CHICAGO ― Jeff Blasko loves to fish. Ask the Browns tight end coach and he will tell you about that love. When Blasko was hired to join Todd Monken's staff, he quickly discovered the best player in his position group, Harold Fannin Jr., shared the same passion away from the football field. So, he thought, how better to connect than the two of them going out to wet a line or two while maybe talking about something other than football? So the two set it up for one day in the offseason. Blasko showed up with his litany of rods and lures and what-have-you he's purchased to assist him in pursuing his fishing passion. Subscribe to Browns Insider newsletter
As for Fannin? Well, let Blasko tell what happened next. "So I'm fishing and fishing and fishing and he shows up and he's got one of those Fisher Price rods," Blasko recently told the Beacon Journal. "And I think he's screwing around with me, but he said that he typically takes it golfing with him and anytime he comes across a pond, it's easy for him to carry, which I thought was, wow, that's pretty cool. That's a good idea. "Well, then we're there for about another hour, and he catches seven bass and I'm still waiting to catch my first. I'm like, holy s---, this dude is, he knows what he's doing. So [it] turned into a little bit of a healthy competition." For Fannin, there are a couple of true loves. There's football, at which the Canton native and McKinley High School product has proven to be quite good, proven by a rookie season in 2025 when he set a Browns' rookie record for receptions with 72, while leading the team with 731 receiving yards — the most ever by a Browns rookie tight end. Away from football, though? Well, there are few joys in life Fannin ranks above sitting beside a lake or pond as dusk envelops the light and casting out a line and seeing what he can catch. "I think it's like, you're just out there with nature," Fannin told the Beacon Journal before a recent training camp practice. "So that's how I clear my mind. It's almost like it's time away. That's how I look at it. Now there's just water, trees, just relaxing." As it does for so many, Fannin's love of fishing goes back to his youth. For him, specifically, it goes back to his trips with his mom, Lakeesha Wise, and grandfather, typically around the Canton area. Like many young people, though, Fannin grew apart from the activity as he worked his way up through his teenage years. There were, after all, other things to do, such as play football and baseball, when he wasn't in school. Then Fannin went away to college at Bowling Green State University. While seeking something to do outside of class and football while there, he reconnected with the activity of his youth as there "ain't really too much to do." "We just got into fishing, and it was pretty much relaxing," Fannin said. "It ain't really taxing on the body. It's calm. You catch fish. I don't know. It's something that just, I don't know, I just like doing. I enjoy doing it, especially people I do it with." It's easy to be put at ease around Fannin. Even with the kind of frame ― 6-foot-4, 241 pounds ― and athleticism that make him he ideal tight end in the current offensive game of football, the aspect of Fannin that draws you in is the wide smile and countenance that almost belies a bit of boyish mischieveousness. Spend time with Fannin, and you can see why fishing would be something that connects with him. It's because it's almost like his quiet, reserved personality was transformed into a recreation activity. "Yeah, I feel like it does a little bit," Fannin said. "When you fish, you typically don't really talk. So that might be another reason why I like it. I ain't really got to hold a conversation. I'm just out there, like I said, relaxing. But I'll say a little bit just to the part, I ain't really got to talk too much." The thing about Fannin is he doesn't necessarily have to talk too much to connect with his teammates and coaches. The paucity of words can often make the words that do come out carry even more weight. So it is when Fannin heads out with a teammate. There's no reason to waste words on nonsense while trying to take in the serene surroundings. It's why Blasko jumped at the chance to go fishing with Fannin. "Let me say this, this profession, the National Football League, it's all about people," Blasko said. "It's all about relationships. And for me to be able to know what buttons to push in order to get the best version of Harold, I need to connect with him on a personal level to really dive into his why and dive into what makes him tick. … We were probably there for four or five hours, and I don't know if we talked about football one time." That's just fine for Fannin. After all, Blasko has plenty of time to talk about it during the hours of meetings and practices and walkthroughs the Browns have between the start of training camp and the end of the season. So when Fannin's out on the water ― some of those in the Hudson area are his personal favorite ― he's no longer "Harold Fannin Jr., rising star of the Cleveland Browns." Instead, he's just Harold Fannin Jr., and that's more than fine with him. Buy Cleveland Browns tickets "I feel like everybody needs a safe space," Fannin said. "Like you said, mentally, things can get draining and it's OK to take that time away, take that step away, whatever you got to do. And, like you said, mine just happened to be fishing. I feel like it benefits me because I come back here and I feel refreshed. I'm just ready to get back to work." Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ. Sign up for Browns Insider newsletter at https://profile.beaconjournal.com/newsletters/browns-insider/ This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: How Browns tight end Harold Fannin Jr. finds 'time away' in fishing