Tag Archives: Hard Knocks

860423383_ed660d84d5_o

NFL: Hard Knocks Report “Totally Inaccurate”

Earlier I passed along a report that claimed the NFL had narrowed down the selection pool for Hard Knocks to 3 teams- the Steelers, Bears, and NY Giants. According to NFL PR spokesman Greg Aiello, the report is “totally inaccurate”.

As I said earlier, the story didn’t pass the sniff test. Love it or hate it, Steelers fans will have to wait a while before they know if the team is forced to appear on the show this summer.

Steelers Hard Knocks

Steelers Reportedly 1 Of 3 Finalists For HBO’s Hard Knocks

According to Fox Sports anchor Tomm Looney, the NFL and HBO have narrowed down the pool of finalists for HBO’s Hard Knocks to the Pittsburgh Steelers, NY Giants, and Chicago Bears.

While this may be true, it doesn’t pass the sniff test to me at first pass. Those three teams are all eligible to be ‘forced’ to participate under the NFL’s recent rule change which allows the league to select participants if they meet certain criteria. The Steelers, Bears, Giants, Bills, Cardinals, Jaguars, Raiders, and Rams all fall under that umbrella. Teams that meet the following specifications cannot be forced to be on the program:

  • Have made the playoffs in one of the previous two seasons
  • Have acquired a new head coach
  • Have appeared on Hard Knocks within the last 10 years

Obviously the Steelers are not protected by any of those parameters. What raises suspicion though is the fact that the league was reportedly only going to implement the rule if there were no volunteers. According to the commissioner himself last Thursday, there are many teams who are interested.

“There are several clubs that are interested in doing this. I just don’t have an update on which club, whether it’s going to be a volunteer or if it’s somebody who is going to have to fulfill the obligation. But I’m sure that decision will be made pretty soon”, said Goodell last Thursday. He added, “…it’s important for all clubs to contribute to it in some fashion. I think we designed a very interesting concept that allows teams if you have a coaching change not to have that be an issue, but also have some kind of rotation to it.”

I think it’s no secret at this point that the Steelers organization as a whole is not interested in being on HBO. In fact, Mike Tomlin went as far as to say that it was “a joke” when asked about it a month ago. Either way, we’ll know for certain who will be the focus of the show in the not too distant future. Last year, the Bengals were announced as the participants in early June if that has any bearing on this year’s announcement.

Steelers Hard Knocks

[Video] Mike Tomlin: Being Forced To Do Hard Knocks “Is A Joke”

Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert were interviewed by KDKA’s Bob Pompeani tonight about the possibility of having to do HBO’s Hard Knocks this year. You could say that neither one of them is a fan of the idea.

Mike Tomlin says he doesn’t watch the show, and “hates” reality TV. “I hate [reality TV] to be honest with you. I think that’s a misnomer. I think it’s anything but reality”, joked Tomlin.  The head coach went on to say, “On a personal level, I’m not in favor of it. That’s just me. I think that time of year, in terms of team development, there are a lot of complex things going on as it is…and to add to it, is not conducive to what we go there to do from my perspective.”

It is a joke. Just because it happens to be popular, doesn’t mean I have to participate. -Mike Tomlin

Kevin Colbert voiced his opposition as well, saying that he understood why fans would be interested in what goes on behind the scenes, but that from a management standpoint managing the extra distractions is the main issue. “If we’re picked, we’re picked. We have no choice”, he conceded. Colbert joked that he’d get personal make up artists if they could give him hair.

The possibility of the Steelers being forced to do Hard Knocks is real. While it seems likely that another team will volunteer or be chosen to do it over the Steelers, they do meet the criteria. To be exempt, a team must-

  • Have made the playoffs in one of the previous two seasons.
  • Have a new head coach.
  • Have appeared on Hard Knocks within the last 10 years.

Obviously, the Steelers don’t meet any of the above criteria. Other teams who could be forced to appear on Hard Knocks this year include the Bears, Bills, Cardinals, Giants, Jaguars, Raiders, and Rams.

You can watch the segment below. Thanks for stopping by and be sure to share with your friends.

[xyz-ihs snippet=”ColbertTomlinHardKnocks”]