After much speculation, denials and refusals by many teams, HBO Sports has announced that this season of Hard Knocks will feature the Atlanta Falcons.
This is the ninth season of the series which follows a team through training camp all the way up to the beginning of the season. The Cleveland Browns were originally expected to be featured, but opted out due to a contract agreement that allows teams with first year head coach's to not participate.
The Falcons were originally asked to appear in 2012 but declined the offer. This time around Falcons owner Arthur Blank said the team "looks forward to showcasing our great players and coaches to football fans all across America."
The choice of the Falcons is an interesting one. They finished 4-12 last season after five straight winning seasons and four playoff appearances. Wide receiver Julio Jones will be coming back off a broken right foot that ended his season early last year. Running back Steven Jackson starts only his second year with the Falcons; last year he rushed for only three touchdowns. Quarterback Matt Ryan still threw for over 4500 yards, but was unable to carry his team into the playoffs when Jones was hurt and his defense and special teams began to struggle. The team did sign punt/kick returner Devin Hester in the off-season to try to help their struggling special teams and drafted offensive tackle Jake Matthews to protect Ryan in the pocket.
The mix of characters and the colorful back drop of Atlanta and the Georgia Dome should make this one of the more interesting seasons of Hard Knocks. The show will premiere on HBO on August 5th.
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