The Chicago Bears will be the featured team on HBO’s summer “Hard Knocks,” which will spotlight them during training camp and preseason leading into an exciting 2024 season.
It’s a thrilling time for Bears fans after general manager Ryan Poles made some big moves, including the additions of first-round rookies Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze and veteran Keenan Allen.
NFL Films senior producer and director Shannon Furman spoke with NBC Sports Chicago about what she’s excited to highlight during summer “Hard Knocks,” which includes spotlighting a charter franchise.
“We’re all excited to have a team that’s been around since the start of the NFL,” Furman said. “It’s a deep history. We’re going to try to include some of that into the show this summer.
“I mean, Chicago’s a great city, it’s a great city to be in in the summertime. I know we’re excited to be able to be there and not be somewhere where we’re roasting hot. My first one was in Houston, that might have been the hottest it’s ever been for ‘Hard Knocks.’ Went to Tampa two years later. So that was pretty, pretty aggressive, too.”
There’s no doubt Williams, the No. 1 overall pick, will be the focal point of “Hard Knocks.” But there will be plenty of focus elsewhere, including the wide receiver room which features one of the league’s best with DJ Moore, Allen and Odunze.
“One of our position groups we’re most excited about is probably the wide receiver room,” Furman said. “DJ Moore, his daughter we’ve seen, we think that she’s going to be a lot of fun.”
But, as expected, Chicago’s top two rookies figure to be the focus as the Bears look to make strides as a franchise. Williams and Odunze have been the talk of Chicago and the NFL world during the offseason, so getting to spotlight these rookies’ budding friendship on and off the field will be a highlight.
“I mean, Rome (Odunze) too, he’s the ninth pick. So it’s kinda crazy, you have two top-10 picks to highlight as rookies that are kind of unknowns,” Furman said. “It’s a story you’re getting to tell people for the first time, at least on the NFL level. People do, they did follow his college career for the past two years and everything. But I do think that helps out when you have something like a new story that’s fresh and people in the city want to learn about and everything.”
According to NBC Sports Chicago, the “Hard Knocks” crew will be at Halas Hall of July 14 — about a week before the players take to the practice field on July 20. There will plenty to cover from the start of camp to the Hall of Fame (including the induction of three Bears greats and the game itself against the Houston Texans) to the roster cutdown process.
The first episode of the five-part series, “Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Chicago Bears,” premieres Tuesday, August 6 at 8 p.m. CT on HBO and Max.
