ZZZZ.
The Oakland Raiders were the perfect choice for Hard Knocks, and everyone knew it.
Apologies for repeating something I wrote in June when they were the official selection for the HBO training camp series, but when you have Jon Gruden with no filter, Mike Mayock attempting to be a general manager, Mark Davis at the helm of the ship that’s setting sail for Vegas soon and Antonio Brown, you know it’s going to be as good, if not better, than last year’s epic Cleveland Browns season. The 2018 edition had a fight between a head coach and coordinator, a hilarious Carl Nassib speech about money, Gregg Williams screaming and the Baker Mayfield QB RV … ALL IN THE FIRST EPISODE!
So what did we get on Tuesday?
No Gruden-turning-into-Chucky speeches. No Mayock scratching his head over a decision (obviously that could come later when cuts are due). Brown, as we know, has barely participated thus far because of his horribly injured feet potentially because of a cryotherapy machine mishap.
The highlights included a Guy Fieri cameo, a player from Last Chance U appearing and then getting cut, some rookies riding equines to the tune of Old Town Road, a re-packaging of the classic Autumn Wind poem, an alumni dinner and Brown going up in a hot air balloon. The best thing about the episode was hard-hitting and outspoken rookie safety Johnathan Abram.
Maybe my first instinct in 2016 was right — perhaps Hard Knocks has jumped the shark.
But I’d venture to say this isn’t NFL Films’ or HBO’s fault.
Hard Knocks is in its 14th season. If any of the members of this current Raiders organization watched last year’s edition, they know they don’t want to make headlines for the wrong reasons. Sometimes that’s hard when the cameras are on 24/7. But there are ways to dial it down and still get your message across as a head coach. And although I’ve never covered Gruden a day in my life, it felt like we weren’t seeing the full-on fire we’re used to with him.
Some of it is pure happenstance. You can only do so much if there’s a boring week of camp in which the biggest headlining superstar who forced a trade this offseason can’t practice because of frostbitten feet. There’s not much magic in the editing room that can be done.
The hope is we’ll get Chucky back in the coming weeks, and a healthy Brown who can get his swagger back. But as of now, if the Raiders are going to dial back what they can control, it’s going to be a snoozefest.
