Seahawks to be featured on HBO’s ‘Hard Knocks’ this summer
PHOENIX — For the first time in their history, the Seahawks will appear on the HBO series “Hard Knocks.”
The announcement was made here Monday night at the NFL’s annual league meeting, according to a report from the NFL Network.
The report also stated that the New England Patriots will appear on the show in 2027.
“Hard Knocks” debuted in 2001 on HBO and follows the life of an NFL team through training camp.
For years the Seahawks were not eligible because of rules stating that a team did not have to take part if it had appeared in the playoffs over the previous two seasons.
But those rules were changed a year ago, in part to make the show more appealing. The Seahawks were one of 16 teams that were eligible under new rules that stated only that a team does not have to take part if they were featured on the in-season edition, have a new head coach or had taken part in the training camp edition over the last eight years.
Former coach Pete Carroll famously was not interested in appearing on “Hard Knocks” and the team turned down interest from the league in appearing on the show in 2012 when Seattle was eligible.
“It came up awhile back,” Carroll said then. “They put out their feelers on this deal. This is something that I’m just not interested in and (general manager) John (Schneider) isn’t either and we both see eye-to-eye on that one. So when it came up again here, it was real clear that we didn’t want to do that. I think we’d be a great candidate for it. I think they’d have fun watching us and all that, and we’d put on a good little show for ’em, but that’s not what we’re here to do.
“We’re here to put together a great team and win football games. We’re not here to entertain somebody on a TV show, we’re here to win games on Sundays. So, that just doesn’t fit into the mentality and the philosophy. It’s an exciting, fun show, and it’s fun to watch other guys. They ain’t gonna see us, that’s all.”
But the times have changed and the Seahawks will be displayed for all the world to see this summer as they prepare to defend their Super Bowl title.