The new NFL season is about to start and there was a lot of confusion about which team will be featured on Hard Knocks this year. Aaron Rodgers’s team, New York Jets, was one of the potential teams for this series.
Hard Knocks is a sports reality documentary produced by NFL Films and HBO. The potential teams were asked to be a part of the documentary, but all denied being featured in it. So, the final decision was to be made by the NFL. Surprisingly, they chose New York Jets to be part of Hard Knocks this season.
NFL select Jets to feature in HBO’s “Hard Knocks” series
The Jets are set to be a part of the Hard Knocks series. Previously, Robert Saleh, the head coach of the team denied this offer stating they won’t accept cameras in their organization as it could distract them from their ultimate goal, to win a Super Bowl.
“I know there are several teams that would love ‘Hard Knocks’ to be in their building. We’re just not one of them,” Saleh said.
However, now that the league has selected the team, they have no choice left. The team could just hope and try that this documentary and cameras don’t become a distraction for them.
The New York Jets was one of the potential teams for this documentary because they haven’t made the playoffs since 2010 and the rule is that only those teams who have made playoffs in the last two seasons can opt out of this program. That’s why the team couldn’t opt out of this program.
Teams featured in “Hard Knocks” face historical handicap
Now that the New York Jets have been selected for the Hard Knocks the question arises about the Hard Knocks curse. It is believed that the teams which are featured in this documentary typically face various problems. This is the first time Aaron Rodgers is going to play with the Jets, they can’t afford the downfall that follows the teams featured in this series.
Many teams had terrible downfalls after they were featured in this documentary. The Chiefs were featured in this documentary in 2008 and the team went 4-12 the same year. The coach of the team Edwards was fired.
But the Hard Knock curse is just a false concept. Till now, 18 teams have been featured in this documentary. Out of these teams, 8 have gone on to post winning records while seven have made the playoffs. The fact is that well-established teams can easily skip this documentary and mostly average teams are featured in it. Rarely, do big teams like the Chiefs or the Jets become part of this documentary. This is also a reason why this false documentary curse concept has been created.
The Jets were featured once in this documentary, which was back in 2010. The team reached the conference title game in the same season. Now, they are again becoming a part of this documentary after a decade. It will be an exciting journey for both the Jets and their fans. Let’s wait and watch will the Hard Knock curse affect the Jets and how will they overcome the camera’s distraction to stay focused on their ultimate goal.
