Family Night at Cleveland Browns Stadium - Preview

Practice will take place at Cleveland Browns Stadium on Wednesday, August 8th, starting at 7:00 PM EST, as part of "Family Fun Night." I will be attending the stadium practice once again, and will have as detailed of a report as I can manage afterward. Since this year's session takes place at night, I doubt I will be able to finish my report Wednesday night. You should expect to see it by Thursday afternoon.

I'm sure some of you plan on making the trip up to Cleveland. Here is a primer for anyone who is stoked about seeing the Browns in action for the first time this year.

Admission to the event is free. There will be activities and entertainment outside the stadium, particularly for kids, starting at 4 PM. The south gates to the stadium will open promptly at 6:00 PM. Practice will begin at 7:00 PM and conclude around 8:30 PM. An autograph session and fireworks display will be held at the stadium after practice.

In terms of time, practice is a full hour shorter than the regular practices in Berea and a full hour shorter than last year's Family Fun Day. I hope the players are stretching and doing some of their warmup drills before 7:00 PM, so that there is still be plenty of action to see. The players were in full pads last year, but because they face the Lions in just two days, they will only be in shells and shorts this year.

At least two radio stations will be covering the event in some capacity, per the official team site: "WTAM 1100 AM and Cleveland Browns Daily, Driven By Liberty Ford, on ESPN 850 WKNR, will both broadcast live at Family Night from 6-9 p.m."

Following Tuesday afternoon's practice, head coach Pat Shurmur talked about what fans could expect from the session:

"It’s a normal practice. My concern about doing too much physical now is we’re pressed up toward that preseason game here on Friday. It’ll be a Cleveland Browns experience for the fans. Then there are certain things we need to get done in practice, we’ll do some red zone, we’ll move the ball, we’ll do some kicking. I think it’ll be a fun night. If I wasn’t involved with this team, it would be something I’d come watch."

From my notes last year, here is how the practice session was structured, in order:

a. Stretching
b. Position drills in different areas of the field
c. Red zone 11-on-11 drills, from the 20, 15, 10, and 5-yard lines.
d. Special teams (punting)
e. Offensive line vs. defensive line on one side, and 7-on-7 offense vs. defense on the other side
f. From midfield, 11-on-11 drills
g. Special teams (kickoffs)
h. Simulated series, 11-on-11 drills, where the downs and yardage are kept track of
i. Two-minute drills, with 1:35 on the clock starting from your own 35-yard line
j. Autograph sessions for the fans and interviews

With one hour less time, it'll be interesting to see what gets cut out. If anyone plans on attending, please feel free to tweet @DawgsByNature any nuggets or pictures you take. Or, after the event, feel free to email me any of your photos if you'd like them to be used in our recap post.