Ravens Could be Forced Into HBO’s Hard Knocks
The Baltimore Ravens have a strong chance to be featured in the next installment of HBO’s hit mini-doc, “Hard Knocks”. For those unaware, “Hard Knocks” is a six episode series, documenting a NFL team through the ups and downs of the preseason. So how can the Ravens be forced into this role?
The Ravens were the participants of the first ever season of “Hard Knocks” following their Super Bowl victory back in 2001. As much as fans loved seeing the personalities of players like Shannon Sharpe and Tony Siragusa, most teams do not want that kind of distraction around.
Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith points out some ways teams are able to get out of doing the show. If a team has been on the show in the last 10 years, if they have a new coach, or if they have made the playoffs in the past two years, the team can refuse partaking in the mini-doc.
Out of the 32 teams in the NFL, only six do not meet that criteria: the Cleveland Browns, Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers, San Francisco 49ers, Washington Redskins, and the Ravens. If the other 26 NFL teams refuse doing the show, the NFL can step in and force one of these six into filming.
The Ravens somehow got out of joining “Hard Knocks” last season due to their new practice facility being built. With an excuse like that last season, there’s a chance the NFL gets the last laugh and picks the Ravens right away.
But out of these six, the Ravens have to be the most entertaining choice. You have one of the more entertaining figures in the NFL with Terrell Suggs, new sensations Alex Collins and Marlon Humphrey, and undoubtedly the greatest debate in all of football, “Is Joe Flacco elite?”.
If I had to choose someone in the listed six, besides the Ravens, it would be either the 49ers or the Chargers. The 49ers are the most hyped 6-10 team in the NFL with quarterback sensation Jimmy “Guwop” Garoppollo taking the league by storm. Plus, they are expected to make a big splash in free agency. The Chargers are a good team coming off their first year in Los Angeles, plus they have the fiery, bolo tie wearing, contraceptive ignoring, gunslinger in Philip Rivers; who would most definitely turn it up a notch for the cameras.
Who would you want to see on “Hard Knocks”? Would you want to see the Ravens in one of their more important offseasons? Or would you want a different team so the Ravens would not have the distraction.
