‘Hard Knocks’ shows a soft touch, a sanitized version of NFL reality
Hard Knocks is the NFL version of reality TV. Which seems like a redundancy. The league itself is ongoing reality TV, full of feuds, illnesses, injuries and scandals. The HBO series is censored, so what we see is a sanitized view of NFL training camp.
To Mike Florio, host of Pro Football Talk (NBC Sports), this Tuesday night show is not worth watching. “Any time someone shows up with a camera and a microphone,” he said, “you necessarily will be someone you would not have been. It’s not real. . . . It’s a manicured version of reality.”
NFL coaches do not enjoy the distraction of camera crews, but team owners welcome the opportunity for national publicity. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the subject of this year’s series (Tuesday, 9 p.m. CST), are not a high-profile team, so they probably appreciate being profiled on HBO.
The viewer gets glimpses of many facets of a pro football training camp: coaches meeting with players, who are shown relaxing as much as working. It’s not all weightlifting and drills. There’s yoga, and gin, bowling and much talk of watching Game of Thrones.
The show’s main contribution is its humanizing of the players. One of the most compelling scenes of Episode 1 is quarterback Jameis Winston providing a tour of his boyhood home in a low-rent section of Bessemer, Ala.
“Three people used to sleep in this bed,” he says. “There were toes in everybody’s face.”
The massive but amiable defensive tackle Gerald McCoy shows up in camp draped in a red kimono with white headband. He visited Japan during a vacation and wanted a souvenir. “I liked the swag,” he told Florio. “I went into the store and I said, ‘Give me the biggest one you have.’”
Although the coaches can limit what is shown, you do get a sense of their communication style.
In a one-on-one sit-down, head coach Dirk Koetter criticizes Winston, but in a gentle, constructive way. He’d like to see his quarterback take better care of the ball.
“We have a good defense now,” Koetter says, “so maybe we need to cut our risk a little bit. . . . You’ve always been a risk-taker . . . You’re the only guy who can lose a game for us, because no one else touches the ball enough. . . . You’re a great competitor, but we gotta get some patience in there.”
Besides Winston, the player accorded the most coverage is DeSean Jackson. As he shows his skills we hear the strains of “There’s a new man in town.”
One of the NFL’s most feared deep threats, Jackson now pairs with the 6-5, 235-pound Mike Evans, the Bucs’ leading receiver. Jackson takes some ribbing for being old, at 30, but everyone concedes, “He’s still fast. . . . Whew!”
Last season the Bucs lacked explosiveness, despite Winston’s powerful arm. He ranked only 12th in the NFC passing standings. Evans scored 12 touchdowns but had no reception longer than 45 yards. Jackson, who last season played for the Washington Redskins, should change the dimensions of the Tampa offense.
Fans looking for insight into a team’s prospects will pay attention to what’s being said – or not said – about the rookies.
Bucs fans might be concerned that so far there’s little buzz about their first-round draft pick, tight end O.J. Howard.
In the first show the rookie drawing the most comment is fifth-round draft pick Jeremy McNichols, running back from Boise State. He shows a burst of speed and reliable hands, but appears confused much of the time. He gets encouragement with a cellphone conversation with famed rapper Snoop Dogg.
You can’t help wondering what was cut out. There’s some mild profanity in the sound track, just enough to make the show seem realistic.
The only problem is that the Bucs are not all that interesting. Jon Gruden, who won a Super Bowl as their coach 15 years ago and now makes his living on Monday Night Football, brings needed star power with a cameo appearance.
His enthusiastic interaction with players creates suspicion Gruden misses coaching. He has said he keeps himself prepared for a return to the sidelines, but he’s not ready yet.
Overall, Hard Knocks does not quite live up to its name. The Players Association negotiated a curtailing of fierce contact to reduce incidents of concussion and other injuries. And you don’t hear many verbal knocks either.
The first week of the series is usually the least enjoyable, as preseason games have not begun. Tensions rise as the series progresses. Episode 2 features players getting cut. Most notable is the meltdown of off-target second-round kicker Roberto Aguayo. Yes it’s sanitized, but still worth watching.
