Hogs Haven
Will we see the Commanders on HBO this year?
Over the years, many NFL fans have become familiar with the rules that govern which teams can (or can’t) be forced to appear on Hard Knocks, the popular HBO series that fans love, but which is often perceived as a potential disruption or distraction to the team-building process that takes place during training camp.
One of the rules that allowed a huge number of teams to opt out of appearing on the program was that a team that had made a playoff appearance in either of the prior two seasons was exempt.
Suddenly, that rule is gone, and that changes things considerably.
With the Commanders having been in the most recent NFC playoffs, we’d all been working under the assumption that they would be exempt from being forced to appear on Hard Knocks in ‘25 or ‘26. With the change in eligibility rules, it’s now possible that the league owners could choose to feature the Commanders on Hard Knocks.
I may be biased because of my personal devotion to the Washington franchise, but I think that most NFL fans would find a season of Hard Knocks that focuses on the burgundy & gold to be compelling viewing.
The most obvious reason is fan fascination with Jayden Daniels who is popular for all the right reasons. Coming off of his incredible rookie season, I suspect NFL fans would love to get a deeper look at the player and the man.
The core of the team’s success in 2024, however, seemed to be the head coach, Dan Quinn, who proved to be anything but a tired ‘retread’. On the contrary, Quinn showed up in Washington last year invigorated and committed to applying what he’d learned from the past — both his successes and failures. I can’t help but think that his presence would add to the television viewing experience.
Likewise, his coaching staff, and in particular, offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, should hold wide appeal to NFL fans, many of whom held strong opinions about the former Cardinals head coach. Coverage of the “Kliff cliff” in the second half of last season made for entertaining headlines and panel discussions on ESPN as disaster was first predicted and then failed to materialize as the Commanders were among the most prolific offenses in the league and the team had playoff success that had eluded Washington for over three decades.
Another factor in the making of good TV is variety. Dan Quinn, this week, confirmed that the team is interested in holding joint practices with two teams again this year. Mike Vrabel said that the Patriots were talking to the Washington brass about hosting the Commanders in camp. Joint practices offer a nice change of pace to the makers of Hard Knocks, who have the opportunity to weave in some alternate story lines.
Of course, the Commanders’ Cinderella 2024 season has its own appeal, as it provides a lot of grist for the mill in Episode 1...
