voted the Cleveland chapters’ Dino Lucarelli ‘Good Guy Award’-winner. Bitonio, who has won several awards for his helpfulness with the media, the first-ever four-time winner of the Good Guy Award. He was also the Browns’ Walter Payton Man of the Year last year, an honor given for his extensive community service work in Cleveland and in his hometown of Long Beach.
Disclosure; Joel Bitonio is the sponsor of The562.org’s Wilson High School coverage
