It looks like head coach Kyle Shanahan and the San Francisco 49ers got their wish. According to a report from NBC Sports Bay Area, the team is unlikely to be featured this year on "Hard Knocks," which is produced by NFL Films and HBO.
"But the 49ers will not be featured, multiple league sources have told NBC Sports Bay Area," wrote Matt Maiocco on Monday morning.
The 49ers, along with four other NFL teams, are eligible for the popular reality sports documentary series. NFL teams are exempt if they have a first-year head coach in place, made the playoffs in the past two seasons, or appeared on "Hard Knocks" in the past 10 years.
The most likely candidate is the Oakland Raiders, who landed Antonio Brown this offseason and hope to move to Las Vegas, Nevada next year. The other eligible teams are the Detroit Lions, New York Giants, and Washington Redskins, none of which seem as compelling as Oakland. Although, seeing the Raiders next year during their first offseason in Las Vegas might be entertaining, assuming they continue to meet the eligibility criteria.
Raiders owner Mark Davis, like the 49ers, is against appearing on "Hard Knocks."
"It would be disruptive," Davis told ESPN in March. "We've got a lot of business to take care of, get ready for the season. I appreciate that they might think we'd be great TV, but we got something to accomplish."
Shanahan explained at the end of last season that he would be against appearing on the HBO series. He shared his stance during a season-ending press conference.
"It's a hard, hard, bad stance on Hard Knocks," Shanahan told reporters. "You would see the worst entertainment possible by me."
49ers president Al Guido shared why Shanahan was so against the possibility of being on the series.
"Kyle was pretty straightforward on the Hard Knocks comment," Guido told 95.7 The Game. "Listen, we know that they can select us and frankly, we probably don't have a choice. There's a lot of things behind the scenes I think that Kyle feels like should not be shared.
"I don't mind sharing this one. I think Kyle struggles with cutting guys on camera. He feels like that's very personal. These guys are fighting for their careers, and lives, and how much it means to be an NFL player. To commercialize that, he's never been a big fan of that. I've let the NFL know our stance on that front."
Hard Knocks debuted in 2001. The show, which follows NFL teams during training camp and preseason, featured the Cleveland Browns last year.
With the #49ers unlikely to appear on Hard Knocks, would you, as fans, wanted to see that?
— 49ers Webzone (@49erswebzone) May 13, 2019