The Arizona Cardinals begin the work of the offseason as they did not make it to the postseason. They could be in line to become a national story when training camp rolls around.
Every year, HBO’s “Hard Knocks” features an NFL team, filming everything and then showing in its weekly episodes an inside look at training camp.
The Cardinals have never been on the show.
They could this coming year.
According to awfulannouncing.com, the Cardinals are one of five teams this year who qualify for “Hard Knocks” and could be forced to have them in camp.
The five eligible teams are the Cardinals, Pittsburgh Steelers, Detroit Lions, Denver Broncos and Jacksonville Jaguars.
Teams are eligible if they haven’t been on the show in 10 years, don’t have a first-year head coach and haven’t been to the playoffs in two years.
When Bruce Arians was coach, he never wanted to be a part of it, but they made the playoffs his second and third year with the team and he retired after two years of not making the postseason. It was never an option.
The Cardinals had a first-year coach the next two years. This is the first time since before Bruce Arians that they have even been an option.
The Cardinals probably wouldn’t be completely against it. After all, they were featured on Amazon’s “All or Nothing” and they produce an offseason video series called “Cardinals Flight Plan,” although the content is controlled by the team. Getting to be on “Hard Knocks” would just be an extra step forward, giving fans more of a look.
With Kliff Kingsbury and Kyler Murray, plus guys on the team like Patrick Peterson and Chandler Jones, they could be interesting. And since the Cardinals do not really have a national fanbase, it would be an opportunity to get some national attention.
It would certainly make for an added element in training camp.
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Stitcher Radio.
Ep. 254
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Ep. 253:
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