CLEVELAND -- For years, the executives at HBO Sports have wanted to feature the Cleveland Browns on their training-camp documentary series, “Hard Knocks,” and after several tries to get the organization to commit to it, they are getting their chance to do so this summer.
Coming off of only the second 0-16 regular season in NFL history, the Browns will be featured on the 13th installment of “Hard Knocks” as they go through their preparations for the 2018 season.
“We have been interested in the Browns for quite a many years,” NFL Films Vice President Ken Rodgers told reporters in Berea Wednesday. “We have such respect for the franchise. Of course, if you grow up under Steve Sabol as a filmmaker, you know about the Cleveland Browns and you are told about how important that franchise is.”
PHOTOS: Cleveland Browns embrace opportunity to bring fans closer to team with 'Hard Knocks'
With their 28-24 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on New Year’s Eve 2017, the Browns went winless in a 16-game season for the first time in franchise history, and their 17th consecutive setback dropped the organization to a league-worst 1-31 record since the opening game of 2016.
The Browns have not won on a Sunday afternoon since December 13, 2015. The 33 straight Sunday losses are an NFL record, and their 4-49 mark in the last 53 outings is the worst in the league over the past four-plus years.
Additionally, this season, the Browns set the record for the worst 28-game stretch in NFL history, as they bested the previous mark of 2-26 set by the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the 1976-1977 seasons with a 1-27 mark that got four losses worse since Week 13.
But after adding more than a dozen veteran players in free agency and waiver-wire claims and a draft where key needs were addressed, Jackson is confident the 2018 Browns will help turn around the fortunes of a franchise with just one playoff appearance and two winning seasons since their return to the National Football League in 1999.
“We kept an eye on free agency and the draft, but we had already targeted our No. 1 pick,” Rodgers said. “I think that solidified it in the fact that they had quite an interesting free-agency period and draft. It was definitely thought of way before then that this is the team that we wanted to do.”
Despite the storylines of the team coming off of an 0-16 season, having spent the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft on quarterback Baker Mayfield and utilized plenty of salary-cap space to build up the roster in free agency, HBO wanted to feature the Browns because they believe in the history of the "blue-blood franchise" and passion of the fan base.
“I think there is something that has always been attractive to the blue-collar work ethic of Cleveland matching its football team,” Rodgers said.
“That is not everywhere. Some teams are more glamorous. Some teams want to overpower you and be tough. There always seems to be this outside perception that this is about hard work here in Cleveland, both on and off of the field. I know that is something we will see when we are here in August. I think that is why the Browns are so well-liked across the board and so paid attention to, because it speaks to something about that Midwest work ethic.”
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