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HBO Hard Knocks 2022 - Detroit Lions (1 Viewer)

The Lions will be featured on HBO's "Hard Knocks" this summer. 

High-energy Dan Campbell and his upstart Lions will allow HBO's cameras to film the team's training camp ahead of his second season as Detroit's head coach. We can only hope there's a reference or two to the "kneecap biting" diatribe Campbell delivered upon his shocking hire as the team's head coach in 2021. The coffee-chugging soundbite machine will guide the Lions -- in Jared Goff's second year as the team's starter -- before a national audience. It should be entertaining, if nothing else. The series starts on August 9. 

SOURCE: Detroit Lions on Twitter 

Mar 28, 2022, 9:45 AM ET
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Hard Knocks has become bland. The All or Nothing series is a little better.

Detroit has some characters that could make this year pretty good.

 
Just gonna add the coach's make a big difference.

The early Hard Knocks with Dallas, Miami, Cinci, and Kansas City

were not all that great. A few good moments but after Baltimore and the Jets

it was all a tough act to follow.

 
This team is going to become America's Team this season. Brad Holmes has provided some very good pieces, not only talent-wise but their character. The culture that Dan Campbell is building is infectious. There is 100 percent buy-in from the players. The coaching staff is top notch.

Meanwhile, the media experts are giving the Lions no respect. Goff is seen as the 30th best QB. I have seen D'Andre Swift rated as the 32nd best back. No Lions WR is listed in the top 30. The defense is rated 30th. Not one Lions player is listed in the 100 best. And most recently SI has somehow ranked Detroits O-Line at 26th.

The Lions will be the ultimate underdog story and Hard Knocks will expose just how much character this team has. And once this team starts winning, which it most definitely will, people will be surprised and even shocked. There is just too much heart and enough talent for this team not to be successful. The offense is stacked and ready to hit on all cylinders. The defense is still being pieced together and has several big holes, but will make huge strides and be much much improved. This will be a fun team to watch.
 
***TRIGGER WARNING***

If you feel like the world would be a better place if we retired the word "grit", you might want to sit this one out.

Should be a good one. MCDC is a tremendous motivator, Brad Holmes' enthusiasm is infectious, Jamaal Williams is a fun personality in the locker room. This is one of the most inept franchises in the NFL. Known for having a great fan base, but they just can't ever get it right.

Story lines?
  • Jared Goff has been a middling QB the last three years, and few people think is the right guy. The guy he was traded for (sort of) is a living legend who won a Super Bowl ring in his first season away from Detroit. He had a terrible WR room last year; that's no longer an available excuse. This is probably his last best chance to succeed as a starter in the NFL.
  • Injury comebacks? Take your pick: first round pick Jameson Williams (torn ACL National Championship game), former #3 bust pick Jeff Okudah (16 games missed achilles), Pro Bowl C Frank Ragnow (13 G), Edge Romeo Okwara (13 G), no shortage of stories here. It was a problem last year https://sidelionreport.com/2022/02/18/detroit-lions-starters-missed-games-injury/
  • #2 Overall Pick Aidan Hutchinson won a slew of awards last season: Lombardi Award, Ted Hendricks Award, Heisman Trophy runner up. Making a great first impression, local kid from a great family. Almost a microcosm of the state of the franchise: looks good, sounds good, should be good, hasn't done anything yet.

Lions beat writer Kyle Meinke:

I just talked to Shannon Furman, the “Hard Knocks” director, for the podcast the other day. Furman said Dan Campbell’s team meetings have been so good that they’re having a hard time figuring out what to cut. She also wears an earpiece during practice, and while she has access to live sound from a handful of coaches and players, she usually stays tuned to Dan Campbell throughout. Can’t blame her either.


Here’s guessing the show does its best to develop storylines across the roster, and Furman even said “Hard Knocks” will give more airtime than usual to the assistant coaches because, well, the assistant coaches are more interesting than usual. We’re also going to see a lot of Aidan Hutchinson, including his rendition of “Billie Jean” that was the talk of camp last week. But at the end of the day, I think it’s pretty unavoidable that Dan Campbell will emerge as the year’s biggest star.
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Newish (June 2020) Chairwoman Sheila Ford Hamp inherited a pervasive toxic atmosphere. Working with Chris Spielman and others, she engineered a cultural transformation that has been incredible to watch unfold. Full credit. She hired these people everyone is heaping praise upon.

I'm fairly certain we have, for the first time in my 56 seasons as a Lions fan, the right GM. I don't know if MCDC is the right coach. Like everyone else, I have hope. He is such a likeable guy, I want to believe, and I cannot imagine anyone else generating this much goodwill and enthusiasm while winning 3 games his first year.

They're building the team from the inside out. They already have a top notch offensive line. They've invested a lot in their defensive line and Edge. The coaching staff is chock full of young former NFL players who love to teach. Players love this regime. You listen to a MCDC press conference / locker room speech and it's like LFG gimme a brick wall to run through.

Should be fun.
 
This is going to be a throwback to when the show was actually entertaining. When Hutch hits his Billie Jean tonight, we are going to see the ratings spike.
 
Jamaal stole the show with his speech

MCDC is da Man

Hutch is a baller and a performer

Deuce and Glenn Goin at it was gold

This team is tight.
 
Staley a little over the top for me, but we are only seeing glimpses so hard to get a feel for what a full day looks like. Interesting how hard he is riding Swift.
 
TripItUp said:
Staley a little over the top for me, but we are only seeing glimpses so hard to get a feel for what a full day looks like. Interesting how hard he is riding Swift.
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I didn’t love their relationship and especially the amount of energy Swift had. Again it’s a small glimpse and maybe Swift is just a quiet guy but it was certainly less exciting than Amon Ra, Hutch and Rodrigo.
 
TripItUp said:
Had no idea ARSB's family was so hard core on the conditioning...pretty cool story.
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I forget who it was but another USC star asked if he could join ARSB & his brothers workout. So one day after practice, they head over to his dad’s garage. Said it was the most intense two hour workout he’d ever had. “Wait a second…you been doing this everyday?” Yeah, 365. Dude didn’t go back. “They’re insane.”

Again, you get glimpses so you don’t know the whole story. Amon-Ra’s mom is German, she focused on the boys education and developing interests outside sports. Their workouts are intense but they’re actually pretty eclectic. All three boys speak 3-4 languages, excelled in classes, visit Europe each summer, and seem more well rounded than most athletes.

Aside - interesting tidbit: They used to live in France and grew up speaking German at home, their mom’s language.
 
Last edited:
Ilov80s said:
TripItUp said:
Staley a little over the top for me, but we are only seeing glimpses so hard to get a feel for what a full day looks like. Interesting how hard he is riding Swift.
Click to expand...
I didn’t love their relationship and especially the amount of energy Swift had. Again it’s a small glimpse and maybe Swift is just a quiet guy but it was certainly less exciting than Amon Ra, Hutch and Rodrigo.
Click to expand...

Felt that, but gotta think that Duce's is just part of the overall balance. Think about all the different coaches and their personalities. AG (DC) is so respected, affable, well organized - he was a stud player and we're gonna lose him to a head coaching gig in a year or two. Kelvin Sheppard (LB) is in his first NFL job, hyper intense, only few years from his last year as a player. Aubrey Pleasant (DBs) is another intense *******. Ben Johnson (OC) is cerebral, the Bengals coach has been trying to steal him for a few years, one of the best young minds in the game. Mark Brunnel (QBs) is super chill and laid back, which is probably a good fit for Goff. Hank Fraley (OL) is an introvert. I trust that Staley is very competent. He's had the same dual role here (RBs & Ast HC) as he had in Philly - I don't think you keep a job for five years without being effective.

Loved that moment when MCDC pulled Hutch aside and just chatted with him about how his practice is going, what he's working on, etc. I love the way Aidan carries himself. You can tell he's very observant, soaking it up, not super verbal but def seems like a good guy with some personality. He has looked the part on the field from Day One of OTAs. He and Malcolm Rodriguez are going to have great rookie seasons. 44 will be a green dot player (in-helmet transmitter) in another year or two.

I know it's just preseason but that end of the game ******** is typical Lions stuff. Gotta know that's where you close out games, and between Bough fumbling a perfect shotgun snap to Chase Lucas dropping a walk off pick six - that's the knife edge in the NFL. Good teams find a way to win, bad teams implode. There's a lot to like about the direction Brad Holmes and MCDC are building toward, but this is still a 6-7 win team even with their VERY favorable schedule.
 
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