By: Jeff Doke

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Since its premiere in 2001, the HBO documentary series “Hard Knocks” has given its’ viewers an inside look at the preseason preparations of an NFL franchise.

The behind-the-scenes show has given NFL fans an in-depth look at some memorable moments over the years, from Chad Ochocinco’s final moment as a professional football player to the sideshow that was Antonio Brown’s brief tenure with the Raiders to the MMA-esque atmosphere of the fight-riddled Atlanta Falcons training camp.

Regardless of the fact that the show is an Emmy-winning production, many NFL coaches and GMs aren’t exactly chomping at the bit to be given the Hard Knocks spotlight.

The intrusive presence of camera crews at every practice, meeting, and team activity is understandably seen by many as a distraction.

In fact, the show has gotten a bit of a reputation as a potential jinx with three Head Coaches being fired either during or after the season they were profiled on the show.

In fact, the tendency to avoid being selected for the show got so ingrained that the league had to take measures to make sure there would be a team for the show.

In 2013, NFL executives announced that if no team volunteered to participate in Hard Knocks, the league could force a team to participate, as long as the team was not exempted by three circumstances: they’ve already been on the show in the previous 10 seasons, they have a first-year head coach, or they reached the playoffs in either of the two previous seasons.

For the 2021 season, there are five teams that do not meet any of those criteria; the Arizona Cardinals, Denver Broncos, New York Giants, Carolina Panthers, and those media darlings the Dallas Cowboys.

The Cowboys would seem to be the odds-on favorite to be selected this year, since they’ve been absent from the show since 2008 and they still (for whatever reason) continue to get some of the biggest ratings in the league.

A compelling case could be made for the Jaguars, however.

Yes, they have a first-year head coach in Urban Meyer. Although that could allow them to be excluded, the Jaguars have volunteered several times to be on the show but have been turned down every time (that NFL Network spinoff in 2004 doesn’t count).

The team & its fans are starving for some prime-time exposure. This upcoming December will mark ten years since the Jags last Monday Night Football appearance, and the 2018 matchups against the Steelers were the first Sunday Night Football slots since 2008.

Jagnation just wants some prime time attention that doesn’t involve a dreaded Thursday Night Football appearance.

The 2021 season of Hard Knocks seems to be just what the doctor ordered.

How will Urban Meyer fare getting his feet wet by diving headfirst into the NFL pond?

What will camp look like for the worst kept secret of a #1 overall pick in Trevor Lawrence?

Which leads into the side-story of what happens to the Legend of Gardner Minshew II?

How will James Robinson follow up his history-making rookie season after notching the most yards from scrimmage by an undrafted rookie ever?

It all adds up to an intriguing preseason for a dismal 1-15 team.

Will the Jaguars wind up on HBO? NFL.com writer & host of the Around the NFL podcast Dan Hanzus seems to think so, even though he “doesn’t lean on any behind-the-scenes awareness of the decision-making process” but instead relies on his “broad institutional knowledge and an understanding of the shifting league landscape.”

In fact, he calls it a premonition that the 100+ cameras of the Hard Knocks team will be camping out on the St. Johns this year.

If past seasons hold true, we should know for sure one way or another at the earliest by the end of March.