Justin Layne grew up a Browns fan, but his fandom ended the moment the Steelers drafted him in the third round with the 83rd overall pick -- one round after the Browns took another cornerback in Greedy Williams with pick No. 46 and three picks after the Browns took linebacker Sione Takitaki at No. 80. It just took a little time for Layne and his family to make it official by purging their home of their Browns tokens.
At rookie minicamp on Friday, Layne revealed that his father, Deondre Layne, has stripped his home of any signs of their Browns fandom.
"Yes, sir. Oh yeah, Browns everywhere, my dad took it all down and replaced it -- literally everything, every flag I had," Layne said, per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler. "So it's all done. We are fully committed."
Even better, there's video evidence of Layne's father painting over what once was a Browns-themed bathroom and turning it into a Steelers-themed bathroom.
As for Layne himself, he tossed his Browns gear.
"I threw all my stuff away," he said. "I don't have no use for it."
Layne, who spent his college years at Michigan State, played football at Benedictine High School in Cleveland. He also attended Browns games as a kid, he said.
One could say that he's abandoning his fandom at the worst possible time considering the Browns have finally made the leap from embarrassing to good, and the Steelers could be on the decline. Baker Mayfield looks like a legitimate franchise quarterback. Odell Beckham just arrived. The running back group might be the deepest in football. The defensive front is spearheaded by dominant edge rusher Myles Garrett. And the secondary, with Williams and last year's first-round pick Denzel Ward, is loaded with potential. Meanwhile, over in Pittsburgh, Ben Roethlisberger is another year older. And both Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell are officially gone. It's the Browns who have the better Super Bowl odds.
Layne, however, could help the Steelers regain their foothold in the division and hold off the Browns' surge. While many thought the Steelers would address the secondary in the first round of the draft, the team ended up addressing an equally important need at linebacker, which has been an issue for them ever since Ryan Shazier's tragic injury. They did well to grab Layne, a cornerback with good length, in the third round. Layne joins a revamped cornerback group that also includes newcomer Steven Nelson to go along with CB1 Joe Haden and disappointing former first-round pick Artie Burns.
As a whole, the Steelers' secondary ranked 19th last season, according to Pro Football Focus.
