The NFL has not yet assigned a team to participate in the all-access summertime show “Hard Knocks.”
But being forced to do it is the only way the 49ers would be featured on the annual HBO reality series. It would be against the objections of coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch.
“It's a hard, hard, bad stance, ‘Hard Knocks,’” Shanahan said of his opinion of the 49ers doing the show this year. “You will see the worst entertainment possible by me.”
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Shanahan and Lynch said they would not comply with the positioning of a camera in the office of the coach and general manager to capture the interactions with players as they are being cut in training camp.
Last year, Lynch told NBC Sports Bay Area why he objected to elements of the show.
“It’s not something we would be really excited about,” Lynch said. “I love the show, but I think some things are best left behind closed doors. I fundamentally have a problem with cutting players and things of that nature (on camera). It’s not something we’d be thrilled about.”
The NFL can force a team to participate in the show, as long at it meets three requirements: the organization has not been featured on the show in the past 10 years, the club has not been to the playoffs in the past two years, and the team does not have a first-year head coach.
San Francisco 49ers
The 49ers, Raiders, New York Giants, Detroit Lions, and Washington could be forced to participate in the series under those criteria.
The Cleveland Browns, under then-coach Hue Jackson, willingly participated this season in the show, which airs during training camp and leads up to the start of the regular season.