Up until this season, every NFL team that has appeared on HBO’s Hard Knocks has done so voluntarily. But with no one stepping up ahead of training camp, the league chose the New York Jets as the team to be featured. In 2013, the NFL instituted rules that a team could be exempt from being selected if they had a new head coach, made the playoffs each of the last two seasons, or had done the show in the last 10 years.
With the Steelers making the playoffs in 2021, they were exempt from being chosen this year. However, if the team misses the playoffs in 2023 and Mike Tomlin returns, the Steelers could be chosen to be featured during training camp next season.
Coaches and players don’t want a camera crew around them 24/7. Aaron Rodgers wasn’t happy with the decision to pick the Jets this year, saying it was “forced down our throat and we have to deal with it,” via KPIX. Pittsburgh has been eligible to be chosen before, but a team volunteered before the NFL was forced to select a franchise to appear on the show.
But now the precedent has been set that the NFL can and will select a team, and if no one volunteered this offseason, it’s not exceedingly likely a team will step up and volunteer again next season. So if the Steelers want to potentially avoid a camera crew following the team’s every move, they need to make it to the postseason.
Obviously, the reasons the team should want to make the playoffs far, far exceed their desire to not appear on the show. But there’s no desire to appear on the show. Cameron Heyward has already spoken out about not wanting to do it, while Art Rooney II said if the team was forced to do it, they’d “grin and bear it” back when they were eligible for selection in 2020.
There’s no doubt with their large fanbase, the Steelers would be a team that would get ratings, and at the end of the day, that’s what HBO is looking for. If Pittsburgh does end up missing the playoffs and becomes eligible for the show, I can’t foresee many teams being more compelling to watch than Pittsburgh, making them an easy choice for the NFL.
But the Steelers have the making of a playoff team, and missing the playoffs would be a bit of a disappointment in 2023. If they do though, they’ll have to hold their breath and hope they aren’t selected for 2024’s version of Hard Knocks.
