Sports

Check Out This 'Hard Knocks' Teaser About Cleveland Fans

HBO calls the city the place where "hope never dies." Do you still believe in the Cleveland Browns?

CLEVELAND, OH -- Being a Cleveland Browns fan is hard. Even HBO seems to know that.

Not unlike a winter sky in Northeast Ohio, there are few glimmers of light in Cleveland football fandom. Instead, each season seems to pass like a continuous, oppressive streak of grey. Luckily, in that crucible of unbroken sports misery, Browns fans prove their character. They mutter to each other, "There's always next year." The phrase has become a rallying cry for a fanbase crunched beneath the boot of an 0-16 season.

Well, once again, hope is springing along the shores of Lake Erie. After a monumental draft, one that saw the Browns draft yet another "franchise" signal caller, the Dawg Pound sees a meager stack of W's materializing in the win column. And the HBO series "Hard Knocks," which will feature the Browns, wants to capitalize on that budding hope.

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The series released a trailer for the new season of "Hard Knocks" and the rabid fanbase of Cleveland features heavily.

While hope may never fade in Cleveland, it has certainly taken a vicious beating. Over the past two seasons, the Browns are 1-31, a record of ineptitude unmatched in the contemporary NFL. The franchise found itself the butt of national jokes for what felt like the umpteenth season in a row.

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Ridicule fades with victories though. And Clevelanders desperately need a little less ridicule and a little more rewarding for their faith. Let's "hope" this season delivers the goods.

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Photo from Rick Uldricks, Patch

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