Despite the previous report that the Jets were still in the mix to be featured on Hard Knocks, it now appears that we won’t be hearing any Rex Ryan F-bombs on HBO this summer.
The Jets will not be the featured team on Hard Knocks this year, Bob Raissman of the New York Daily News reports.
It’s easy to see why HBO would want the Jets: They were highly entertaining when they were on the show two years ago, and the arrival of Tim Tebow has generated a new storyline featuring arguably the NFL’s most popular player. A return of the Jets would be appointment viewing that would drive fans to subscribe to HBO.
But it’s also easy to see why the Jets wouldn’t be interested: Ryan has acknowledged that there were problems in the locker room last year that he needs to fix this year, and the presence of cameras for a reality TV show would be much more likely to serve as a distraction than to enhance the locker room environment. From the Jets’ perspective, turning down HBO is the right call.
So if the Jets aren’t on the show, who will be? HBO says that hasn’t been decided yet. Which probably means no NFL coach has been convinced yet that allowing cameras into his team meetings is a good idea.