CLEVELAND -- “This will be the greatest turnaround in sports history.”
Coach Hue Jackson is confident the Cleveland Browns are a team on the rise after struggling through the first two years of his tenure, and he is not afraid to stand by those words, doing so in a visit with free-agent wide receiver Dez Bryant on the third episode of “Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Cleveland Browns” on Tuesday night.
“I tell you this opportunity that’s sitting before you, to me, is kind of unique in a sense that we’re at a time where I think we’re about to do this [uses hand to signal rising], at a time where you could help us get this organization back to where it rightfully should be,” Jackson said.
“The last two years have been hell. I’ll be the first to tell you that, but it’s going to take guys like you who love to compete, who love to go in these big stadiums. It’s like, ‘We’re here, and we’re coming here to kick your ass,’ and that’s the kind of guys I’m looking for.”
In search “for realness,” Bryant seemed impressed by what Jackson and the Browns’ front-office staff were pitching to him.
“Coach, it’s new to me,” Bryant said. “I’m just being honest. All this is new. Just being honest, the way you’re expressing yourself, the way you’re talking to me, we barely know each other, and I feel comfortable. That’s what these players want.
“I want to just be honest with you. I just want that realness ‘cause I’m going to give you who I am. I feel like I’m an easy person to talk to. I love learning. I want to know things. If there’s something I’m not doing right, I want to know those things ‘cause I feel like we all deserve that. We all deserve that opportunity.”
Referencing Bryant’s quest for “realness,” Jackson brought up the presence of fellow receiver Jarvis Landry, who has been an outspoken, passionate leader on the offense throughout his first training camp with the Browns.
“Absolutely, he’s going to compete,” Jackson said. “As you know, a football team’s got to have enough guys that have that mentality and mindset, and then, it flips. The whole culture flips. The owners, they’ve given these football players anything and everything. We haven’t given them back winning, and that’s the thing that’s got to turn now. In order to deliver, I need guys like you.”
Over 113 games, including 99 starts during his eight years with the Dallas Cowboys, Bryant caught 531 of the 909 passes thrown his way and turned those receptions into 7,459 yards and 73 touchdowns. He caught 101 passes of at least 20 yards and 27 that went for 40 or more yards for the Cowboys.
Additionally, Bryant turned 356 of his 531 receptions (67 percent) into first downs and committed just eight fumbles during his tenure in Dallas.
During his final season with the Cowboys, Bryant caught 69 passes for 838 yards and six touchdowns to go along with eight 20-yard receptions, two 40-yard catches and 44 first downs.
Bryant has yet to sign with the Browns or any other team.
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