Not everyone on the Cardinals is excited about ‘Hard Knocks’

Right tackle Kelvin Beachum has mixed feelings about the Cardinals being on “Hard Knocks” this season.

When it was announced that the Arizona Cardinals would be featured in the in-season version of HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” many within the organization expressed excitement and optimism, citing the possibility of a late-season lift in motivation since there will be cameras everywhere.

Veteran right tackle Kelvin Beachum was asked if he was excited about “Hard Knocks” featuring the team.

“No,” he said.

He elaborated further s to why.

“The thing is the locker room is a safe space,” he explained. “That’s an area — and our offensive line room, for us, is a place where we can just be guys sometimes. To have to filter conversation in that respect, it is what it is.”

Not everything about being on the show could be bad, though.

“It’s going to happen in the second half of the season, which I’m excited about, so that it might give us a little bump, because we’ve struggled there the last couple of years,” he added. “We’ll see what happens.”

He isn’t sure how it will go for him.

“I’ve never been on ‘Hard Knocks’ before. I’ve had teammates who’ve been a part of ‘Hard Knocks.’ I’ve never watched ‘Hard Knocks,’ so it’s going to be an interesting experience.”

It will surely be for a lot of players.

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Kliff Kingsbury sees ‘Hard Knocks’ potentially giving Cardinals late-season boost

The Colts were 3-5 and won six of their last seven games when they were on ‘Hard Knocks.’ Kingsbury sees the opportunity as motivation.

The Arizona Cardinals were chosen to be featured on HBO’s in-season version of “Hard Knocks.” That means, during the second half of the season, there will be camera crews documenting practices and meetings.

While some might see this as a distraction, Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury sees it as a positive thing for multiple reasons.

“I think it’s exciting,” he told reporters after Monday’s first practice of OTAs.  “Anytime you get a chance to highlight some of the great people we have in this building, not just players, but coaches (and) staff, (to) tell their stories (and) see a different side of them. I think it will be really good TV.”

It isn’t just the storytelling he sees as a good thing.

He believes it could also help the quality of football. He pointed to the Indianapolis Colts, the featured team for the show’s inaugural in-season run.

“They were 3-5 when the show came,” Kingsbury said. “They won six out of seven and felt like it was kind of like a shot in the arm having them come in. It should be a pretty cool experience.”

The Cardinals have faded late each of the past two seasons. In 2020, they were 6-3 and finished 8-8, missing the playoffs. In 2021, they started 10-2 and finished 11-6 before getting eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

Kingsbury believes having the HBO crew in the building and on the practice field could increase everyone’s focus.

“In my experience, anytime a camera is around, people tend to step up and be on the Ps and Qs a little bit more,” he explained. “I think it can be a real positive that stretch of the season for us.

“I think, coaches and players, you’re going to want to be on your ‘A’ game and be well prepared anytime that camera is around and make sure that you’re putting your best foot forward. I think it could be a real motivational tool if we approach it the right way.”

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Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

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All Eyez on Cleveland Podcast special edition w/ Hard Knocks producer Ken Rodgers

Rodgers is a great guest and informative resource on what’s going on behind the scenes in the NFL

A new episode of  ‘All Eyez on Cleveland’ with Ken Rodgers, VP of NFL Films, lead creative producer and showrunner for HBO’s Hard Knocks, is now available. Listen to show host Brad Ward (@WardonSports) as he talks Cleveland Browns football with the most influential personalities in the Cleveland sports landscape.

On this episode of ‘All Eyez on Cleveland’ –

  • Ken Rodgers, VP of NFL Films, head creative producer and showrunner for HBO’s Hard Knocks joins the show
  • Making the show with two teams this year
  • How the lack of an offseason has changed things
  • Making the show during a pandemic
  • Highlighting the efforts of the NFL to play football in a pandemic
  • The protocols his crew must abide by
  • Show personalities
  • Sean McVay and Anthony Lynn
  • And so much more…

You can listen to all episodes of ‘All Eyez on Cleveland’ podcast on multiple platforms, including iTunes, Spreaker, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, Google Play, TuneIn, Radio.com, Pod Knife and Player FM.

Listen: https://chtbl.com/track/DDGB4C/traffic.libsyn.com/secure/alleyezoncleveland/Head_Producer_of_Hard_Knocks_Ken_Rodgers_joins_the_show.mp3?stats-code=HardKnocks

Listen(Apple Podcasts): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/head-producer-hard-knocks-ken-rodgers-joins-show-to/id1497838211?i=1000487366866

Listen(Spotify): https://open.spotify.com/episode/1jGK8vpbo2aF0DGOMuWHBO?si=GHKAchMTTpauglxJlhCFMA

Web Page: http://alleyezoncleveland.com/head-producer-of-hard-knocks-ken-rodgers-joins-the-show

[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/871617214" params="color=#ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&show_teaser=true&visual=true" width="100%" height="300" iframe="true" /] Brad Ward · Head Producer of Hard Knocks Ken Rodgers joins the show