New York Jets To Be Featured on HBO’s Hard Knocks

Update 3.25.10 – The Jets officially announced today at noon EST that they will indeed be featured on this season’s HBO Hard Knocks.  The first of five hour-long episodes will air on Wednesday, August 11th at 10pm EST.   According to NFL Films President Steve Sabol, “Hard Knocks is ready to open on Broadway.”

“It’s a great thing,” Ryan told newyorkjets.com before the news conference began. “We’re going to be ourselves. We won’t hide anything. All we want to do is portray who we are and let the whole country see why I brag about our players and assistant coaches.”

by Matt Etlinger

The New York Jets have a major announcement to make, and have called a noon EST news conference at their headquarters in Florham Park, NJ for tomorrow.  Today, ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweeted, “Jets have ‘major announcement’ tomorrow. My guess – and emphasis is on guess – is that they’ll be featured on this summer’s Hard Knocks.”

The rumor started when Texans Owner Bob McNair told the Houston Chronicle that he believed that the Jets would be the favorite for HBO’s selection.  McNair had said his team was interested in the show, but he told the Chronicle the Jets had already been selected for the show before he expressed interest.

Earlier this month, Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum and Owner Woody Johnson were seen with HBO Chief Executive Ross Greenburg, which added to the speculation that the Jets would be featured on the show this summer.

The Show, which would film the Jets through Training Camp and the Preseason would most certainly deliver solid ratings, knowing the attention and popularity that Coach Rex Ryan garners.  The Jets are also opening a new stadium this year and have yet to sell out season tickets for the year in a tough economic climate.  They also waived Thomas Jones, and signed LaDainian Tomlinson in what might be perceived as an effort to create more publicity and sell more PSL’s and season tickets.

The Bengals, who were featured on Hard Knocks last season won the AFC North and lost to the Jets in the AFC Wild Card Game.  In the shows inaugural season, the Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs were featured.  That season, the Chiefs, who had one of the youngest teams in the NFL, went 2-14.  The Cowboys went 9-7 and missed the playoffs.