Do not ask for whom the bell tolls. The bell tolls for Hard Knocks.
Texans defensive end J.J. Watt delivered a potential death blow to the show on Tuesday, explaining on NBC Network’s Pro Football Talk that he picked up the Dolphins’ snap count by watching the show.
He was a little sheepish and guarded when explaining it to co-host Erik Kuselias, saying that the same information can be picked up from the preseason game broadcasts. But Watt said that it helped.
And that one line could provide future coaches and G.M.'s with the ammunition they need to push back against an owner who decides he wants to be a carnival barker.
Dolphins coach Joe Philbin said in June that the choice to do Hard Knocks was a football decision. Yes, it was. A bad football decision.
It did nothing to help the team win. It routinely televised embarrassing and sensitive moments involving players, driving a wedge between the organization and its most important employees and potentially making it harder (and costlier) to attract free agents to South Florida.
Though we love the show, no owner who wants to establish a football program that consistently wins games should ever want to do it. There’s nothing to gain, and plenty to lose.