The aggressive tactics being taken to exclude the media from the inner workings of the Cleveland Browns continued today as it was reported first year head coach Mike Pettine declined the opportunity for his team to be featured on HBO’s wildly popular docu-series “Hard Knocks”.
According to reports, the team may have turned down the offer before they even drafted Johnny Manziel last month. Since that draft, there have been many media outlets trying to find there way to Berea to get a glimpse of Johnny Football. However, the Browns shut down their camps and only allowed local media and few others in on their practices.
League rules state that a team cannot refuse to partake in the HBO series unless the head coach is in his first year. Per this rule, the Browns may never fulfill the prerequisites to be part of the show since they have a turnstyle at the head coaching position.
Pettine, however, did not rule out the teams future involvement with the show.
“There are positives and negatives to doing it,” Pettine said, “It’s not something I would say we’d never do, partly because the league can make us do it.”
It’s safe to say that if Johnny Football is the next quarterback in Cleveland, HBO will be knocking at their door as soon as they are able to start recording.
