Nearly a quarter-century after airing its first episode, Hard Knocks has become somewhat of a polarizing presence in the sports documentaries space.
On the one hand, HBO’s long-running series now offers behind the scenes access to select NFL teams before, during and after each season. On the other, it is an NFL Films product, which means there’s only so much it’s ever going to be willing to show.
After all, there’s a reason why the first-ever “offseason” edition of the series caused such a stir, as it provided an unprecedented look at the New York Giants’ attempt — or lack thereof — to re-sign star running back Saquon Barkley. On the surface, seeing NFL owners and executives negotiate with agents over the phone is fairly benign. But it isn’t often — if ever — that the NFL puts its teams in a position to be as embarrassed as the Giants now have been.
Which brings us to Tuesday night’s premiere of Hard Knocks: In-Season with the AFC North.
For the first time ever, Hard Knocks will simultaneously focus on four teams. That means that it will also have four times as many potential landmines to avoid.
And while they may be entering December in last place of the division, no AFC North team possesses a bigger storyline it wants to avoid more than the Cleveland Browns. That, of course, comes in the form of Deshaun Watson, whose pedestrian play helped sink the Browns’ 2024 campaign before he suffered a season-ending torn Achilles in Week 7.
Although he hasn’t played in a game since October, there isn’t a bigger Browns-related story this season than Watson, whose time in Cleveland has been marred by the fallout of several sexual misconduct allegations and his lackluster play. The three-time Pro Bowl quarterback was even a main character during Cleveland’s loss to the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football this week, with ESPN’s Troy Aikman repeatedly opining that the Browns could have saved their season had they benched Watson for Jameis Winston sooner.
Troy Aikman says what a lot of Browns fans have been saying for weeks now about their disappointing season.
“This year hasn’t been what people thought coming in. But the albatross is Deshaun Watson. If you go to Jameis Winston earlier in the year, does this look different?” pic.twitter.com/KnwmoSJ02B
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 3, 2024
Aikman’s take is hardly a unique one in Cleveland and one could imagine that extends to at least part of the Browns’ building and locker room as well. Will we hear as much via Hard Knocks? I wouldn’t bet on it. But that doesn’t mean this is a storyline that should be ignored.
If you’re going to tell the story of the Cleveland Browns’ 2024 season — which Hard Knocks is presumably striving to do — then you can’t just gloss over Watson’s role in it. Sure, we’ll probably at least get some backstory to the circumstances surrounding Winston’s recent reemergence. But anything treating the sizable shadow that Watson has cast over the Browns this season like a mere footnote would be a cop out.
Does that mean that all of Hard Knocks should be focused on Watson and what may very well be the worst trade in NFL history? Of course not. But the entire situation and its ongoing fallout should be addressed in a manner that reflects the reality of Cleveland’s 2024 campaign.
This isn’t just about Watson and/or the Browns getting their medicine, either (although there is admittedly some of that). But considering the disappointing nature of its 3-9 record, there’s plenty of uncertainty in Cleveland entering the final month of the regular season. And Watson is the biggest reason why.
Fortunately for Hard Knocks, it has plenty of built-in excuses, including that the Browns only represent 25 percent of the teams its covering this season and that Watson was injured long before its cameras arrived in Northeast Ohio. Still, how the series addresses Watson’s role in Cleveland’s disastrous season will be informative regarding how much authenticity Hard Knocks wants to accompany its access moving forward.
