Jon Gruden might have just spoiled the worst kept secret of the NFL offseason.
A hard Knock life might be coming to Oakland Raiders camp this summer.
HBO has yet to officially announce which NFL team will be subject of the latest edition of Hard Knocks, but we may have been given a big clue.
The clue didn’t’ come from anyone at HBO, despite how realistic that might be given the network’s inability to keep a lid on Game of Thrones spoilers. Instead, Raiders head coach Jon Gruden’s unsolicited mention of the series on Tuesday has caused many to speculate that his team will be the ones appears on this year’s show.
One of the worst kept secrets of the offseason was what team would be on Hard Knocks. Ways to get out of being on Hard Knocks include:
- Making the playoffs in either of the past two years
- Having just hired a new head coach
- Already having been on the show in the last 10 years
The Raiders have done none of those things, but have the one thing any reality television producer dreams of — capital-D, Drama.
Gruden is just the tip of is insanity iceberg. Having been on Monday Night Football for most of the last decade, and having then gotten a job based mostly on that, few in the NFL know better than Gruden how to work a camera to his advantage. Everyone thinks the Raiders are a hysterical embarrassment and Gruden might use the Hard Knocks cameras to both entertain and drop the veil a little on what goes on.
Of course, getting a peek inside the locker room would mean getting eyes on Antonio Brown. The ex-Steelers receiver has grabbed as many headlines as he did passes last year thanks to forcing Pittsburgh to trade him while also burning down every bridge he’s ever crossed.
Add to that the fact that Gruden then signed Vontaze Burfict — who once tried to decapitate Brown in a playoff game and is a walking suspension — and you begin to dive deeper into the madness.
There’s quarterback drama, Mike Mayock is going to be constantly dodging the camera and shouting in his Philly accent, and Mark Davis might emerge from the neon shadows for an appearance.
All of this is to say, Gruden saying the Raiders may or may not be on Hard Knocks is less a spoiler than it is a gigantic tease.