Hard Knocks: The Viral and the Unknown
54 years after veteran journalist Jim Comstock coined the term “school of hard knocks,” HBO launched a visionary television series playing off the popular moniker. Hard Knocks debuted in 2001 with the defending Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens as the focal point giving fans an “unvarnished reality of the NFL” (Ringer).
Hard Knocks became a runaway success for HBO, and there are viral moments every season, including Vince Wilfork’s unique fashion choice in 2015. If you type “Vince Wilfork” into Google, their first suggestion is “overalls.” The search engine result refers to the episode where he steps out of a white SUV while only wearing denim overalls and cowboy boots. Wilfork heads straight for the team walk-through amidst the snickering of his teammates and the guffawing of his then-head coach Bill O’Brien.
A more recent moment is when the Detroit Lions rookie defensive end Aiden Hutchinson sang Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” in a rookie talent show. In a since-deleted Tweet, one writer claimed that the NFL paid $100K to the Michael Jackson estate to air the clip before deleting the Tweet amidst the Lions' objection (Detroit Sports Nation).
Behind those viral moments are overnight successes and a lot of undisclosed money.
The New York Times states that during the first season, NFL Films ''paid the veterans Shannon Sharpe, Tony Siragusa, Ray Lewis and Rod Woodson $8,000 and the rookies Todd Heap and Reggie Waddell $2,000.”
The NYT then draws a possible conclusion that the level of access might correlate with the money, but there is no other data to reveal just how much money is involved in any part of Hard Knocks.
Even when HBO and the NFL agreed to an extension, they didn’t announce the length or value of the deal.
No one, other than those intimately involved, knows how much it costs HBO to have this level of continued, iconic access. So for the time being, we’ll have to watch and enjoy Hard Knocks without a deeper level of understanding behind the viral moments.