The Cleveland Browns are a train wreck. They still don’t have a legitimate starting quarterback despite this being year 16 of not having a legitimate starting quarterback. Their Pro Bowl wide receiver is suspended again, this time for drinking beer when he wasn’t allowed to drink beer yet due to a previous suspension for smoking weed. Their former offensive coordinator gave a freaking 32-point Power Point presentation on why he should be allowed to not be coaching the Browns anymore. They basically went through free agency pretending they didn’t need a wide receiver and eventually ended up with Dwayne Bowe. Their first-round Heisman-winning quarterback went to rehab. And they signed Josh McCown.
The thing about train wrecks is, they’re often impossible to look away from. And the Browns invite that live look-in all the time, between drafting Johnny Manziel over Teddy Bridgewater, drafting Josh Gordon in the first place, firing and hiring a new coach every couple of years and having an owner whose very name welcomes scrutiny and discussion.
So it should come as no surprise whatsoever that the Browns are the considered the “frontrunner” to land HBO’s Hard Knocks, according to Vic Carucci, who is more than familiar with the Cleveland organization after having worked for the team’s official site for years.
There are other teams who could step up and volunteer, but if we’re being honest, the Browns are perfect for this.
The Cleveland fan base is die hard and low key one of the most insane in all of sports (in good ways and bad) – plus the Cleveland Browns name is one of the blue bloods of the NFL even if the reincarnation post 1999 hasn’t exactly been “good at football.” There are all kinds of interesting characters on this team including Joe Haden, Joe Thomas, Paul Kruger, Barkevious Mingo, Donte Whitner, Karlos Dansby, and of course, Manziel. And Mike Pettine, who has a reputation for being a no-nonsense tough guy, might already have the nickname Hard Knocks (I have no idea if this is true or not).
Sideshow aside, if the Browns embrace the opportunity, this is a chance to get out in front of the circus that seems to follow the team in anything it does. This team is not in a good place right now, and hasn’t been for a long time. By letting HBO behind the scenes (and this means giving real, true access and not the sort of shadow league antics that the team engaged in previously under Joe Banner), it could bring new fans in the fold and not just the old school, established “Here We Go Brownies” fans that are getting older.
Pretty soon new generations are going to be picking teams, and if you had a choice, why would you voluntarily decide to be a Browns fan? If you are a kid born in 1999, you’ve seen the Browns win exactly zero playoff games. The anniversary of the last time the Browns did win a playoff game (1994) can now legally drink beer. If you were born after Jan. 5 of 2002, you’ve never seen the Browns even make the playoffs. The team has averaged 5.25 wins per year since returning in ’99.
At this point, you have to try anything. It’s not like being on an HBO show is going to make things any worse.
