HBO's 'Hard Knocks' - A Guilty Pleasure for Football Fans

​Written by John Edward Betancourt

​It is no secret, that I am a die hard football fan. There's just something so incredible about the speed and the precision of the game that Sundays are simply not enough for me to enjoy and I often find myself pouring over anything I can when it comes to the sport, including any movie or television show about it.  

However, the downside is, while those mediums do an adequate job of entertaining all of us, they are lacking that special something that comes with the sport...the sheer thrill of it, which is why one of my guilty T.V. pleasures only comes around once a year when HBO airs Hard Knocks. For those unfamiliar with the show, it is a limited run of five episodes that takes us inside the training camp of an NFL team, chronicling the first weeks of preseason as the coaches put together their team for the year.  

What makes it such a guilty pleasure, is the sheer fact that it is an uncensored, unfettered look at professional football and now in its fifteenth season, this series shows no signs of stopping, and that's a good thing since this series provides us with so many stunning moments. The tough discussions the coaches have to make, the things they have to say to their players to get them motivated is all on display here and well, it instantly sucks you in. This is a series that gives you everything you don't get on game day, it is truly a complete football experience and this year is no exception. The Los Angeles Rams are the focus this year and even though this season wraps up next Tuesday, I am in awe of what this season has shown us. 

This is the first year that a team that relocated cities has been highlighted and quite frankly, what I've learned about the Rams, is that despite the fact that this sport is a business, this team tries their best to make everyone feel like a family. Because the hardest part of this show to watch, and no doubt the hardest job the coaches have to go through...is cut down day. This is when the coaches have to say goodbye to a particular player, veteran or rookie to meet the NFL's roster requirements and man...sometimes you can pinpoint the moment when you see a player's heart break as they realize there is a fair chance that their NFL career has now come to an end, and your own heart soars when you see a fan favorite or someone that you connect with make the team and live their dream.

If you're a casual football fan and feel a desire to know more about the game and what goes into it, this is the series for you. If you're a die hard NFL fan and haven't caught this yet, you need to. Only because this is as close to as many of us will ever come to being inside the locker room of an NFL team to truly see what it is like to play in the NFL and it is my hope that this series continues long enough to have spotlighted every single team in the league, my Broncos included. But for now, I'll settle for the every day fix of teams that I only know in passing, and live the agony of defeat and the joy of victory through ninety men, trying their damndest to live their dream and earn the elite title of professional football player. 

---