As G Michael Dunn prepared for his fifth training camp with the Browns in late July 2024, he began to experience some stomach pain.
At first, he passed the feelings off as a stomachache and went about practicing throughout camp at The Greenbrier. Yet, the pain persisted, lasting about a week before Dunn came to the conclusion that there was more going on. Along with the stomach pain, Dunn developed high fevers, dealt with night sweats and could not sleep longer than an hour before waking up from the pain. He struggled to eat and drink, unable to consume fluids.
However, Dunn thought he had a stomach bug and continued to practice as much as he could. He would receive IVs to get fluids into his system but proceeded through camp as normal as he could. When the Browns returned to Cleveland for the remaining part of training camp in August, Dunn struggled to function. He talked to the training staff about the length of time in which he was dealing with symptoms, and they took him to the hospital.
"All this time, I'm still thinking, I'll get some sort of antibiotic, and we'll clear up," Dunn said. "And next thing I know, they talking to me about autoimmune disease, and went through testing, and turned out I had ulcerative colitis."
Dunn was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (UC), which is a long-term inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that causes inflammation and ulcers in the colon and rectum. He spent four days in University Hospitals from Aug. 5 through Aug. 9, and during that time, his wife Marissa Dunn researched about UC and found the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation.
Dunn chose to support Chron's and Colitis Foundation through My Cause My Cleats, with cleats designed by Souls By Sir that he will wear on Monday Night Football against the Broncos on Dec. 2. The Crohn's and Colitis Foundation is a non-profit, volunteer-fueled organization dedicated to finding cures for Crohn's and ulcerative colitis and improving the quality of life of those affected by the diseases.
During Weeks 13 and 14 of the 2024 NFL season, players across the league have the opportunity to select a cause important to them and represent that organization on a pair of custom designed cleats as a part of the league-wide initiative My Cause My Cleats.
"I do think it's important to represent it," Dunn said. "I know there's a little bit of a stigma kind of towards ulcer colitis and Crohn's and irritable bowel syndrome. I just think it's important that you can acknowledge that it's a real disease that you have. And it's a real thing that a lot of other people are going through the same thing."
UC is an autoimmune disease that Dunn will have to monitor throughout his life. While in the hospital, Dunn received medication to help improve his symptoms. He now takes daily medication to prevent symptoms, and he is also on an infusion therapy, where every eight weeks Dunn goes to an infusion center to receive medication.
"It is a lifetime illness that I now have in me," Dunn said. "But they've done an incredible job of getting that original flare down and having me feel right. I know that they're always going to be there for me and, help me out through this, and give me the proper way to kind of go about this."
When Dunn was released from University Hospitals and he returned to CrossCountry Mortgage Campus, he stepped on the scale for the first time.
"From the time I basically arrived at training camp till two and a half, three weeks later, I lost 30 pounds," Dunn said. "And, at that point, I knew that it was going to be a road to get back. Thankfully, the doctors at UH were on it immediately. They were able to get me the right medication that I'm supposed to be taking, and I've been feeling great ever since."
During Dunn's initial recovery, he struggled to share with his diagnosis with his teammates. He only told them he had an autoimmune disease, but didn't dive into the details. Yet, as time went on and he reached out to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation and received information, he realized the importance of telling his story. He shared with his teammates just what he had experienced and his diagnosis.
"It really wasn't until I got better, where I felt myself again, where I felt like a normal person again, like my normal self, where it was, I now have this, and I'm dealing with this and I know I could beat it pretty much," Dunn said.
Dunn was placed on the reserve/non-football illness list on Aug. 27 before the first game of the regular season. He missed the first four weeks of the regular season while on NFI.
During that time, he focused on getting his weight and strength back. He was still on a strict diet early on, so Dunn said he worked with the Browns nutrition staff to have 1,000-calorie shakes and other high-calorie meals to consume the necessary nutrients.
He also spent time in the weight room with the athletic training staff, working through a plan and programs they designed for him. On his first day back in the weight room, Dunn said he was the weakest he's been since he was in high school. He struggled with weights that he had never struggled with before. Yet, over the four weeks he was on the NFI list, he gained his strength back. Dunn said he came back stronger than before.
The Browns then designated Dunn to for return to practice on Oct. 2 and Dunn was activated from the reserve/non-football illness list on Oct. 5. He played, and started, his first game of the season on Oct. 6 in Week 5 against the Commanders.
"It was definitely a long road to recovery in the sense of getting the weight back and the strength back," Dunn said. "But, thanks to the nutrition staff and strength coaches here, they really dedicated their time to helping me and working with me and was able to get back as soon as I was able to be activated and went right to it. Felt great being back out there, didn't feel like there were any limitations or anything, even though I had to miss quite a bit of football."
Dunn has played in a total of seven games this season, including two starts. He's played 153 offensive snaps and 23 special teams snaps over those seven games.
When Dunn takes the field on Dec. 2 for Monday Night Football at Empower Field at Mile High for his eighth game this season, he will have a pair of custom cleats representing the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation, sharing his story and offering his support for the organization.
"Just trying to help out with the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation this year and do what I can to spread awareness on it. And just try helping other people who kind of went through the same thing or are dealing with the same thing that I just did because really, until you go through it, you don't really understand what it can really do to you. I'm just fortunate right now to be feeling great, really, not having any symptoms of it. And now I'm just trying to do everything I can to maintain that."
For more information on the Browns' My Cause My Cleats efforts for the 2024 season, visit https://www.clevelandbrowns.com/community/mycausemycleats.
