The Bills on Hard Knocks

[SoonerBillsFan]

When does this start?  Not paying for HBO yet lol

[Don Otreply]

Saw a video on YouTube the other day, an interview with Josh, about him  finding out about hard knocks on his birthday, he wasn’t particularly pleased about it, but said the right things as is the usual for him, something about an opportunity for players to show their personalities, blah blah blah, it was pretty obvious that he is not a fan of it happening in Orchard park…,  

 

GO BILLS!!!

[The BLUES Brothers]

My son started a new job working at St John Fisher (where TC is), and said HBO team has been adding extra camera stands to all the rooms the players have their meetings in. They also have temp signs up for QB Room, Special Teams Room, etc right inside his building.  I was hoping a perk for employees would be TC tix for family, but no dice.

 

First show 8/5 - can't wait!

[sunshynman]

On 7/15/2025 at 11:40 PM, Mike in Horseheads said:

Really, bastards never offered me that and I'm with ATT.

It's not really free, they just charge you in your bill.

[Warcodered]

On 7/20/2025 at 12:51 PM, Don Otreply said:

Saw a video on YouTube the other day, an interview with Josh, about him  finding out about hard knocks on his birthday, he wasn’t particularly pleased about it, but said the right things as is the usual for him, something about an opportunity for players to show their personalities, blah blah blah, it was pretty obvious that he is not a fan of it happening in Orchard park…,  

 

GO BILLS!!!

It's this weird thing where we as fans enjoy more content obviously but at the same it's obviously not great to have this microscope stuck into the organization as their getting ready for the season.

[Don Otreply]

7 hours ago, Warcodered said:

It's this weird thing where we as fans enjoy more content obviously but at the same it's obviously not great to have this microscope stuck into the organization as they’re getting ready for the season.

Personally I can live without this bit of content,  but fully understand your point, many fans truly enjoy the hard knocks show, 

[stevewin]

On 7/20/2025 at 1:51 PM, Don Otreply said:

Saw a video on YouTube the other day, an interview with Josh, about him  finding out about hard knocks on his birthday, he wasn’t particularly pleased about it, but said the right things as is the usual for him, something about an opportunity for players to show their personalities, blah blah blah, it was pretty obvious that he is not a fan of it happening in Orchard park…,  

 

GO BILLS!!!

Tim Grahan had a good article in the Athletic interviewing the exec producer (subscription)

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6503697/2025/07/21/hard-knocks-buffalo-bills-training-camp/

 

Some takaways:

- Many times the show has been about teams trying to right the ship, this will be about a good team trying to take that little extra step to take them over the top

- Ultimately a team that is chosen just needs to understand in terms of 'routine' it is just part of being in the league and accept and deal with it

- They try not to force narratives, and try to stay flexible to let the storylines develop organically.  The nature of TC itself lnarurally leads to interesting stories with stakes (My favorite quotes from the story is below:"Steve Sabol used to say, “Training camp is a crucible of emotions.” There’s just not enough spots on the team. "

Quote

With the NFL loosening up the rules for more and better teams to be eligible for “Hard Knocks,” why did you choose the Bills?

 

That feeling is there. I don’t think, process-wise, that’s how it worked. We always look for a different story, a story everyone is curious about. Sometimes, it comes down to what a team is doing to get back on track. That’s certainly a really interesting story at training camp, when there’s a lot more at stake for teams that are trying to get back on track as opposed to teams that are trying to repeat their success or get one step further. In general, the training camp show has always been more intense with teams that are trying to right the ship. But some of our best shows, certainly the Ravens in ’01 and 2010 Jets, who were coming off the AFC Championship appearance, are teams that already have an established identity and feel very comfortable internally. They know who they are. They’re trying to figure out how to turn a machine that’s already running smoothly up to 11.

 

It felt like we had enough years here of an audience outside the Buffalo Bills’ fandom knowing the Bills, but not knowing enough about the Bills. They’ve gotten their national appearances. They’ve gotten their playoff runs. They’ve gotten their awards, including last year’s MVP. But I don’t think enough people know about them and what their philosophy is and what mindset created this current run of success. That’s a shame, and it makes me feel like they’re the perfect team to expose outside their own fandom. “Hard Knocks” has a larger, casual fan base than most other NFL programming. It’s a workplace drama, and it’s about the characters. It’s become a series that’s about the people, and I think the nation is going to get to know these people in a way that they haven’t experienced from just watching them play on Sunday.

Quote

When the Bills were selected as this year’s “Hard Knocks: Training Camp” team, they didn’t put out a press release or announce it on their website or social media. They’re known to be doing this against their wishes. How have you handled that dynamic with teams that don’t want to do it?

 

I understand it. Even as a filmmaker, I believe in under-promising and over-delivering in our work. I want to be under the radar and surprise people and not have people thinking about us until we air and realize what a great show it is.

Almost every coach wants to stay under the radar, but “Hard Knocks,” to its credit, is so popular that it really raises the profile of the team we feature. It’s antithetical to an organization’s goals sometimes. But the way I view it — and I think this is exactly how the Bills are treating it — is that the football staff probably doesn’t want to travel to Europe for games, probably don’t want to play on Thursday nights or Monday nights. If they could, they would play at home at 1 o’clock on Sunday every week. Routines, you know? Doing things as they’ve always been done. But the National Football League is, in the end, an entertainment business and a licensing business and a fan engagement business. Once you’re chosen to play in Europe, once you’re playing on Thursday night out on the West Coast, you accept it, you move on, you manage it and you try to maximize that experience.

Quote

As stable as the Bills have been, as much continuity as there is from top to bottom within the organization and their ability to limit distractions, “Hard Knocks” storylines often pivot on the unknown unknowns of training camp. How do you capitalize on developments you can’t prepare for?

 

It really is a question of having the discipline of a documentarian and not a narrative writer. We do go into camp with what we think the storylines are, whether it’s position battles or players rehabbing from injuries or newcomers trying to prove themselves or MVPs trying to take the next step. There are 90 stories on the roster. But you have to have the discipline to throw out what you thought ahead of time and go with what is actually happening.

 

Most teams wonder what our stories are going to be, and they all realize after being on “Hard Knocks” that we don’t have preconceived storylines. What happens in camp are the storylines. We follow that on a person-by-person basis. We don’t know who’s going to have a bad camp or regress or perform above expectations. You have to be flexible. It’s difficult because it’s easy to project what you think is a better story, but reality is reality.

 

When things go a little too smoothly in a training camp, how do you not root for something provocative to happen?

 

Nothing goes perfectly with all 90 players. That’s where (late NFL Films boss and Pro Football Hall of Famer) Steve Sabol used to say, “Training camp is a crucible of emotions.” There’s just not enough spots on the team. The offense practices against the defense; one of them is going to perform better. There might not be as much tension on a team level, but training camp naturally gives you a full range of emotions because there are 90 stories, and it’s our job to represent even if the camp as a whole is going great, that not every individual story will.

Quote

It’s like putting your brain on autopilot. People ask me all the time whether it’s better to cover the game when the Bills win or lose, and I always tell them it doesn’t matter because something is going to happen. So that’s what I’ll write about.

 

I don’t mean to sound mystical, but it’s about being open to the universe. Whatever happens, happens, and we’re going to cover it. People always ask us, “What’s going to be on the next episode?” We sort of laugh because whatever it is hasn’t happened yet, literally. We don’t know!

Having that flexibility has to be built in because of the quick production turnaround. There’s no time to make up narratives and carefully craft the ups and downs. It happens, then we put it on air, and the easiest way to put it on air is to be true to what the story is. Other people can interpret whether they like this person or not that person, or you liked that speech, or that person is overconfident. Judgments we try to stay out of. We just want to produce an hour’s representation of the 300, 400 hours we captured this week. Take it for what it is.

 

One thing I have been thinking is if they will find a way to include Josh's work with Oshei.  It would have to include some kind of existing footage since he obviously wouldn't be visiting during TC - but would really be a great example of what is mentioned about "an audience outside the Buffalo Bills’ fandom knowing the Bills, but not knowing enough about the Bills".  Outside Buffalo people have heard the stories about the donations to create the wing - but I doubt most have seen the level of Josh's involvement and have seen the videos we've seen (in very dusty rooms) with him interacting with the kids.

Edited Tuesday at 03:36 PM by stevewin

[Búfalo Blanco]

19 hours ago, Warcodered said:

It's this weird thing where we as fans enjoy more content obviously but at the same it's obviously not great to have this microscope stuck into the organization as their getting ready for the season.

Yeah, this is where I'm at with it. Always a chance a team like this, with serious Super Bowl aspirations, could get distracted during camp with the media focus. Not ideal for them nor do I agree with it, but I'll be watching anyway... 

[Sierra Foothills]

On 7/21/2025 at 9:40 PM, Warcodered said:

It's this weird thing where we as fans enjoy more content obviously but at the same it's obviously not great to have this microscope stuck into the organization as their getting ready for the season.

 

Like a pleasurable colonoscopy?

 

[BigDingus]

Pretty sure Door Dash also gives you a free subscription to HBO Max I think 

[machine gun kelly]

On 7/20/2025 at 1:48 PM, SoonerBillsFan said:

When does this start?  Not paying for HBO yet lol

If you’re to anyone who has Max, you might be able to borrow the acct. During Hard Knocks.  I know I let one of my sisters use a couple of subscriptions, amd I believe the max at any given time is two users.

[HOUSE]

On 7/16/2025 at 10:35 PM, Lafromboise said:

It's just ten freaking dollars...jeez 2.50$ a week oh no

Yes but over 50 years that is $6500

[Augie]

57 minutes ago, HOUSE said:

Yes but over 50 years that is $6500

 

Is there an additional fees for leap years we have to budget for? I need to get this info to our financial planner ASAP! 

[The Wiz]

 

[Alphadawg7]

The trailer has dropped!

 

 

[Mat68]

The Hardknocks theme is the prelude to the NFL.  Having the Bills featured with it hits pretty hard.  Football is back! 

[YoloinOhio]

 

No Cook! 

[Bills!Win!]

Hard knocks crews were seen today but not very prevalent. 

[WotAGuy]

14 hours ago, Sierra Foothills said:

 

Like a pleasurable colonoscopy?

 

Speaking of my time in state prison…..

[Tierlifer]

On 7/18/2025 at 8:45 AM, BillsPride12 said:

Bullet Points:

 

-First team they have done in a long time where they are actually away for camp.  Capturing moments of them arriving on campus and spending time in the dorms will be an early focus

-They have spoken with the Bills(McDermott, Beane) and although the Bills said this isn't something they really wanted to do, they want to be fully cooperative and make it as good of a show as they possibly can

-The producer grew up in Rochester and is a Bills fan himself.  Said it's going to be an on-going challenge to not be fan-boying lol

-Sometimes you stumble upon random under the radar players that you don't plan on being a focus of the show but they stand out and get their own storyline

-Gonna talk to Josh Allen and ask him what kinda stuff do you want us to document and see

 

I remember the Jets one from Cortland.