Back in 2016, after watching a season of Hard Knocks that featured Jeff Fisher and his now-famous “7-9 (expletive)” speech, I declared that the HBO NFL training camp series was past its prime, noting that a lot of the factors that go into an entertaining season depend on the team and its personnel.
Thanks to the Oakland Raiders, we have the ultimate drama-filled lineup. Jon Gruden! Mike Mayock becoming a general manager for the first time! Owner Mark Davis! ANTONIO BROWN!!! The move to Vegas looming!
This is shaping up to be a magical season of the series, and that’s a relief.
We now know the Hard Knocks formula well enough — from following rookies on the fringe of the roster to coaches screaming during practice — that we need some weirdness and drama out of the show to make it compelling.
To be fair, Hard Knocks fans got some of that with the Cleveland Browns in 2018 — Jarvis Landry’s expletive-filled speech, the world discovering Bob Wylie and that Hue Jackson meeting argument with Todd Haley. But nothing will ever match Rex Ryan’s season and the “let’s go eat a (bleeping) snack” speech.
The Raiders have a chance to blow that out of the water. I gave you some of the proof, but here’s some more anyway: In March, Davis told ESPN “he would rather fire Jon Gruden than have his team appear on HBO’s Hard Knocks.‘ and added “it would be disruptive.” Yet here we are! It’s happening! If Davis thought that, how react to all those cameras floating around in August?
So, thanks NFL and HBO. If this was a typical television sitcom or drama, I’d say this would be the perfect series finale to end on. Hopefully, it lives up to all that hype.
