But though the cameras don’t follow the players and coaches around inside their homes quite as much (though nice kitchen and backyard fireplace, McVay, well played), and more conversations take place virtually than ever before, this season is still chock-full of intimate, personal scenes, featuring partners, pets and parents. Tears are shed, muscles are flexed, trash is talked. And, as always, spontaneous hilarity ensues, such as when McVay tells his players to have more “social awareness” than to, um… abuse the Porta Potties.
Joey Bosa, the Chargers’ star defensive end who just signed a $135 million contract extension, had told the Daily News he was looking forward to participating in Hard Knocks for the first time. “I’m a big fan of HBO,” he said. “So it’s going to be fun. I’ll just need to maybe watch my language a little bit out there.”
Judging from episode one, no one got that memo. (But no worries, it’s HBO.)
Asked what advice he had for his teammates about handling the cameras following them around, Chargers quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who was on the show in 2018 as a member of the Cleveland Browns, told the Daily News, “Just to be yourself. Don’t let it be a distraction. I’ve seen it both ways. Be yourself.”
