On March 31, the Seattle Seahawks announced they will be featured on HBO’s Hard Knocks during training camp as they prepare for the 2026 NFL season.
This marks the Seahawks’ first appearance in the series. Moreover, for the first time since its 2001 debut, the show will spotlight a reigning Super Bowl champion. The five-episode series premieres Aug. 11 at 9 p.m. ET on HBO, with streaming available on HBO Max.
On April 2, Seahawks general manager and president of football operations John Schneider weighed in on the team’s pick during an appearance on Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob. Despite the rest of the league getting a peek behind Seattle’s success, Schneider remained positive about being featured.
“It’s gonna be great… We’re gonna work with the National Football League and the teams that have been through it before to help us just make it a positive for the organization and have it not be as much of a distraction,” Schneider said.
“I talked to [Chicago Bears general manager] Ryan Poles about it down there and a couple other people just about what it looks like, and we’ll have plenty of advice by the time we get there. But I think it’s going to be – it’s a great deal. When the commissioner called me about it, it made sense.”
Moreover, Schneider understood why the Seahawks were picked to be in the series, given the storylines that some of their players, like quarterback Sam Darnold, can provide.
“Sam Darnold, [Devon Witherspoon], [Jaxon Smith-Njigba], [Leonard Williams], [Byron Murphy II], we got some cool characters on this team that are great stories,” Schneider added.
Seahawks GM Still Cautious About Hard Knocks Appearance
While there’s excitement about the team being featured, the series usually leans into personal stories and the human side of the game. As a result, Schneider is cautious about how many behind-the-scenes details of the team will end up on display.
“I just always worried about telling our story, but I get it from a from a PR standpoint, a marketing standpoint,” Schneider said. “We’re just very protective of, like, how we do things, what our culture looks like… We’re gonna make it as positive as we possibly can without sharing as much information as we possibly can.”
Outside of the football aspect, Schneider noted he will be happy to showcase the city of Seattle and its surrounding areas to those unfamiliar with it.
“We’re so sheltered up here. It will allow people to see you know how beautiful that the city is and where we are (at) the (Virginia Mason Athletic Center),” Schneider said, referring to the team’s practice facility in Renton.
“And I’m just excited for people… to get to know people like Patrick [Ward] and [Erik Kennedy] and Nolan [Teasley] and Trent [Kirchner]… for people to understand all the people that have supported this organization for a long, long time.”
Philip Rivers Doesn’t Hold Back on Seattle Defense
As Schneider mentioned, Hard Knocks will put the spotlight on several players, and it’s likely to focus on Seattle’s defense, which was the engine behind their Super Bowl LX run. Philip Rivers, who came out of retirement to play for the Indianapolis Colts, shared his thoughts on having to face that unit.
“I’ve got to make sure I know where [Nick Emmanwori] is all the time,” Rivers said on April 1 on Seattle Sports. “Then here’s [Devon] Witherspoon, that obviously is a heck of a blitzer as well and a great DB. And then there’s the defensive front, and how do we want to handle Leonard Williams? And what about [DeMarcus] Lawrence and Uchenna [Nwosu] and these guys rushing on the outside?”
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