The Los Angeles Rams will have cameras documenting their every move this summer when HBO’s “Hard Knocks” descends on southern California to film the team’s training camp.
What could possibly be distracting about that? Nothing, apparently.
Rams head coach Jeff Fisher said he’s spoken with coaches and players who have experienced it firsthand and doesn’t expect it to be detrimental to his team’s success for the upcoming season.
“We want this to be the best show to date,” Fisher said, via Sam Farmar of the Los Angeles Times. “We want to pave the way for the member clubs to line up for the opportunity to do this … The players are familiar, they understand what’s ahead, we’ve talked to the coaches and they’re excited.”
And, as Farmar points out, it hasn’t been a huge disadvantage to previous teams that have hosted “Hark Knocks” in the past.
Defensive tackle Aaron Donald also made a salient point when he said, “It’s just a camera in your face. The game we play, there’s always a camera in your face.”
Still, for a team that just moved from St. Louis to Los Angeles and coughed up a king’s ransom to trade up for quarterback Jared Goff, the potential for distraction exists. Not only that, but nobody should expect the Rams to be better than they were last year or to come close to sniffing the playoffs.
Still, from the entertainment perspective, the Rams do present what should be circumstances that breed excellent drama for the show. No doubt millions will tune in.
Here’s a sweet trailer for the show to get you pumped up.