The Aviles acquisition: Small tinkering or the first sign of major change?
November 5, 2012Olney: Indians should trade Cabrera, Santana, Choo, Masterson, Perez and Pestano
November 5, 2012It isn’t Hard Knocks, but it appears the Browns are going to be the stars of a television series–
“The National Football League will announce a deal with the network to provide unprecedented access to one of its teams as it travels to away games. NFL Road Tested: The Cleveland Browns will premiere Dec. 4 at 10 p.m. and follow the Browns as it prepares to play in New York, Baltimore, Dallas, Oakland, Denver and Pittsburgh.”
How did this come to be? How else-
“Travel Channel’s connection to the NFL comes via the Browns’ new owner Jimmy Haslam, a prominent businessman from Knoxville, Tenn., where Travel Channel parent Scripps Networks Interactive, is based. Scripps has been working to rebuild the Travel Channel since acquiring it from Cox Communications in 2009.”
The story comes from Jon Lafayette who continues-
“This show will offer viewers a great perspective of the inner-workings of an NFL team and what it takes to support a team,” Haslam said in a statement. “With Travel Channel working alongside NFL Films and RIVR Media, we expect that this will be first-class production. We are excited about what this will mean to Northeast Ohio, the Browns and our fans.” Singer added, “Working with the Emmy award-winning storytellers from NFL Films, NFL Road Tested: The Cleveland Browns will take viewers beyond the gridiron and inside the action that happens between games as the storied franchise attempts to return to football greatness.”
I’m sold.
UPDATE: Official release from the Browns-
“Travel Channel has partnered with NFL Films and RIVR Media on a new series that pulls back the curtain on the current 2012 season of the Cleveland Browns in “NFL Road Tested: The Cleveland Browns,” premiering on Tuesday, December 4 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.
NFL Films will provide unprecedented access to Travel Channel to unveil never-before-seen footage of what it takes to travel an entire professional football team from city to city, game to game, during the regular season. Every road trip requires a massive amount of coordination to haul the 150-person squad 20,000 miles a season. From feeding an entire team, to clothing and housing them, to how a stadium prepares and deals with more than 70,000 rabid fans, Travel Channel’s cameras are there to capture this massive undertaking.
In addition, viewers will see how the Cleveland Browns prepare each week through the eyes of the players and team management, including new owner Jimmy Haslam. They can expect to learn more about the history behind deeply-rooted team rivalries and other notable insights not typically covered in game-coverage news. Episodes will focus around the weeks leading up to games played against the New York Giants, Baltimore Ravens, Dallas Cowboys, Oakland Raiders, Denver Broncos and Pittsburgh Steelers. The announcement was jointly made today by Andy Singer, General Manager, Travel Channel, and Howard Katz, Chief Operating Officer, NFL Films.
“This series is a first-of-its-kind program providing an exclusive pass to NFL fans during the season. This is an emotionally-charged world. Now, viewers will get a never-before-seen opportunity to see what it’s like for players to live on the road, often away from their families. We’ll hear from the players themselves, coaches and scores of support staff in multiple cities,” said Singer. “Working with the Emmy award-winning storytellers from NFL Films, ‘NFL Road Tested: The Cleveland Browns’ will take viewers beyond the gridiron and inside the action that happens between games as the storied franchise attempts to return to football greatness.”
“We look forward to working with Travel Channel to bring fans a behind-the-scenes look at the logistical preparations leading into each week’s game,” said Katz.
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to participate in such an exciting and unique endeavor,” said Browns owner Jimmy Haslam. “This show will offer viewers a great perspective of the inner-workings of an NFL team and what it takes to support a team. With Travel Channel working alongside NFL Films and RIVR Media, we expect that this will be first-class production. We are excited about what this will mean to Northeast Ohio, the Browns and our fans.”
“NFL Road Tested: The Cleveland Browns” is co-produced by NFL Films and RIVR Media for Travel Channel. For NFL Films, the executive producers are Pat Kelleher and Ross Ketover. For RIVR Media, the executive producers are Rob Lundgren and Lori Stryer, and supervising producer is J.W. Johnson. For Travel Channel, the executive producer is Brian Leonard.
14 Comments
nice – is this one episode or a series?
New drinking game. Drink every time there is a shot of Shurmur doing any of the following:
1. Eating Paste
2. Crying
3. Poop-facing
4. Tying himself up in a knot doing cats-cradles
5. Gluing himself to a locker
6. Staring into space and nodding to himself
He loves “poop facing” too much especially followed by a grimace and a head shake. We’re going to be so wasted.
Can’t wait til they show what it looks like when an NFL coach is fired. We’ve seen players cut on Hard Knocks, let’s see the other side
Cool idea… I will watch. It’ll be nice to watch the Browns without having to watch them play football.
Hopefully they’ll win at least one of those remaining games…
So was the footage already recorded for the New York segment? The first press release is worded weird since we already played at New York and don’t travel there again this year.
Unless the league is fixed, and this wasn’t supposed to be mentioned and the league is setting up an improbable Browns vs. Jets playoff game.
I hope every episode ends like the “Blanket Party” scene from Full Metal Jacket, with Pat playing the part of Private Pyle.
Did I really get a down vote on this? People need to chill out.
Ya, same with the Ravens. I find it interesting that no substantial rumors surfaced (at least not that I’ve heard of). It’s kind of hard to keep 60+ people from leaking this, most of whom have pretty easy access to media, or at the very least, Twitter.
You do know what Pvt. Pyle did at the end, no? We just got Haslam. I don’t want to lose him! Especially not that way.
Looking forward to watching Colt McCoy visit the Goobers factory 😀
Very good point on the secrecy part. Very strange.
Perhaps this hasn’t been mentioned because it’s so widely known, but just wanted to point out that RIVR media is owned by Mrs. Haslam. Not passing any judgments, just pointing a relevant tidbit. Talk amongst yourselves…