On the latest edition of #BuildingtheBrowns, go behind the scenes with the team during a memorable second quarter of the season. You’ll be on the field with Rashard Higgins, Kareem Hunt, Harrison Bryant and more for the team’s big wins over the Colts and Bengals as well as the setbacks in Pittsburgh and against the Raiders. Also in this week’s episodes, you’ll see how the Cleveland Browns Radio Network and FirstEnergy Stadium scoreboard crew have adjusted their operations during the COVID-19 pandemic while still executing the same great product on game days. The Browns made an even bigger impact off the field during this stretch, and BTB details how — through its “Stay in the Game!” partnership — the team made a distribution of $350,000 to East Cleveland Schools to help address the Digital Divide. Exclusive interviews with Kevin Stefanski, assistant coaches and more are also featured in this can’t-miss edition of Building the Browns.
On the latest edition of #BuildingTheBrowns​, go behind the scenes as the Browns make their unforgettable push to the 2020 NFL playoffs. Jarvis Landry and Ronnie Harrison Jr. take viewers on the field during the final stretch of the regular season, as the team overcame a heartbreaking loss to the Ravens and rallied in the face of a number of COVID-19 tests to clinch its first trip to the postseason in 18 years. BTB’s cameras take viewers behind the scenes during the adversity-filled weeks leading up to the Browns’ Wild Card win over the Steelers, their first in the playoffs since 1994, as well as their season-ending loss to the Chiefs in the AFC Divisional Round. The episode also captures what the Browns’ 2020 success meant for the best fans in football, who greeted the team at the airport after its two playoff games and lined up in droves for the Playoff Drive Thru Rally outside of FirstEnergy Stadium. Interviews with head coach Kevin Stefanski, assistant coaches, players and more are featured throughout the episode, which will get fans even more fired up for what the Browns can accomplish in 2021 and beyond.
Really good stuff. I like to see the preparation stuff and interaction on the sidelines. Guys like Hunt, Jarvis, Richardson really helped to turn the tide here.
"First down inside the 10. A score here will put us in the Super Bowl. Cooper is far to the left as Njoku settles into the slot. Moore is flanked out wide to the right. Chubb and Ford are split in the backfield as Watson takes the snap ... Here we go."
Watched it today. I seriously had some watery eyes.
Me too bro.
I've been bitter, probably better described as p*ssed off. We had too many chances to walk away from KC with a L. Everybody's been all excited about exceeding expectations, I'm mad because you only get so many opportunities. That was the first bit of game footage I've watched since the loss. Yeah, I'm still mad, but that was a nice way to stare down the barrel and see how far we've come.
Watching coach at the end is what got me.
He is a leader of men, plain and simple. When he speaks - players listen, and it makes an impact. It's short on "rah-rah" and hyperbole, because that's not needed, the substance is 100% spot on. We're so lucky (although that's hard to say, after all of the "bad" luck).
The moment he spent with Njoku on the bench after the game was special, it was raw and it was real. Sometimes I write players off as soon as they hint that they want to move on... as the season went on, as we saw his progress with all the things that don't show up on the stat sheet... and as we see his emotions at the end... I really hope we can work things out and we see his full potential come to fruition here in Cleveland.
I'm just going to interject this thought, and then I'll be checking out to watch this latest episode:
I can't express how much more enjoyable it is to read off season commentary like this. I haven't given so much as a single thought to the draft yet- and that's a good thing. It means that I have full faith that there is a foundation and system in place. Finally, the Browns are a team that can use draft picks to complement its current roster, not replace it. That is an immense improvement over what we've known as Browns Football.
As disappointing as our last game was, it is a very different species of disappointment. I'd much rather live with this type than the hopeless variety I've known for so long. I'm actually wearing a slight smile as I type this, because I can feel more good news in our future.
This is all so- new. Still trying to figure out how to stuff my PTSD in a wall safe- and forget the combination.
All you can do with PTSD is stuff it in a box in the back of your brain. It can come out from time to time but you have managed to find a way to put it back in the box.
I really look forward to Building the Browns. It is an excellent production. We have to give Dee a lot of thanks for that. I always find myself eager for the next episode.
I suppose we will hit a lull here with the next one with a post draft focus. Maybe we will get one in April with a free agency focus.
Right now lets just focus on getting enough people vaccinated so come September I/we can again use my season tickets to go to games next year. I really missed my trips to Cleveland to watch the Browns.
I guess I have known it for a while, but that is what my life has evolved in to since entering retirement. I go to Browns games.
Next month I will start to check the stores for warm weather gear on close-out. Got to have some new insulated boots to wear, sweatshirts, etc.
Once the schedule in announced, the real fun begins. I like to plan, so it is then the time to book rooms and even dinner reservations if possible. No last minute crap in this house. I look for back to back home games and get with the wife on where we might go the week between rather than head home. Haven't been to Greenfield Village outside Detroit in years. I want to do that, then drive up to Mackinaw, head to the Island and spend a few nights at the Grand Hotel. Then head back to Cleveland for the back end of the doubleheader.
No doubt I have to cross check the Browns schedule with the Indians and Cavs schedules to find those golden weekends where I can catch both teams play. A weekend of Cleveland sports. Is there anything better than that? I say not.
Yep, the Browns are a 12 month a year operation in this house.
If everybody had like minds, we would never learn.
As disappointing as our last game was, it is a very different species of disappointment. I'd much rather live with this type than the hopeless variety I've known for so long. I'm actually wearing a slight smile as I type this, because I can feel more good news in our future.
Yes indeed. This is like the late 70's and late 80's Browns....might have a disappointing end to the season, but you couldn't wait for the next season to begin. There was none of the hoping for a good draft and a new coach to turn things around...and knowing in the bottom of your gut that it's just going to be the same crap/different year.
And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul. - John Muir
#BuildingtheBrowns​ is back for 2021 as Kevin Stefanski, Andrew Berry and the football staff set their sights on the 2021 offseason. Go behind-the-scenes with Area Scout Max Paulus as he travels through the Pro Day circuit searching for the next great Cleveland Browns. The Browns fortify their defense via Free Agency with the additions of John Johnson III, Takk McKinley, Troy Hill and more. Watch as they take their first steps in Berea meeting their new coaches, Browns staff, as well as tour their new home.
5 things we learned from the 1st Building the Browns of 2021
From coaches and personnel returning Berea, to new free-agent arrivals embracing their new team, Building the Browns captured all of the behind the scenes action from the first months of the offseason
The first two months of the NFL offseason are complete, and so are some of the biggest moves the Browns will make in an offseason that follows their best season in decades.
Episode 1 of the 2021 edition of Building the Browns captured all of the action. Coaches returned to their offices and free agents arrived in Cleveland to begin an offseason full of high anticipation to get back to work and build on the success of 2020.
The Building the Browns crew captured all of the behind-the-scenes action that can't be seen anywhere else. Here were the biggest takeaways from their first installment of the year:
1. Coaching continuity eased Browns into offseason For the first time in two years, the first days of the Browns' offseason in Berea weren't full of introductions, handshakes and headlines about new personnel coming to Cleveland to begin a new coaching regime.
The Browns will have a nearly 100 percent return rate on all coaches from 2020. That meant the team headquarters were calm and quiet as personnel trickled back into team headquarters near the end of February to begin the offseason. Building the Browns caught quick interviews with nearly every assistant coach and coordinator to signify what coaching continuity means to them and how crucial it will be for the Browns in 2021.
"I think coaching continuity is a huge deal," head coach Kevin Stefanski said. "We're so fortunate to bring everybody back. I think in Year 2, we understand each other, we understand our kind of schemes, we're pushing each other, and I think that should, in theory, show up with the players as you begin to teach your systems again."
The theme of coaching continuity will be one of the top storylines during training camp. A second straight year with the same coaches should help quarterback Baker Mayfield, who will start his first season ever with the same head coach as the previous year. It should also help the defense, as the Browns attempt to mold their young crop of players with several key free agent signings that should provide a big boost to the unit.
"I'm really proud of what Coach Stefanski was able to do," defensive coordinator Joe Woods said. "From Day 1 and the first meeting we had on Zoom and starting the process for which type of culture we were going to have under him."
2. Scouts take extra strides to complete pre-draft reports While all things might have seemed quiet and comfortable on the coaching front, Browns scouts were in the midst of navigating through one of their most unique offseasons ever.
Many of the typical activities they go through at the NFL Scouting Combine were moved to virtual settings due to the pandemic. When they weren't on a screen chatting with draft prospects, they were coordinating pro day visits, which offered them their only chance to see college players in person and on turf for a workout.
"One of the biggest priorities in planning for pro days is the scheduling component," said Max Paulus, an area scout. "Really, this is just to ensure we have a presence and proper coverage of pro days across the country mainly to get the measurable and verified information on all the various prospects."
As Paulus outlined the logistics, player personnel coordinator Megan Rock was shown scribbling the dates of all of the top college pro days on a massive white board calendar. Last season, the NFL was able to complete the scouting combine before COVID-19 changed the country. This season, scouts needed to complete their whole offseason under virtual protocols, which provided several scheduling and meeting challenges when attempting to speak with prospects.
Rock's white board schedule showed just how tall of a task that can be.
"In a pre-COVID world at the combine, we knew the exact schedule for when we'd be interviewing the players," Rock said. "The players had their schedules. This year, you're working with an agent and player and calling and texting them — and relying on them to make an appointment, keep the appointment and remember the appointment."
Executive Vice President of Football Operations and GM Andrew Berry, however, believes the whole process couldn't have been much smoother.
"Typically you get a pretty good sense of guys in February, but it's nothing that's been insurmountable," he said. "We'll be where we need to be by the time the draft comes."
3. Browns free agents feel Cleveland love upon arrival Stefanski and the rest of the Browns coaches missed out on being able to shake hands with their new free agents last spring.
That was the small price of completing deals at the beginning of the pandemic. Now, as coaches and new acquisitions take daily tests, both sides can exchange a warm, in-person exchange. Masks were still worn, but nothing could hold back the smiles of coaches and players before they sat down to discuss their big plans for 2021.
"That's a big deal, to be able to see your players in person, shake their hand and look them in the eye," Stefanski said. "That was something we missed and didn't get to until training camp of last year. I see great value in that human interaction we've all been missing, and hopefully that becomes the norm when we're able to be in-person with all our players."
For safety John Johnson III, the first free-agent domino to fall the Browns' direction this offseason, the love was felt as soon as he arrived in Downtown Cleveland.
"I just felt people looking at me, and I was like, 'There's no way they know who I am,'" Johnson said with a smile. "And then I see someone who was like, 'Hey! Just do your thing this year!' and I was like, 'What?!'
"(It hasn't even been) 24 hours here. That's what type of town it's going to be, so imagine what it's going to be like when I start making plays."
4. Troy Hill comes home A few days after the Browns' bolstered their defense with Johnson, DE Takkarist McKinley and LB Anthony Walker, they made a push for another top defensive free agent still on the market: CB Troy Hill.
For Hill, who grew up in Youngstown, signing with the Browns was extra special. He was coming home after leaving Northeast Ohio as a teenager to complete high school and attempt a football career.
By joining the Browns, Hill's journey was coming full circle.
"I'm a hometown kid," he said. "I came back to a city like Cleveland that's been through so much, has been fighting through adversity and has been building. I feel like this is a perfect match for me."
Hill's background makes him a tremendous fit for the Browns, but so does his versatility on the field. With Hill, the Browns have a player capable of starting in the slot, which was one of the holes they needed to address this offseason. He can also play on the outside and should provide quality depth behind Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams, the current players projected to play on the outside.
"The ability to have a corner who can play at a high level on both the inside and outside gives us a lot of flexibility with who we have on the roster and who we may add moving forward," Berry said.
5. Excitement builds after stellar free agency Once the action from the first week of free agency settled, the Browns received rave reviews for how they navigated their signings.
The primary emphasis, of course, was placed on defense, where five free agents — one for each position — were added. Every signing added depth, versatility and the possibility of a new starter to upgrade a unit that ranked 21st in the league last season.
"There are four overwhelming favorites in the AFC," said Colin Cowherd on The Herd. "Kansas City, Buffalo, Indy and Cleveland. It is go time."
And the Browns aren't done. They're in position to add another top playmaker early in the NFL draft and add depth to several other positions via their nine total picks.
All that work will be covered in the next Building the Browns.
After Episode 1, however, it's evident the Browns are pleased with how the offseason has begun.
Catch the next episode of Building the Browns on Sunday, April 25, at 11 a.m. on News 5 or the Browns' YouTube Channel.
Building The Browns 2021: The Draft Is Here (Ep. 3)
In this episode of #BuildingtheBrowns​, the stage has been set for the 2021 NFL Draft in Cleveland. Go behind the scenes for all three days in Berea as Andrew Berry, Kevin Stefanski and the football staff assemble the Browns 2021 Draft Class. Watch as Greg Newsome II, Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Anthony Schwartz step foot into the Browns facility for the first time as they meet their new coaches and the football staff in addition to selecting their jersey numbers and more.
I liked this episode with so much inside info during the draft. You could tell coach really was happy about JOK
"First down inside the 10. A score here will put us in the Super Bowl. Cooper is far to the left as Njoku settles into the slot. Moore is flanked out wide to the right. Chubb and Ford are split in the backfield as Watson takes the snap ... Here we go."
This FO knows what their doing, they wanted certain players to fit their system and they got them ...
John 3:16 Jesus said "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."
I agree. I liked how there was very little fluff or auxiliary information ... it was all inside the facility and the draft
"First down inside the 10. A score here will put us in the Super Bowl. Cooper is far to the left as Njoku settles into the slot. Moore is flanked out wide to the right. Chubb and Ford are split in the backfield as Watson takes the snap ... Here we go."
Building the Browns is the best local media series ever produced in Cleveland.
It is really well done. I have enjoyed every episode.
It is like a homer version of Hard Knocks. It gives the fans a real feel for the people inside the organization.
*sidebar note. Props to Jimmy Haslam and family. One thing not mentioned is how Jimmy has remained "silent". He is staying behind the scenes and letting all the others get the credit. The Anti- Jerry Jones.
BtB is a excellent way to connect the team to the fans. Makes me proud of Cleveland and the support the Browns have.
Speaking of Hard Knocks, I wouldn’t mind if they came back. I didn’t watch the last time they were here because I was fed up with all the talk and no action/wins. I had zero tolerance for coach speak and rah rah garbage backed by losses. Turns out I was right about the hype. What came after was a turd of a season.
If they came back now it’d be interesting to see the behind the scenes of the improved culture and how it’s reflected on the field.
Entirely because of last years results. The second half this team came together.
Obviously Baker's growth was huge.
Now with the changes made on defense. There is little doubt about the true direction of this team.
There are no guarantees in sports. Lots of variables at play. From my own viewpoint when I look at this roster and the returning coaching staff. I can not help feeling otimistic.
This is actually the first episode of "Building the Browns" that I felt was far more information than hype. I loved it and hope as the series continues they will follow this path.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Hard Knocks will probably come down to two teams this year IMO:
Cowboys or Cardinals
"First down inside the 10. A score here will put us in the Super Bowl. Cooper is far to the left as Njoku settles into the slot. Moore is flanked out wide to the right. Chubb and Ford are split in the backfield as Watson takes the snap ... Here we go."
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
![[Linked Image]](http://www.dawgtalkers.net/uploads/small-gator-chomp.gif)
![[Linked Image]](http://www.dawgtalkers.net/uploads/PortlandDawg/banner.jpg)
