Detroit Lions Picked For HBO's 'Hard Knocks' This Summer

DETROIT — The NFL announced Monday the Detroit Lions will be featured on HBO's "Hard Knocks," which offers an unfiltered look through the team's training camp this summer.

A 30-person NFL Films crew will capture more than 1,750 hours of behind-the-scenes footage at the team's training camp in Allen Park and its preseason games from Aug. 9 through Sept. 6. Camera and sound crews will have free access to players’ and coaches’ meeting rooms, training rooms, living quarters and practice fields. The series will show five episodes.

"We are excited about the opportunity to showcase the City of Detroit and the amazing culture we are building at the Lions," Detroit Lions Team President and CEO Rod Wood said. "HBO Sports and NFL Films are the best of the best and we know they will be excellent partners in sharing our story with football fans around the world."

Although several current players on the Lions roster and Head Coach Dan Campbell have been featured in the sports-based reality series as members of other teams, the Lions organization has never made an appearance on the show, which has won 18 Sports Emmys over 16 years.

Despite coming off a 3-13-1 season, Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell was one of the most entertaining coaches in the league, who was routinely praised by analysts for leading a team that played hard every week, eventually earning three wins in their final six games.

One thing "Hard Knocks" does very well is offer a glimpse into the team's culture, while documenting hopes and dreams of players and coaches to make it among the world's best.

And who could possibly have a more entertaining culture than a team with its head coach promising to build a group of players that would "bite a knee cap off?"

"So this team’s going to be built on, we’re going to kick you in the teeth, all right, and when you punch us back, we’re going to smile at you and when you knock us down, we’re going to get up, and on the way up, we’re going to bite a knee cap off," Campbell said during his introductory news conference last winter. "Before long, we’re going to be the last one standing. That’s going to be the mentality."

Although Campbell may be able to provide enough entertaining content himself, the series will most certainly focus on some of the young talent that showed up big for the Lions, especially during the last few weeks of the season.

Players such as wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, who was virtually a nobody until he pushed his way into the league's top 25 receivers of 2021. Running back D'Andre Swift elusiveness led to many big plays last season and now has Sports Illustrated talking him as a top ten running back.

The Lions also hold the number two pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, where they could land a potential local star in Aidan Hutchinson, who played football at Divine Child High School in Dearborn. The Michigan Wolverines star defensive end is projected to be a top pick and may even go first overall.

But the Jacksonville Jaguars, who hold the top pick, may decide to add to their offensive line, which would give Detroit the option to pick Hutchinson.