The Tampa Bay Bucs have scheduled a press conference for Wednesday, and the reports are growing that the team has been selected to participate in HBO’s Hard Knocks show.
The show, which has often been described as a distraction, will present a new challenge for Tampa Bay.
“I’ve said it before, I feel good about our team and the maturity, especially for being a young group,” general manager Jason Licht said Monday. “I know we have some great personalities on our team starting with Jameis (Winston), Gerald (McCoy), the list goes on and on, (linebacker) Kwon (Alexander). I think it would be, the fans would get an inside look at how our team really is. I know that you guys get a better feel than most, but I think the fans would get a real inside look at how we operate, how the players are. In terms of being a distraction, I think we’re wired to where we would be able to minimize that. Dirk (Koetter) has been through it. Mike Smith has been through it and I’ve heard positive things from them.”
Can it be a positive experience?
“Sure, it can,” Licht said. “We will see how it goes. We will see if that’s the case. I don’t know. May be a moot point, but we will see how it goes.”
Defensive tackle McCoy didn’t sound bothered.
“I’ve watched it,” McCoy said. “Some years it’s entertaining, some years it’s like ‘whatever.’ We don’t pick them, they pick us. If they pick us, let’s be professionals about it and move forward. We’ve still got a season to prepare for, whether there’s a camera watching or not. We play the games on Sunday’s with cameras watching, so if you think you can’t go out to practice and practice with a camera on you, then you’re probably in the wrong profession. If we get picked, it is what it is, let’s be professionals and go to work.”
Said quarterback Jameis Winston: ““I know I’d embrace it. You’ve got to cherish the opportunity that you’ve got. The whole world gets to see how great of an organization this is and see the great people that we have within the organization. But our job is the play football. They add the glitz and the glamour and all that comes with it. It’s an amazing show, but we’ve got to play football. We’re out there doing it for the fans, we’re out there doing it for the city, and Hard Knocks – they’ll just show the whole world.”
