The New York Jets and their high-profile new quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, will be the focus of this year’s installment of HBO’s long-running Hard Knocks, according to multiple media reports.
The show, which documents a month of training camp action both on and off the field in the runup to the start of the regular season in September, last centered on the Jets in 2010. Coincidentally (or not), that was the last year the team made the playoffs, the longest active drought of any NFL club. Optimism about the Jets has surged since the offseason signing of Rodgers, a four-time MVP and Super Bowl champion during 18 seasons with the Green Bay Packers. Rodgers in recent weeks has been a visible presence around New York City, attending last month’s Tony Awards as well as Knicks and Rangers playoff games.
Although he is being hailed as a potential savior of a franchise with just one Super Bowl appearance in its 64-year history (an upset win over the Baltimore Colts in 1969), Rodgers is also a controversial figure who has led almost as many news cycles as touchdown drives. One memorable dustup concerned the QB’s Covid vaccination status. When asked by a reporter in 2021 if he had been vaccinated, a requirement that year in the league, he replied that he had been “immunized.” While the answer placated the press in the moment, word later emerged that Rodgers had been referring to non-traditional preventative measures and had not actually gotten the shot. He later contracted Covid and had to sit out for a game.
HBO has rights to air Hard Knocks on linear TV and stream it on Max, but NFL Films handles the production and controls other rights. Although the show made a splash each summer after premiering in 2001, its impact has been blunted during the social media era. Rivals have mounted their own behind-the-scenes NFL programming, including Netflix’s Quarterback or Prime Video’s All or Nothing, and the novelty of peeking behind the curtain has gradually faded. As the popularity of the league continued to grow, an in-season edition of Hard Knocks about a different team was added in 2021.
Given the rules set up for Hard Knocks by the league and other stakeholders, the Jets were one of only four teams eligible to be the focus of this year’s edition. The other three were the New Orleans Saints, Chicago Bears and Washington Commanders. Although Jets Head Coach Robert Saleh had voiced concerns about the idea of HBO cameras being at the training facility when camp starts next week, the risk of exposure is actually fairly low because the NFL exercises a great degree of control over the show.
ESPN’s NFL reporter Adam Schefter broke the news about the Jets, and USA Today also independently confirmed it. An HBO rep declined comment when contacted by Deadline.
