Cal Sports Report

Jets, Aaron Rodgers Selected for  HBO's 'Hard Knocks'

We assume HBO will focus a lot of cameras on the former Cal quarterback in his first training camp with the New York Jets
Jake Curtis|
Jets, Aaron Rodgers Selected for  HBO's 'Hard Knocks'
Jets, Aaron Rodgers Selected for  HBO's 'Hard Knocks'

If you haven’t had enough of polarizing quarterback Aaron Rodgers, you can see a lot more of him when the former Cal star works though his NFL training camp as the New York Jets’ new quarterback.

That because ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that the NFL and NFL Films have selected the Jets as the team HBO will document during this year’s Hard Knocks series.

It has not yet been announced when this year's Hard Knocks series will begin to be televised, but in the past it has begun in August, with episode being shown once a week..

Based on the rules established for teams to be eligible for Hard Knocks, the Jets were one of just four teams that could be chosen. Jets coach Robert Saleh had said that he didn’t want to be part of the intrusive series that has cameras trained on every aspect of preseason drills and meetings throughout training camp.

No word on whether Rodgers is welcoming the Hard Knocks cameras, but he has seemed more than eager to express his views publicly. Presumably Rodgers’ presence on the Jets is one of the reasons they were chosen for the project.

We are waiting eagerly to see whether Rodgers addresses during training camp after some of his statements and actions that attracted attention in the past year.

---He did not get vaccinated in 2021 and his statement that he was “immunized” was considered misleading by some media members.

---He considered retiring in the offseason before accepting a trade option to the Jets.

---He experienced a dark weekend, spending several days in complete darkness as a personal enrichment project.

---He recently said psychedelics should be legalized, based on his experience with ayahuasca a few years ago.

There also is the fact that Rodgers has attended every Jets OTA and offseason practice, events he often skipped as a member of the Packers.

There is the possibility that 2023 could be his final NFL season, considering his retirement ruminations the past two offseasons and the fact that he will turn 39 in December.

Finally, his presence with the Jets has led to speculation that the Jets are suddenly Super Bowl contenders.

And let's not forget that Rodgers has been named the NFL's MVP four times, as recently at 2020 and 2021.

It’s a good bet the HBO cameras will spend a lot of time focusing on Rodgers, and editors are likely to keep a lot of footage of Rodgers in the show, especially if Rodgers says or does something controversial.

It has not yet been announced when the first episode of this year's Hard Knocks will be televised, but in the past it has begun in August, with episodes being shown once a week..

Cover photo of Aaron Rodgers by Chris Pedota, NorthJersey.com, USA TODAY NETWORK

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Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

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