Raiders owner Mark Davis hopes to avoid ‘Hard Knocks’
PHOENIX — The Raiders might make for great television this summer, but they’d rather not.
Team owner Mark Davis said Tuesday that he hopes his club is not selected for “Hard Knocks.” The HBO television series documents one NFL team during training camp each year. Despite its popularity with viewers, the program has difficulty attracting willing participants in a league whose clubs prefer secrecy cloaks to cameras.
“I prefer not to do it,” Davis said. “Not this year. It’s just not the right time.”
Any team that made the playoffs at least once in the past two seasons or has a first-year coach cannot be forced to participate in “Hard Knocks.” The Raiders don’t qualify for either exemption. They haven’t appeared in the postseason since 2016 and coach Jon Gruden is in his second year as coach.
“I told Jon, ‘If they make us do it, I’m gonna fire you and then I’ll hire you right back,’” Davis said with a laugh.
Gruden, too, is known to hope to avoid the show assignment in 2019.
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Contact reporter Michael Gehlken at mgehlken@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GehlkenNFL on Twitter.