HBO's 'Hard Knocks' Makes 25-Year History With 2026 Team Pick
HBO Original’s Hard Knocks will make history this summer.
The critically acclaimed show will feature the Seattle Seahawks for the first time later this year, but that’s not the only unique part.
When Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Seattle Seahawks airs, it will also mark the first time the defending Super Bowl champions are the featured in 25 years.
A fan favorite football show
For many NFL fans, the annual debut of Hard Knocks with Liev Schreiber narrating every summer is nearly as highly anticipated as the return of football itself.
In recent seasons, the critically acclaimed show has featured teams on both ends of the competitive spectrum.
Last year, NFL Films’ cameras followed the Buffalo Bills as they set out to finally climb the mountain and became Super Bowl champions for the first time.
In 2024 and ’23, it was the expected-to-be-up-and-coming Chicago Bears and New York Jets, respectively.
But the last time the defending Super Bowl champions were the squad was 2001 when the Baltimore Ravens were coming off a historic run of defensive dominance.
That was also the first season of Hard Knocks, which has gone on to win 141 Sports Emmys.
Who will be this year’s Hard Knocks stars?
Aside from being the defending champions, the Seahawks have plenty of big names to feature on both sides of the ball for head coach Mike MacDonald.
On offense, quarterback Sam Darnold runs the offense that features AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who just signed a lucrative contract extension, while the defense features young standouts Devon Witherspoon at cornerback and Byron Murphy II on a ferocious front four.
That said newcomers and unknowns tend to dominate the show so the biggest name from this summer’s edition may yet be waiting to be drafted or to sign as a a free agent trying to make his NFL dream come true in the heat of July and August in Renton, Wash.
Who's on deck?
The league also announced Tuesday the team that will be featured in 2027’s Hard Knocks: The New England Patriots, who lost the Super Bowl in February.
New England also will be making its Hard Knocks training camp debut.
Who knows how the club will change between now and then, but seeing head coach Mike Vrabel in candid moments might be all the show needs to be entertaining.
Who has been on Hard Knocks?
So far, 16 of the league’s 32 franchises have been featured on Hard Knocks at least once.
- Baltimore Ravens (2001)
- Dallas Cowboys (2002, 2008, 2021),
- Kansas City Chiefs (2007),
- Cincinnati Bengals (2009, 2013),
- New York Jets (2010, 2023),
- Miami Dolphins (2012)
- Atlanta Falcons (2014)
- Houston Texans (2015)
- Los Angeles Rams (2016, 2020)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2017)
- Cleveland Browns (2018)
- Oakland Raiders (2019)
- Los Angeles Chargers (2020)
- Detroit Lions (2022)
- Chicago Bears (2024)
- Buffalo Bills (2025)
Two more teams will join in the next two years.