The Pittsburgh Steelers are managing the TV cameras and narrative storytelling of HBO’s Hard Knocks for the first time this season. Cam Heyward admitted that it isn’t as invasive as he initially thought it would be, but it sounds like there are still some things to manage for Mike Tomlin and the leadership of the team.
If you are wondering why George Pickens has barely been featured despite routinely being one of the biggest news items for the Steelers, that might be by design.
During Heyward’s Not Just Football podcast posted this morning on YouTube, he and co-host Hayden Walsh discussed which players could be fun for HBO to highlight.
“You know the guy I’m waiting for who needs to get interviewed? Chris Boswell,” Heyward said. “Boz is not gonna do it. Like Boz will refuse any type of media. That’s just the way Boz is. You got guys like Elandon Roberts, I think DeShon Elliott would be hilarious. I think it would be fun to just watch them center in on what the tight end room really is because you got some interesting characters there. I think there’s a lot of stories in different rooms because the QB room could be really cool to see Russ [Wilson] and Justin [Fields] and Kyle Allen. They all have their quirks.”
That led Walsh to say he’s sure Hard Knocks is trying really hard to get Pickens in the spotlight because everybody loves him.
“And we are trying very hard to keep him outta that,” Heyward said.
Heyward did not elaborate on that thought and he was not asked a follow-up question.
It would be one thing if this was just coming from another Steeler, but Heyward is one of the leaders in the locker room and the elder statesman of the team. Hard Knocks has managed to slip in some Pickens stuff on the sideline of games, but he has largely missed the cameras during team meetings, in the locker room, or in sidebar interviews.
It was just a week ago that Pickens told the media he didn’t know who Greg Newsome II was, seemingly poking the bear after his scuffle a couple weeks prior with the Cleveland Browns. This came just a few days after Mike Tomlin told the media that Pickens needs to “grow up in a hurry.”
Teams are typically given an advance copy of Hard Knocks if possible, though that is difficult during the in-season version with a Tuesday air date. The Bengals played on Monday night, so it’s possible they just showed the Bengals all of their practice and interview footage in any such advance copy. The New York Giants were given final say in editing, for example. But that was during the offseason version in which the front office was heavily featured. It may have been a different set of rules. It does seem like teams have at least some control or ability to request changes.
Whatever tactics they are employing, if the Steelers’ goal is to keep Pickens out of the Hard Knocks spotlight, they are doing a great job. And with Pickens now dealing with a hamstring injury that could hold him out for another game or two (or longer), it might be awhile before there’s a chance for him to be featured.
