According to the folks over at NFL.com - and they ought to know - it appears that participation in the HBO show "Hard Knocks" is no longer voluntary. While the Bengals were the focus this year, the Browns have never volunteered for the program, and may find themselves on the show whether they like it or not.
Starting in 2014, if no team volunteers to be on the show, the NFL will select one based on the following criteria:
1. Team must not have a first-year head coach.
2. Team must not have participated in "Hard Knocks" in the previous ten years.
3. Team must not have made the playoffs in the past two years.
Given that Rob Chudzinski looks safe for next year, the only hope for the Browns to escape what the NFL's web site humbly refers to as "the greatest sports-related show in television history" is to make the playoffs this year. Otherwise, they'll be in a very small group of potential teams and might find themselves "volunteered" for duty.
