In the early 1960s, a small production company, NFL Films, was started. The New Jersey-based company has gone on to produce most NFL content (other than the games themselves) since then. The quality of storytelling and art that founder Ed Sabol and his son Steve brought to their productions played no small part in helping the NFL become the dominant US sport (both Sabols are in the NFL Hall of Fame, recognizing their contribution to the league). In 2001, NFL Films produced a short documentary series for HBO called Hard Knocks. The series tracked the Baltimore Ravens, fresh off a Super Bowl win, as they prepared for the upcoming season. Although it missed a few seasons, it’s been back every preseason. In fact, it doesn’t really start to feel like football season for many of us until the first time we hear this:
A few years ago, HBO introduced an in-season version of Hard Knocks, which, over the last three years, followed the Colts, the Cardinals, and the Bears as their seasons wrapped up. This year, HBO and the NFL pivoted to what felt like a muddled gimmick, having the in-season version of the show covering all four teams of the AFC North division — the Bengals, the Browns, the Steelers, and the Ravens. One hour a week to track a number of player and coach characters across four different teams felt ripe for disaster. And yet, it’s making for the best version of Hard Knocks in years, despite magnifying a few glaring problems with the show.
While many things have made Hard Knocks, there are two key components (which reflect the keys to all NFL Films productions) — the character studies and the unique game footage. Despite the many teams to follow, the character study portion is shining. One of the things that can get a little tiresome with Hard Knocks, frankly, is that there are not many truly interesting players or coaches worthy of extended screen time. Having so many teams to follow gives the production a deep roster of potential stories or soundbite clips. So last week, for example, we got a great package on Jameis Winston, the Browns quarterback who is an interception machine responsible for one of the best quotes of the season*, and seems like a great dad and a dude with good intentions. He’s very entertaining in a few clips, but he would likely overstay his welcome in versions of the show just following this team.
*Seriously. Praying for the Lord to deliver him from pick-sixes is the kind of gold a comedy writer dreams of coming up with:
Similarly, this week had a lovely story of Bengals star receiver Ja’Marr Chase, who befriended a young cancer survivor in Texas. While the Bengals were in town to play the Cowboys, Chase reunited with the young Bengals fan he previously met thanks to Make-a-Wish, and it was the kind of lovely moment that makes it easy to love the National Football League and forget, for a beat, the terrible side of it. But Chase also comes off as another player I don’t think anyone needs to see weeks and weeks of content about. So, again, the format allows the show to dip in and out on key highlights, moments, and stories. In fact, when we get the next preseason flavor of the show, presumably reverting back to following just one team, I wonder if it will feel weaker for sometimes just spending too much time with folks who aren’t engaging.
Even better, however, is the fact that these teams are rivals. Late in the season, we see many division rivals playing one, if not both, of their regular matchups. Watching teams get prepped for an upcoming game is a Hard Knocks staple. But watching both teams get ready to face each other, like Cleveland and Pittsburgh were doing in last week’s episode, was outstanding. It allows the production to duck and weave into different general stories, like how the Steelers’ logo has a Cleveland connection, while also showing specifically how the teams are each getting ready for the other (and we, as viewers, already know the outcomes so we get the enjoyment of Monday morning quarterbacking some of the decisions and strategies).
In the preseason version of the show, the biggest conflict running through the series is focused on a handful of rookies trying to make the roster. So it’s kind of players against the coaches. And then in the in-season version, while there are important games that create conflicts, we only get to see one side. Here, sometimes getting to see both sides, along with everything else, is honestly making it the most enjoyable this character side of the show has been in years.
But this also highlights another problem, which is that most NFL coaches — understandably a central focus of the series — aren’t that interesting. Instead of getting one head coach rah-rah speech each week, we get several of them. And, honestly, one is already often one too many because they’re mostly interchangeable, motivational “lay it on the line, the time is now” sort of deals. Only one coach — Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin — really stands out, and, even with him, it’s not because of his big speeches but from other interactions, sound bites, etc. The preseason version of the show has sometimes felt a little too stuck in its ways, and this heavy focus on coaches giving motivation feels like a crutch someone was too nervous to do away with it. But the show would be better for having less of this and better using those minutes on something interesting.
Surprisingly, the multi-team character focus of the show’s first half has a somewhat unintended consequence, which is that the back half of the show, focusing on actual games, is often underwhelming. NFL Films also broke ground on filming games like films. Unlike the broadcasts or highlight packages, we get unique views based on those airings. Watching the NFL Films highlight package of a game is often illuminating and exciting, adding flavor and context to the matchup. And while that still holds here, something is missing. The first half of the show is so rich that I find myself just wanting to stay with the various teams and players and personnel, and it almost feels jarring to spin out into 20-odd minutes of game footage.
Of course, it’s still good content and great footage, as the producers always dovetail into the storylines they’ve been building throughout the episode. I’m not sure there’s a version of this show that works without the game footage packages. But the first half of the show feels so fresh for the Hard Knocks format that I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing NFL Films go out on a limb and give a try to something wholly different with the back end of the show. Even still, for any fan of these teams or the NFL writ-large, this version of Hard Knocks is as entertaining as it’s been in ages.
(And to be fair, although I just complained about the game footage, am I already pumped to watch the NFL Films quality replay of the Steelers losing to my Philadelphia Eagles? Go Birds!)
Hard Knocks: In Season with the AFC North airs/streams Tuesdays on HBO and Max.