This year’s edition of HBO’s “Hard Knocks” will feature something completely new: two teams instead of one. And with the Rams and Chargers moving into SoFi Stadium together, HBO is planning to feature both teams on the show.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, as long as there are training camps this summer, the Rams and Chargers are expected to be selected to be on “Hard Knocks.”
The Rams most recently appeared on the show in 2016 when they moved back to Los Angeles from St. Louis. It was Jared Goff’s rookie year, too, which made it a perfect choice for HBO. The Chargers have never appeared on the show.
According to Schefter, the announcement was supposed to be made last week during the league’s annual meeting, but it was canceled so nothing was made official – and still hasn’t been.
The biggest uncertainty is whether training camps will even take place this summer due to the coronavirus. OTAs and minicamp have already been canceled and there’s no guarantee the season will even start on time.
Neither the Rams and Chargers could be forced to be on Hard Knocks this year because they made the playoffs in 2018. So obviously they’re OK with being featured on the show, which is somewhat surprising.
Goff has talked at length about how much he disliked the cameras always being around, especially with him being a rookie.
“No, zero. Not one thing,” Goff said in 2018 of whether there was anything good about being on the show. “And we were on it from – I was drafted in April, and as soon as we landed in L.A. it was like ‘Hard Knocks’ cameras. So you go through the whole offseason with it and we went through training camp – and the people are awesome, the NFL Films people are nice. There’s a camera in every room, you’re always looking around to see if it’s on, you’re always wondering if there’s a microphone under the table, you’re always on edge.”
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