PHOENIX — For the first time in their history, the Seahawks will appear on the HBO series “Hard Knocks.”
The announcement was made here Monday night at the NFL’s annual league meeting, according to a report from the NFL Network. A league source also confirmed the news to The Seattle Times.
The report also stated that the New England Patriots will appear on the show in 2027.
“Hard Knocks” debuted in 2001 on HBO and follows the life of an NFL team through training camp, typically featuring five episodes of roughly 55 minutes each.
For years the Seahawks were not eligible because of rules stating that a team did not have to take part if it had appeared in the playoffs over the previous two seasons.
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But those rules were changed a year ago, in part to make the show more appealing.
The Seahawks were one of 16 teams that were eligible under new rules that stated only that a team does not have to take part if they were featured on the in-season edition (which debuted in 2021), have a new head coach or had taken part in the training camp edition over the last eight years.
The news arrived after head coach Mike Macdonald and general manager John Schneider met the media here earlier Monday.
Former coach Pete Carroll famously was not interested in appearing on “Hard Knocks” and the team turned down interest from the league in appearing on the show in 2012 when Seattle was eligible. The Seahawks were ever eligible again during Carroll’s tenure.
“It came up awhile back,” Carroll said in May of 2012. “They put out their feelers on this deal. This is something that I’m just not interested in and John (Schneider) isn’t either and we both see eye-to-eye on that one. So when it came up again here, it was real clear that we didn’t want to do that. I think we’d be a great candidate for it. I think they’d have fun watching us and all that, and we’d put on a good little show for ’em, but that’s not what we’re here to do.
“We’re here to put together a great team and win football games. We’re not here to entertain somebody on a TV show, we’re here to win games on Sundays. So, that just doesn’t fit into the mentality and the philosophy. It’s an exciting, fun show, and it’s fun to watch other guys. They ain’t gonna see us, that’s all.”
But the times have changed and the Seahawks will be displayed for all the world to see this summer as they prepare to defend their Super Bowl title.
This story will be updated.
Bob Condotta: bcondotta@seattletimes.com. Bob Condotta is a sports reporter at The Seattle Times who primarily covers the Seahawks but also dabbles in other sports. He has worked at The Times since 2002, reporting on University of Washington Husky football and basketball for his first 10 years at the paper before switching to the Seahawks in 2013.