Detroit Lions, Tampa Bay Bucs pass on Hard Knocks

So HBO’s yearly look inside of the training camp of one NFL team is a very popular show. However, two up and coming NFL teams have politely declined to participate. They have turned down a great opportunity to promote their teams and show that they are serious about building a contending football club. Both the Detroit Lions and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have politely declined to take part.

The Detroit Lions are a pretty young team, which has a ton of legit talent who may not react well to the scrutiny of HBO cameras in their locker room and in their face for the duration of training camp. Lions’ head coach Jim Schwartz thought that having camera all over his training facility during training camp would change the vibe, and possibly hurt the development of his young team. I think we can use the same argument for the Bucs who are also a young team that is rising.

Other reports have stated that the Denver Broncos have also turned down the opportunity to be featured on the hit HBO show. While it is a great way to expand a team’s fan base training camp is work, and I understand head coaches that do not want the distraction of cameras all over the training facility. It has a large opportunity to really mess with how a team gels together.