CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Once upon a time not too long ago the NFL Draft was the Super Bowl for the Browns.
It was the one week a year Browns fans had an ounce of hope but this year the Browns have gone from the draft headliner to host.
The sights in Cleveland are now set on the Super Bowl with the Browns coming off their first winning season under the ownership of the Haslam Sports Group led by Dee and Jimmy Haslam.
“Everybody wants to get to the Super Bowl, that’s the ultimate goal and to win the Super Bowl, but I think we as much as probably more than anybody understand how competitive and hard the NFL is,” Jimmy Haslam said Tuesday during a Zoom video conference with reporters.
Cleveland is welcoming the NFL world to town this week for the Draft, which will be held on the largest stage ever built for the three-day event since it began traveling around the country.
“We could not be more fired up [about] hosting the draft,” Dee Haslam said. “It’s great for the community and the national exposure has just been tremendous.”
Up to 50,000 fans per day will be welcomed during split sessions at the NFL Draft Experience. The draft theater and vaccinated area just outside the theater will host between 4-5,000 vaccinated fans during the draft each day.
“We feel very confident that we can pull off the event safely,” Dee Haslam said. “I do think it’s going to give people some excitement to get out. There’s a lot of people I know that are planning on tailgating and coming downtown and experiencing the draft like they would normally experience a game even though they’re not going to be able to be up close to the stage but just want to experience it. We encourage people to do it, social distance of course but I think it’s going to be a tremendous time in Cleveland and lots of fun.”
Led by the Haslams, the Browns in conjunction with the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission helped land this year’s Draft two years ago.
“Our hope is that it opens Cleveland up not just for the draft, but people see what a great place it is for all kinds of events,” Dee Haslam said. “We think it showcases Cleveland terrifically.”
The Browns, who used to have a reserved spot in the top 10 almost annually, are scheduled to pick 26th this year.
It’s the price of success.
“There’s a tremendous number of great college players like there always are but there’s a reason the NFL has you select in the reverse order to how you finished,” Jimmy Haslam said. “It’d be nice if you could finish high and pick high, but it doesn’t work that way.
“Andrew [Berry] and his team have been working hard since the season’s been over and we know they’re well prepared and ready to go.”
To get to the Super Bowl, the Browns will need another strong draft class.
Proceeds from recent drafts – Myles Garrett, Baker Mayfield, Denzel Ward and Nick Chubb to name a few – have helped the team return to contention and advance in the playoffs last season.
Jimmy Haslam shared that head coach Kevin Stefanski pointed out to his team in their first virtual meeting this offseason how difficult it is for teams to return to the playoffs the following season, nearly half don’t.
“I can assure you we all understand how hard it is to win in the NFL, and I know our coaching staff, our support staff and I believe our players will go in with that type of mindset,” Jimmy Haslam said. “We have a tough schedule, play in a tough division. As Kevin says, we’ve got to work hard to get to where we need to go.”