The National Football League has yet to announce a team for this season’s edition of Hard Knocks, in part because more than half the eligible franchises do not have palpable interest in the HBO and NFL Films cameras entering their facilities.
In order to be eligible to appear on the show, a team must not have a first-year head coach, not have qualified for the postseason in the last two years or appeared on the show in the last 10 years. The only four teams who fit these criteria are the New Orleans Saints, Chicago Bears, Washington Commanders and New York Jets.
The show is set to premiere on HBO in early August, meaning an announcement should be expected from the league soon. Gregg Giannotti, morning co-host on WFAN, is hoping the Jets ultimately end up being the featured team because of the intriguing storylines surrounding new star quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
“Why in the hell would they be reluctant to market their program and their franchise at the height of the excitement?” Giannotti questioned on Tuesday.
The Jets are featured on primetime games for the maximum six times permitted under the league’s media rights agreement. The team plays its first game on ESPN’s Monday Night Football against the Buffalo Bills, and will also be featured on Amazon Prime Video’s first-ever Black Friday broadcast when they play the Miami Dolphins.
“They have seen the promotional value of Aaron Rodgers already just in the month that he’s been here,” show co-host Boomer Esiason said. “They just don’t want the distraction. I would love for the Jets to be on Hard Knocks.”
It has not yet been determined if there will be another in-season edition of Hard Knocks, but Giannotti noted the struggles of the Colts and Cardinals in the first two seasons.
“When the cameras were in the meeting room, guys were sitting up and they were paying attention,” Esiason said. “[It was] bad because they were replaying Hard Knocks on Wednesday night when now is the time to think about the next team we’re playing; not rehashing the game that we just played.”
The Jets last appeared on Hard Knocks in 2010 under head coach Rex Ryan, a season of the series that won a Sports Emmy award for “Outstanding Edited Sports Series or Anthology.” The Jets refused to appear on the show during the next season after several private moments were exposed, including Darrelle Revis’ contract situation and Antonio Cromartie not remembering all the names of his nine children.
Esiason hopes the league considers asking teams that have not been on the show since its inception in 2001 to appear instead, such as the New England Patriots. Out of all the eligible choices though, Esiason identified the Saints and Jets as the teams most captivating to the viewing audience.
“The other ones aren’t all that interesting to me,” Esiason remarked.
In whatever way the situation ends up playing out, Giannotti asserts that it is Aaron Rodgers calling all of the shots, and that he will have the final say.
“Do you think Aaron Rodgers wants any part of that?,” Giannotti asked. “Probably not – and if he doesn’t want it, the Jets are going to say, ‘No, let’s not do it.’ If he were all about it and say, ‘Hey, I don’t care. I think it would be fun,’ I think the Jets would say ‘Yes.’”
