DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Browns on Hard Knocks

I'm actually pretty pumped for this.

Neither do I but all I need is one good rain storm and I will have it for free.

We have Direct TV.. If we get a really bad storm and I'm watching something important (happened during game 7 of the NBA championship 2 years ago with about 10 minutes to go in the game and was out for 2 minutes)... my wife will call DTV and complain and their go-to "We're sorry for the inconvenience" is to give you 6 free months of HBO.. I just have to wait for the right moment to call.

I'm pretty excited. Hard Knocks doesn't really tell you much, but the best thing is seeing the players' personalities come out during the show. I just wonder if the fake quotes in the training room are still up.

My guesses as to who will be the focuses:

1. Baker Mayfield (obviously)
2. Jarvis Landry (his personality is gregarious)
3. Josh Gordon (this may actually help to keep him focused)
4. Tyrod Taylor (mostly when competing with Baker)
5. Joe Thomas
6. 3-4 random rookies/end of the roster guys
7. Hue Jackson
8. Cleveland's pathetic history

j/c

I am a regular viewer of Hard Knocks. From my experience they seem to give out a positive vibe about the teams they cover. The hope for improvement and often focus on the fringe players. Players fighting to make the team. As far as the coverage they provide, it's generally positive and a good look for the team they are covering.

My only worry about it is as it may become somewhat of a distraction. The focus needs to be about improvement and the players developing a rapport among themselves. I'm not sure how Hard Knocks being there all of the time will impact that but it's my only real concern.

I'm sure it will be a novelty the first couple days, hopefully they just tune it all out after that...

On the positive side, maybe this notion that everything they do could be filmed, it will just be that much more of an incentive to focus more and work harder because nobody wants to be "that guy" that gets caught on camera slacking off... not even once.

'Hard Knocks' to bring Browns' Hope Season to focus


The rumors became official Thursday when it was announced the Cleveland Browns will be the focus of the 13th season of HBO's groundbreaking NFL documentary series, "Hard Knocks."

How should we feel about this? For most of the millennium -- well, save for the year Johnny Manziel got drafted and within weeks was floating on a large rubber water bird -- a Browns "Hard Knocks" season would be met with a Liz Lemon-level eye roll from football fans who'd rather roll the dice with a shady hitchhiker than watch a five-part deep dive on the least successful franchise in North American sports. But this appears to be the start of a new era for the Browns, who spent a ton of money in free agency and imported some elite college talent following their historic-in-a-sad-way 0-16 season.

Yes, it's Hope Season once more in Cleveland, and a lot of people -- this writer included -- believe this could be the first time in forever that hope doesn't take the first train out of town come September. Then there's this take from my pal and "Around The NFL Podcast" cohort, Marc Sessler, a lifelong Browns fan who sees this team as unique in the show's two-decade history: "The Browns, more than any team ever on 'Hard Knocks,' bring a wild psychic energy of past and recent failure -- half the story is trying to shake that off."

Can the Browns do it? Or is this just the latest setup for another long winter on the clock at the Factory of Sadness? It all makes for some compelling premium cable programming and it starts on Aug. 7. Here are some subplots we're looking forward to this season:

Baker Mayfield is in the house
It's easy to admire Cleveland's moxie. The "safe" move was to take USC wonderboy Sam Darnold with the first overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. Darnold was the consensus top QB of the class -- a hyper-talented prospect with a cool, reserved demeanor and zero serious red flags to speak of. Darnold is essentially the "Young Franchise Quarterback" churned out of central casting in Hollywood. You'd think the Browns, stung so horribly by their failed Manziel experiment, would gravitate toward a prospect like Darnold and run -- no, sprint -- away from any college passer tagged with non-flattering comparisons to Johnny Football. But the Browns didn't get scared off; they identified Mayfield as their guy and made their move. It will be fun to get to know Mayfield, who will undoubtedly be a subject of primary focus.

Hue Jackson's 'Hard Knocks' encore

This will not be Hue Jackson's first "Hard Knocks" rodeo. The embattled Browns coach (it's now a sportswriting rule that "embattled" comes before "Browns coach") was the offensive coordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals when that team had its second HBO star turn in the summer of 2013. Jackson came off as smart, capable and well-liked back then -- I remember thinking about how much Jackson made sense as a future head coach while watching him. Well, Hue's 1-31 in two years in Cleveland. Honestly, it's a minor miracle that Hue even survived 0-16, and 2018 sets up as his his last shot to establish himself as an NFL head coach. In my office, colleagues are already making friendly wagers on whether or not the season premiere opens with Hue jumping into Lake Erie (Jackson made the promise before last season that he'd take the plunge if Browns didn't improve on their 1-15 record from 2016. Oof.) If I had to guess the opening scene, I'd go with the "Obligatory Head Coach Hype Speech In First Team Meeting," but I could certainly be wrong.

A compelling wide receivers room
The craziest thing about the Browns right now: All the optimistic takes about their 2018 prospects are rooted in actual sound logic! That logic being that Cleveland suddenly has a roster with some real talent on both sides of the ball. That includes a wide receiver corps that includes the newly acquired Jarvis Landry and returning veteran Josh Gordon, in line to start his first season in years without the "s" word (suspension) hanging over it. We'll also get a look at Corey Coleman, a former first-round pick who has underwhelmed in his first two seasons and rookie fourth-round pick Antonio Callaway, another tantalizing talent who could not stay out of trouble in college. It's a talented, potentially combustible group. If Kenny Britt was still on the team, the wide receivers room would actually catch on fire.

John Dorsey puts on a brave face
Browns general manager John Dorsey made no secret of his desire to keep the Browns off HBO this summer.

"I don't believe we're on 'Hard Knocks,' " Dorsey told ESPN Cleveland 850 earlier this month. "I don't think there's anything good that comes out of 'Hard Knocks,' but we'll see."


We certainly shall. For the record, the Browns checked all the boxes for mandatory "Knocks" inclusion. They a) do not have a new head coach; b) have not qualified for the playoffs in the past two seasons; and c) have not appeared on "Hard Knocks" in the past 10 years. Which isn't to assume that the Browns were indeed forcefully compelled to star on the show -- powerful people above the GM might see the program as an ideal vehicle for promotion and brand-building.

After the "Hard Knocks" engagement was official, Dorsey walked back his previous comments, explaining that he "feel[s] a lot better and understand[s] why the time is right." I'm not sure we should actually buy that, and it will be interesting to see how much the general manager, as well as team owner Jimmy Haslam, show up during the five-episode arc. In some "Hard Knocks" seasons you can't get front office officials off the screen; in others years, the suits are almost entirely invisible. My prediction: We'll end up seeing plenty of Dorsey, despite his initial protestations. He seems like a dude who doesn't mind the spotlight.

It's the Todd & Gregg Show!
Gregg Williams is like the "Hard Knocks" version of Jason from "Halloween." Just when you think he's gone he comes roaring back to life. Two summers ago, Williams glowered all over your flatscreen as the defensive coordinator of a very bad and sad Los Angeles Rams team. Williams came off more or less exactly as we imagined the one-time Bountygate conspirator to be. (Think Bud Kilmer from "Varsity Blues" but with a neatly maintained goatee.) Every good story needs a villain, and while I think it's unfair to paint Williams with that brush, we can at least say "Hard Knocks" has a Mean Uncle to weave into the narrative.

As for Todd Haley, here's to hoping he fires off a couple of potshots on Ben Roethlisberger when he thinks cameras aren't rolling.

The fans
No NFL fanbase has dealt with more misery than Browns supporters, who lost their team entirely in the '90s, got it back after three years of darkness, and were rewarded for their patience and loyalty with two decades of punishing abject failure. "Hard Knocks" producers would be wise to give us a taste of Browns fandom this summer. What's kept the faithful faithful during an unmatched run of organizational ineptitude? There are loyal sports fans and then there are Browns fans. Take us inside the Dawg Pound.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000...ign=Twitter_atn

How many minutes into the first episode will we see a replay of the drive?

Do you have a Roku or other streaming device? There are free one month trials for HBO through Amazon, Hulu and I'm sure some other services...

Less than one, my friend lol.

I suspect that the 1st 10 minutes of the 1st episode, at least, will be a retrospect of the heartache we have faced, and the futility we've experienced since the team returned in 1999.

Same here.. more Browns coverage and inside viewing is awesome... can't wait...

j/c....

First look...

Video - HBO Hard Knocks: Cleveland Browns

I might have to order HBO just for this.

The last time I tried to order HBO, it screwed up my internet service.

Comcast has since then sent me a new modem and has a new system.

So I might try again.

Over/Under of how many "buddy boys" will be spoken in the 6 episodes?

Whoops, I posted this because I didn't see it anywhere else. My bad... I just missed it. Sorry.

Can the old episodes be accessed later through HBO on demand? Meaning can I watch last years Hard Knocks right now if I get HBO today?
I ask because I’m only minorly interested in watching it. Much depends on how our season goes. If we suck then I won’t care to watch. If we actually turn the corner I’d be interested. I’m done getting emotionally invested in the off season. I’m done with listening to any of them until they produce wins.
So if I can watch reruns later, when I get HBO for Game of Thrones, I’ll watch then if the team shows signs of not completely sucking. If we suck, who cares what any of these guys say or do anyway.

I think you can still see hard knocks from last season, but i'll check for you later

I know that you can get the last one. I just checked, and the only episodes I see are from The Tampa Bay Bucs... I think that was last summer.

Nothing previous to that shows up

They start showing it in August of 2018

Cool. GOT starts in 2019 so I guess if this team isn’t another steaming turd I’ll have to get HOB in November or December and check out Hard Knocks. If we are still an NFL punchline I’ll wait until GOT returns and either not watch it at all, or watch it with disgust that we’ve ‘different crew/same resulted’ another Browns’ season.

Just get caught up on Westworld.

Wait for the Dolby Vision discs.

So, does that mean Comcast suits you? Our cable service changed again from TW to Spectrum. Just wondered if you like yours overall as far as service and quality.

I think it's way over priced. I have Comcast cable and internet. I think it's kind of average. Sometimes their equipment and service is kind of flakey.

I used to have AT&T internet, it wasn't much better.

Doesn't the Browns series begin in early August? If so, that will give us approx a month/4 episodes to watch before the season begins. We wont really know how good we are by the time it airs.

I don't have HBO nor cable. I may have to find some friends who do and show up on their doorstep with a six pack every week to watch.

Portland, you got HBO?

I replied earlier in the thread. I’m letting it play out before I buy into hype. They start winning and I’ll get HBO. You can come over we’ll watch all the episodes, on demand, in one afternoon. Say, mid-November or so. If they play like crap, I’ll have no interest in watching them on Hard Knocks as they ‘prepared to suck’ once again.

Experience the suck as it happens.

I think you’re being too hard on them. I can see mediocrity in our future.

August 7th!

Just to let people know ..... HBO Now is offering a free 1st month.

I think that I am going to be cheap, and wait until the 1st episode airs, and when the 2nd airs, I will sin up for the freebie.

I like the way you think

But will the offer for one free month still be available in August?

I think that it's pretty much a continual thing.

Head coach Hue Jackson, GM John Dorsey along with players Christian Kirksey, Jarvis Landry and Jabrill Peppers talk about the Cleveland Browns being chosen for Hard Knocks. Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Cleveland Browns premieres Aug. 7.

For super fans in Cleveland, the Browns are a religion. Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Cleveland Browns premieres August 7 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.

Get ready for plenty of "This is the Dawg Pound" ... fly overs of Lake Erie ... mentions of the "QB Jersey"

There's my friend/coworker Scott in the white Jim Brown jersey.

(and, that actually sounded like his voice doing the "Here we go Brownies, here we go" chant)

Cleveland Browns fans show their resilience and their excitement for the upcoming season. Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Cleveland Browns premieres August 7 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.