In 2001, the NFL produced its first season of the show Hard Knocks. It was the first-ever sports-related reality TV show that followed an NFL team through training camp and the team's preparation for the upcoming season. It began on a volunteer basis, but when the league struggled to find a team to participate in 2013, the league determined a way to force teams to participate.
The initial rules were that a team could decline to participate in Hard Knocks for one of three reasons: 1. The team has appeared on the show in the past 10 years, 2. the team has a first-year head coach, or 3. the team reached the playoffs in either of the two preceding seasons.
At the NFL owner's meeting this week, the league announced a change to the exemption rules:
NFL chief media and business officer Brian Rolapp mentioned on Monday how the league has liberalized its rules for Hard Knocks. Here is the full rule—the "non-playoff" requirement has been removed to compel a team.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) April 2, 2025
This really opens up the NFL's options for HK this summer. pic.twitter.com/2T2j0GIPNS
Now that there are two versions of Hard Knocks, the original version that follows a team through training camp, and a second version that follows an entire division through the regular season, the NFL has re-framed its eligibility requirements.
The in-season divisional series will work on a rotation that features each division once every eight years. For those seasons, each team within the division will be featured on that Hard Knocks series.
The training camp eligibility requirements are slightly different now. Any team with a first-year head coach is not eligible, this remains the same. Any team within the division being featured in-season is not eligible for that year's training camp series. A team cannot be featured on Hard Knocks: Training Camp more than once in eight seasons. And, finally, no team is exempt from selection based on their participation in Hard Knocks or a similar show prior to 2024.
The Washington Commanders have never appeared on Hard Knocks. They've been asked, and they've declined, but now it looks like the NFL isn't giving teams a choice anymore. The division they choose to follow in 2025 will indicate four teams that cannot participate in the Training Camp series. If it's not the NFC East, the Commanders will be eligible for a Hard Knocks: Training Camp appearance in 2025 since the playoff requirement has been removed.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Rule change makes Commanders eligible for 'Hard Knocks: Training Camp'
