Hard Knocks (2001 TV series)
Hard Knocks is a reality sports documentary television series produced by NFL Films and HBO.[1] First broadcast in 2001, the show typically follows a National Football League (NFL) team through its training camp and covers the team's preparation for the upcoming football season. Beginning in 2021, the show has also dedicated an additional season of television to following an additional team throughout the NFL regular season.
Hard Knocks
Baltimore Ravens (2001)
Dallas Cowboys (2002, 2008, 2021)
Kansas City Chiefs (2007)
Cincinnati Bengals (2009, 2013)
New York Jets (2010, 2023)
Miami Dolphins (2012, 2023 In Season)
Atlanta Falcons (2014)
Houston Texans (2015)
Los Angeles Rams (2016, 2020)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2017)
Cleveland Browns (2018)
Oakland Raiders (2019)
Los Angeles Chargers (2020)
Indianapolis Colts (2021 In Season)
Detroit Lions (2022)
Arizona Cardinals (2022 In Season)
New York Jets (2023)
Miami Dolphins (2023 In Season)
Liev Schreiber (2001–2002 & 2008–present)
Paul Rudd (2007)
United States
English
19
105
(6 in 2001 and 2002, 5 in each training camp season from 2007 onwards, 9 in 2021 and 2022 In Season)
Steve Sabol
Rick Bernstein
Ross Greenburg
Marty Callner
Ken Rodgers
Keith Cossrow
Varies
~55 minutes (commercial-free)
2001 –
present
The series depicts the personal and professional lives of players, coaches, and staff, including their family life, position battles, and even inside jokes and pranks. It particularly focuses on rookies' adjustments to playing in the NFL, usually with emphasis on the team's most recent top draft pick. It usually also chooses to focus on undrafted and journeyman players who are attempting to make the team.
The NFL and HBO have called Hard Knocks "the first sports-based reality series" in television history.[2][3] The 20th season features the New York Jets in their second appearance on the show, as well as the Miami Dolphins.
Production[edit]
The series was created by Marty Callner in 2001. It has been narrated by Liev Schreiber since its inception, with the only exception being the 2007 season, which was narrated by Paul Rudd, a fan of the Kansas City Chiefs, who appeared on the show that year.[4]
The San Francisco 49ers, Atlanta Falcons, Seattle Seahawks, Houston Texans, and Washington Redskins each declined to be the show's featured team for the 2013 season, while the Cincinnati Bengals accepted, marking their second appearance on the show. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell subsequently said that he wanted more teams to be featured on the series, on "some kind of formal rotation."[5][6]
Despite the difficulty each year in finding a team willing to participate, NFL Films announced on July 18, 2013, that it had signed a "multiyear" contract extension with HBO to continue producing the show.[7]
In October 2013 the NFL announced that, in the absence of a team volunteering to participate in Hard Knocks, the league could force a team to participate. Teams are exempt from being forced to participate in three circumstances: (1) they have appeared in the past ten years, (2) they have a first-year head coach, or (3) they reached the playoffs in either of the two preceding seasons.[8] The first two teams to appear after such ruling announced were the Falcons and the Texans, appearing on the series in 2014 and 2015 respectively, after both teams declined to appear in 2013. In the Texans case, their appearance in 2015 was eligible for a "forced" appearance, as they had missed the playoffs the previous two years and were entering the second season of then-head coach Bill O'Brien.
In September 2021, NFL Network announced that the Indianapolis Colts would become the subject of the first ever in-season edition of the series. The series premiered in November 2021 and would have carried on through the 2021–22 NFL playoffs, however, the Colts did not qualify.[9]
Similar productions[edit]
Inside Training Camp: Jaguars Summer[edit]
In 2004, NFL Films produced a training camp documentary series, similar to Hard Knocks, that featured the Jacksonville Jaguars. Called Inside Training Camp: Jaguars Summer,[61] it aired on the NFL Network and was narrated by frequent NFL Films narrator Robb Webb.[62]
Some of the issues covered in this 2004 series include: