HBO and the NFL are yet to announce the team that will be featured on this summer’s Hard Knocks series which follows a club through training camp and preseason.
When the announcement is made, don’t expect it to be the Denver Broncos.
If a team does not have a new head coach, hasn’t been on the show in the last ten years and hasn’t made the playoffs within the last two years, the NFL can force them to be featured on Hard Knocks.
Denver hasn’t been featured on the show before and the team hasn’t returned to the playoffs since 2015, but the team does have a new coach in Sean Payton.
The four teams who can’t turn down Hard Knocks based on the above stipulations are the Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints, Washington Commanders and New York Jets.
Of course, any team can volunteer for the show, but the Broncos have politely declined in the past when approached by the NFL about the possibility of volunteering. The team seems even less likely to volunteer this offseason given the stance Payton has made on offseason hype.
“The work has started. I kind of use this term, ‘A little bit more anonymous donors this season,’” Payton said after he was hired earlier this year. “Just know that we’re working, but with a little bit less visibility on social media and all those other things.
“We’re going to get to work, and ultimately, it’s how we do in the fall [that matters]. We kind of go from there. We have to earn it with our fans. We’ve got fantastic fans that will appreciate that.”
That doesn’t sound like the kind of coach who plans to sign up for Hard Knocks. Sorry, HBO.
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