It doesn’t sound like New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers is too fond of HBO’s Hard Knocks. For better or worse, the future Hall of Famer and his new team are going to be placed under the microscope this season, and that starts with them being on the reality sports documentary television series produced by NFL Films and HBO.
While the Jets are a compelling story, especially because of the addition of Rodgers, they had to be forced to do Hard Knocks as no NFL team volunteered and they were one of four teams that could be coerced into participating. That’s due to the rules that offer opt-outs for teams who have new head coaches, have made the playoffs in the last two seasons, or have been on the show in the past 10 years.
“Listen, one of the only things I like about Hard Knocks is the voice of God, who narrates it,” Rodgers said Thursday at the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship in Lake Tahoe. “Liev [Schreiber], I hope I get to meet him. But look, I understand the appeal with us. Obviously, there’s a lot of eyes on me, a lot of eyes on our team, a lot of expectations for our squad. They forced it down our throats and we gotta deal with it.”
.@AaronRodgers12 was asked by @KPIXtv about the #Jets being chosen for Hard Knocks:
“Look, I understand the appeal with us. There’s a lot of eyes on me, a lot of eyes on our team, a lot of expectations for our squad. They forced it down our throats and we have to deal with it.”… pic.twitter.com/hEhtTUffOg
— The Jake Asman Show (@JakeAsmanShow) July 14, 2023
Rodgers, of course, isn’t the only one who feels this way. Earlier this offseason, Jets coach Robert Saleh made it extremely clear that this was not a desired result for the Jets.
“I know there are several teams that would love for Hard Knocks to be in their building. We are not one of them,” Saleh said back in June according to Zack Rosenblatt.
We’ll have to see how they respond.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.