A fascinating part of the HBO/NFL Films Hard Knocks franchise is how frequently the involved NFL teams have not wanted to participate.
In the vast majority of the show’s training camp seasons, the selected team has been one of the few teams that could be “forced” (under protocols the NFL set around that deal) to be there. Thus, Monday’s news that the NFL has “liberalized” which teams can be “forced” onto the show is significant. Josh Kendall of The Athletic posted about that Monday, citing NFL chief media officer Brian Rolapp:
The NFL has always wanted teams to volunteer for Hard Knocks, but that generally hasn’t happened. That meant that rules needed to be established on who could be “forced” to participate. The previous rules, which were established in 2013, meant that teams were only eligible for “forcing” if they didn’t meet any of three criteria for exclusion: appearing on Hard Knocks in the last ten seasons, having a new head coach, or appearing in the NFL playoffs in either of the last two seasons.
That led to a limited pool of flagship Hard Knocks prospects each year. For example, that pool included just three teams last year. It also led to a lot of “forcing” complaints from certain figures on teams who were featured.
We don’t yet know who exactly will be eligible under these “liberalized” rules. We also don’t know what level of “forcing” will actually take place; it’s worth mentioning that most featured teams have at least somewhat come around publicly to the idea after being picked, although some have continued to offer only minimal access. But the stated idea would certainly provide more options for HBO on which team to feature in the training camp docuseries.
More reporting is needed here on exactly what these “liberalized” rules will comprise. But it sounds like a lot more teams will be eligible to be featured on Hard Knocks against their will. And it’s worth nothing that a Hard Knocks spotlight (in any version) has not always gone poorly for teams. Indeed, for all the missteps, there have been many editions since the show’s 2001 start that proved beneficial for teams and associated figures.
There’s been a lot of griping about Hard Knocks not giving covered subjects full editorial control. That’s a big part of why the plan to do one covering Bill Belichick’s North Carolina team fell through, which likely means we won’t get an offseason version this year. However, the show still has been receptive to access restrictions featured teams have tried to impose, sometimes to its detriment (as we saw with the 2019 version on the then-Oakland Raiders). And for all those who gripe about its various incarnations, it’s still wound up able to show those teams off.
For viewers, it seems quite positive that the NFL is expanding the limited pool of teams that can be “forced” to appear. There are plenty of examples that being on Hard Knocks is not necessarily bad for teams. But the level of pushback we’ve seen on it from coaches and executives has meant that the forcing protocols have generally been required each year: even if the selected team and the show tend to eventually put out a joint release on how thrilled they are, the overlap between selected teams and forcing-eligible teams is incredibly high.
Expanding those protocols may not be seen favorably by all teams, but it certainly should expand the choices Hard Knocks has each year.