Thanks to ESPN's poll indicating that fans want to see the Detroit Lions on HBO's Hard Knocks this summer, there has been a lot of chatter about if it's even possible. It's not based on Jim Schwartz's comments from last year, but that hasn't stopped people from discussing the possibility.
On Thursday, Lions players were asked to give their thoughts on appearing on the show, and they echoed Schwartz's sentiments on the matter. The players interviewed all were against being on the show for a variety of reasons.
Matthew Stafford wouldn't want the Lions to be on the show because he thinks assessments made by coaches should be kept private. Cliff Avril enjoys watching other teams' assessments, but he wouldn't want to hear what the Lions coaches have to say about him. Shaun Hill also doesn't think that would be a good idea.
"No, absolutely not. I can't imagine that,'' said Lions backup quarterback Shaun Hill. "First of all, I don't want to know what (the coaches) say about me in meetings and I definitely don't want the rest of the world to know what they say about me in meetings.''
Don Muhlbach doesn't like the idea simply for the distraction factor. He said he has talked to players on teams that have been featured on Hard Knocks, and they apparently weren't too fond of the cameras being around. Jason Fox agreed about the distraction issue, as did Kyle Vanden Bosch, who said, "People get too fake about it."
Louis Delmas said he'd be in favor of it only to "show everybody else how hard we work and that we're not a pushover." In the end, though, he was also against it because he doesn't "want anybody to see our weapons." He also didn't think Martin Mayhew would go for the idea.
Drew Stanton is against the idea simply because he thinks the Lions would be too boring. The Jets and Bengals have been entertaining in recent years thanks to personalities like Rex Ryan and Chad Ochocinco, but Stanton thinks the Lions would be too boring for viewers.
I disagree with Stanton's notion that the Lions would be boring, but it really doesn't matter. The team will not be on the show, because neither the coaches nor the players would be in favor of it.