The New York Jets will reluctantly open their doors to HBO’s “Hard Knocks” during training camp this summer. But don’t expect the same level of access that other seasons have enjoyed.
The team reportedly asked the NFL not to field them this year, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, before they were officially selected. The Jets also reportedly plan to limit HBO’s access to the team, which includes not showing released players throughout the summer.
It comes after head coach Robert Saleh, quarterback Aaron Rodgers and special teams captain Justin Hardee publicly expressed their displeasure at being part of the show. Saleh told reporters in June — before the Jets were picked — that New York was not a team that wanted the show in its building. Rodgers went so far as to say, “They shoved it down our throats” after the news broke. Hardee, meanwhile, called the cameras what many think they are: “a distraction.”
Jets general manager Joe Douglas also has his own personal reason for not wanting film crews in the building and more importantly why he doesn’t want them to show players’ releases. Douglas was on the very first season of “Hard Knocks” in 2001 when he was working for the Baltimore Ravens and had to escort the players to the room where they were told they were cut. He was called “The Turk” on the show but has personally said he felt like “the Grim Reaper”.
But that doesn’t matter. “Hard Knocks” is coming to Florham Park, New Jersey. So the only thing the Jets can do now is get him on their own terms. And, as Rodgers said earlier, the appeal is obvious: they have a four-time MVP, some exciting young players and the New York backdrop. The team will, more than likely, make exciting television.
And it’s not like the teams that have been on the show have been all bad this season. Of the 20 teams that have appeared on “Hard Knocks” since 2001 (including in-season versions of the show), seven have made the playoffs, three have won a playoff game, and one has reached the league championship. conference.
This one team? The 2010 Jets.