Whether it’s through social media, streaming, or conventional television, there is no doubt that the National Football League is trying to take fans to places to which they previously had little to no access. Nowadays, it’s commonplace to see locker room speeches right after games, or players’ lives away from the field in docuseries like Netflix’s Quarterback.
If we want to trace back to the genesis of this access age in which we now live, HBO’s annual training camp series Hard Knocks is probably the first real peek behind the curtain. Through that series, the folks at NFL Films took us into coach’s and player’s meeting rooms, general manager’s offices, and the players’ home lives.
Hard Knocks has been around for over two decades. The Houston Texans had their season in the sun back in 2015. I say “season in the sun” somewhat tongue in cheek, as most teams would rather avoid being the subject of the show. Still, the brand has only grown over the last few years, as there are now three editions of it each year — the original training camp version, an in-season version (now covering a full division’s worth of teams), and an offseason version.
The offseason version went so horrendously for the New York Giants in 2024 that every NFL team refused to be subjected to it this spring, so instead, the folks at HBO Max will cover Bill Belichick’s University of North Carolina program.
The training camp version is the big one, though, and most teams would rather not endure the daily coverage and allow the daily access to outsiders. The NFL rules have always stated that a team can refuse to be on Hard Knocks if they fit one of these three criteria — (1) made the playoffs one of the last two seasons, (2) have a new head coach, or (3) have been the subject any time in the last ten years.
Under those rules, the Texans would avoid being on the show. However, there are now new, much looser criteria which make far more teams unable to refuse the invitation to be on “Hard Knocks.”
So, it goes like this — the new criteria for teams allowed to say “no thanks” to “Hard Knocks” are:
* Teams with a first-year head coach
* Teams on Hard Knocks: Training Camp in the last eight seasons (2017-2024)
* Teams featured in that season’s in-season edition (which, again, covers a full division)
The previous playoff exemption (if you were a playoff team the last two years) is gone, meaning more teams are now eligible. The show’s producers have yet to announce which division will be covered on the in-season edition of the show, so as of right now, here is the list of eligible teams that can be forced to say “Yes” to being on “Hard Knocks”:
Arizona Cardinals
Atlanta Falcons
Baltimore Ravens
Buffalo Bills
Carolina Panthers
Cincinnati Bengals
Denver Broncos
Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans
Kansas City Chiefs
Indianapolis Colts
Miami Dolphins
Minnesota Vikings
New York Giants
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks
Tennessee Titans
Washington Commanders
If I had to guess, I don’t think Texans fans need to make plans to be seated strategically at training camp or anything. I don’t think the Texans are near the top of the producers’ “wish list,” what with the defending Super Bowl champion (Eagles), the always desirable Chiefs, two other conference title game participants (Bills, Commanders), and more marquee teams like the Ravens, Niners, and Steelers, available.
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