Chairman McCaskey Making a Mistake? Well the NFL May Not Care
The Bears have expressed their desire not to feature on Hard Knocks next season, however they could end up being chosen if no other teams volunteer. The Bears are one of four eligible teams that meet the criteria for selection.
To be eligible for "Hard Knocks," there are three requirements that a team must meet:
1) The team must have failed to reach the playoffs for the last two consecutive seasons.2) The team cannot have a head coach in their first year.3) The team must not have been featured on "Hard Knocks" within the last ten years.
The three other teams that meet these requirements are the: New York Jets, New Orleans Saints, and Washington Commanders.
Bears chairman George McCaskey has explicitly stated that he has no interest in the Bears being featured on the HBO sports documentary television series.
Although George McCaskey has expressed his disinterest in having the Bears featured on the television series, the final decision is not entirely up to him. It is worth noting that the NFL can force a team to participate.
According to Kevin Fishbain, McCaskey believes that there are "31 other" teams that can tell their story on "Hard Knocks:
As for the Bears being selected over the three other qualified teams, we have serious reason to believe that they are the favorite. A young and talented quarterback in Justin Fields, a head coach in Matt Eberflus who is starting to inject his identity into the team as he enters his second year, and a front office who has been actively upgrading the roster with noteworthy acquisitions, adding the likes of WR D.J. Moore, RB D'Onta Foreman, and LB Tremaine Edmunds to the roster.
The timing of the announcement for which team will be selected to be on "Hard Knocks" this season is currently unknown. The decision for the 2022 season was announced in late March, while in 2021 it came in July.
As seen on BearsWire - George McCaskey has no Interest in Bears Being on Hard Knocks
| POLL | ||
1 AVRIL | 77 ANSWERS Chairman McCaskey Making a Mistake? Well the NFL May Not Care Should the Chicago Bears be the star on "Hard Knocks" this year? | ||
| Yes | 31 | 40.3 % |
| No | 32 | 41.6 % |
| Indifferent | 14 | 18.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
