Rams Could Be A Contender For HBO’s Hard Knocks

Jul 26, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Rams tight end Jared Cook (89) blocks safety T.J. McDonald (25) during training camp at ContinuityX Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Over the past couple of year’s there has been a lot of controversy over HBO’s hit series “Hard Knocks”. The TV show follows the team throughout training camp and what goes into cutting a player.

With not enough teams volunteering for the show, the NFL made a set of guidelines last offseason in which if a team doesn’t volunteer for the show a team that meets these guidelines would be forced to join it. The set of guidelines are:

• That team doesn’t have a new head coach.
• That team didn’t make the playoffs in either of the previous 2 seasons.
• That team didn’t appear on Hard Knocks in the last 10 years.

Based off of those requirements, here are the teams that would qualify for the NFL Hard Knocks, if nobody volunteers for the show:

• Arizona Cardinals
• Buffalo Bills
• Chicago Bears
• Jacksonville Jaguars
• New York Giants
• Oakland Raiders
• Pittsburgh Steelers
• St. Louis Rams

Head Coach Jeff Fisher more than likely won’t volunteer his team for the show, and with the lack of interest that other teams have had, it isn’t likely than one would volunteer.

With that said, that would make the Rams one of the more attractive choices behind the Steelers, Giants, Bears, and Cardinals as the Rams are one of the up and coming teams in the NFL. Not to mention Cardinals coach Bruce Arians has said that he would fight against being on Hard Knocks.

Fans tend to enjoy what the series brings the table, all the drama and looks behind the scenes of their favorite teams attracts a lot of viewers. Coaches and players on the other hand think that it’s only a distraction and is breaking personal boundaries when cutting players.

By taking a closer look however, the series doesn’t seem to affect the teams as much as some might think. The last four teams to be on the show actually did better with the show than without it the year before, and four teams actually made the playoffs including three of the last four.

12-4(won Super Bowl) 

     10-6(made playoffs)2002 Cowboys 

5-11 

     5-112007 Chiefs 

9-7 

     4-122008 Cowboys 

13-3(made playoffs) 

     9-72009 Bengals 

4-11-1 

     10-6(made playoffs(2010 New York Jets 

9-7(made playoffs) 

     11-5(made playoffs)2012 Dolphins 

6-10 

     7-92013 Bengals 

10-6(made playoffs) 

     11-5(made playoffs)

Having the show come to St. Louis could also be beneficial to the Rams. With the Rams being in a smaller market, bringing a camera crew and bringing publicity to the team could be beneficial.

The Rams get absolutely zero coverage from sports media outlets such as ESPN. Having an opportunity to get that would be great.

As mentioned before, the Rams are one of the league’s up and coming teams in the tough NFC West division and are looking to take the next step after a 7-9 2013 campaign. The show certainly would not be lacking drama.

Not to mention it would be fun to see personalities like Chris Long and James Laurinaitis. If we’re lucky they may throw in a little “smack cam”.

The chances of the Rams actually being on the show are slim as bigger, more interesting teams such as the Steelers, Bears, and Giants are eligible if nobody volunteers. However, if the Rams do get on the show, it may not be such a bad thing.