Tag: Hard Knocks

Steelers will ‘grin and bear it,’ if chosen for 2020 season of ‘Hard Knocks’

The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of the five eligible teams and they have declared their approach to the show if it becomes a part of their 2020 fate.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of the five eligible teams and they have declared their approach to the show if it becomes a part of their 2020 fate.

Steelers will ‘grin and bear it,’ if chosen for 2020 season of ‘Hard Knocks’ (Steelerswire)

The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of the five eligible teams and they have declared their approach to the show if it becomes a part of their 2020 fate.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of the five eligible teams and they have declared their approach to the show if it becomes a part of their 2020 fate.

Broncos eligible to be forced to appear on ‘Hard Knocks’ in 2020

The Broncos are among five NFL teams who meet criteria to be forced to appear on ‘Hard Knocks’ in 2020.

Each offseason, NFL Films teams up with HBO Sports to follow a team through training camp, producing a show dubbed “Hard Knocks.” It’s an entertaining show for fans but super-secretive NFL teams would prefer to keep their methods and practices behind closed doors.

No teams volunteer for the show so the league made some rules that make certain teams exempt from appearing on “Hard Knocks.” Teams that have (1) a new head coach or (2) have a playoff berth within the last two years or (3) have appeared on the show within the last decade are not eligible.

Broncos coach Vic Fangio will be entering his second season in 2020, Denver hasn’t made the playoffs in five years and the team has never appeared on “Hard Knocks” before. That makes them one of five teams that are eligible to be forced to appear on the show in 2020, joining the Steelers, Lions, Jaguars and Cardinals.

Arizona and Denver are probably the two most intriquing options given their promising young QBs. The Cardinals have Kyler Murray and the Broncos have Drew Lock. Charles Curtis of USA TODAY’s For The Win ranked the five eligible teams by watchability and Denver came in at No. 1.

The Broncos have been approached about potentially “volunteering” for the show in the past and turned down the opportunity. If approached again this year, Denver won’t be allowed to say no.

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Ranking the 5 NFL teams that can be on ‘Hard Knocks’ in 2020

There’s one team that’s a better candidate than the rest.

Okay, look: Hard Knocks has certainly lost its luster, especially when there was such a huge opportunity to get some behind-the-scenes gold with Jon Gruden, Mike Mayock and Antonio Brown … and we didn’t get much.

But there’s always hope whoever gets HBO’s cameras in training camp will provide us with some entertainment.

That’s where this annual list comes in. Each year, the NFL exempts certain teams (those with first-year coaches, playoff berths in the past two seasons and those who have appeared on the series in the past 10 years) but the rest are eligible to be forced to be on the show.

That means there are five teams at the moment who are eligible, so let’s rank them by watchability:

5. Pittsburgh Steelers

I just don’t think we’ll see Mike Tomlin give anything away. He has one of the best poker faces in front of the media and that will probably carry over to Hard Knocks — if Gruden found a way to seem fairly chill on the show, then Tomlin will too.

That said, this was funny:

Other than that, I guess I could be talked into watching JuJu Smith-Schuster. But do I need to follow Ben Roethlisberger coming back from injury? Meh.

4. Detroit Lions

This is all about Matt Patricia — will Mr. Beard and Pencil-behind-the-Ear create some television magic? I could actually see it. Plus, they’re coming off a laughable 2019 season and maybe it’d be interesting to know more about Matthew Stafford. But there are better teams below.

3. Jacksonville Jaguars

MINSHEW MAGIC? That’s good for television. Leonard Fournette has proven he can be funny and Doug Marrone press conferences are actually better than a lot of other ones coaches do. It’s just too bad that Jalen Ramsey is no longer a Jaguar.

2. Arizona Cardinals

I just want one camera to follow Kliff Kingsbury around for four weeks. Kyler Murray isn’t the most over-the-top of personalities, but I want to know more about him. Plus, Larry Fitzgerald could return and Patrick Peterson would be great.

1. Denver Broncos

Drew Lock, rapping. That’s it. That’s the show.

Also, lots of John Elway and tons of Von Miller. How can you beat that?

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Cardinals could land on ‘Hard Knocks’ next season

They have never been featured and it would be fun to see.

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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With firing of Pat Shurmur, Giants will once again avoid ‘Hard Knocks’

After firing head coach Pat Shurmur, the New York Giants are exempt from appearing on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” in 2020.

The New York Giants very nearly landed on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” in 2019, but ultimately avoided the big stage when the Oakland Raiders were given the nod.

That was obviously a sigh of relief for co-owner John Mara, who has stated previously that the Giants will appear on “Hard Knocks” only over his dead body.

The good news for Mara & Co? They won’t even be in the running to appear on HBO’s successful docuseries in 2020.

Unless the Giants volunteer — which they certainly won’t — they no longer meet the criteria as outlined by the NFL.

A team is exempt from appearing on the show if:

  • It has a first-year head coach.
  • It has made the playoffs in either of the previous two years.
  • It has appeared on “Hard Knocks” over the previous 10 seasons.

Currently, only five teams meet the necessary criteria to appear — the Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions, Denver Broncos, Jacksonville Jaguars and Pittsburgh Steelers.

Another year, another win for the Giants over HBO.

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