The 49ers have made it pretty clear they don’t want to be on Hard Knocks. 49ers fans have understood, even stood behind this thinking. That’s not stopping the NFL from marching the camera crews into Santa Clara and having the team do the show anyways. Fooch wrote up something on teams not being interested in the show, and it’s turning into not who will be on Hard Knocks, but who will be forced to do Hard Knocks. SI.com’s Charlotte Wilder made a case as to why the 49ers are the front runners of the “honor.”
This doesn’t just focus on the 49ers. Wilder focuses on the five teams in the running and if they can—or can’t—get out of doing Hard Knocks. Here’s her entry for the 49ers:
Last year, much of the offseason buzz surrounded the promising quarterback who left New England in a blaze of drama, but it died down quickly when Jimmy G tore his ACL and was out for the season. Now that Garoppolo’s getting ready to return to the field, the 49ers make an incredibly compelling case to be featured on Hard Knocks this preseason. From the gossip surrounding Garoppolo’s dating life and Richard Sherman’s constant entertainment to coach Kyle Shanahan at the helm, creating a relevant jumping-off point for a conversation about the league’s young head coaches, there are several degrees of hope, humor and intrigue in San Francisco.
Final verdict: Everyone’s been saying this year is the Raiders’ year, but I beg to differ. Set up shop in San Francisco, Hard Knocks, because this team has a narrative and a timeline best suited for some really great reality television. This is the year. 49ers or bust.
I’d love to watch the 49ers on HBO and see all the chaos and fun that ensues. The 49ers have Brick by Brick running from their own studio crew to give us the behind the scenes fun that Hard Knocks provides, just not to the level of near-obnoxiousness found on HBO. If the 49ers were on, I’d watch it as a fan just to see the facility and some interactions—whether genuine or faked— but I also won’t be broken hearted if they don’t have cameras in there this year.
So this brings me to my next question. I get why the 49ers don’t want to do Hard Knocks—it’s understandable...I think. Are any of you waiting with bated breath to see if the 49ers make the show and will be disappointed if it doesn’t happen? Why do you want to see them on Hard Knocks so bad? I’m not criticizing you, I’m just curious as to why.