Falcons to be featured on HBO’s 2014 Hard Knocks

Prepare to step inside the Falcons offseason like never before as HBO’s Hard Knocks series has landed on Atlanta to be featured in its ninth edition of the show. Hard Knocks famously looks behind the scenes of training camp and the preseason while following a specific team every step of the way. The process of the popular series gives viewers a glimpse into the personal and professional lives of the players, coaches and front office.

Considering the amount of production involved with the show and the deep behind the scenes looks, teams with new coaches, teams that have been in the playoffs at least once in the past 2 years and teams that have done the show once in the past 10 years are exempt from being forced into appearing on the show.

The Bengals were featured last season on the show and their preseason practices and game with the Falcons were a popular episode from last season. Perhaps that acclimated the Falcons to the process involved in the upcoming month. There has historically been a difficultly in getting teams to come on the show but Atlanta gratefully accepted despite having the option to turn it down.

“We are looking forward to connecting with our fans across the country as the program chronicles our 2014 training camp,” said Falcons Head Coach Mike Smith. “The series will give fans a behind the scenes look at the competition between players as we build our roster and prepare for the season. We are looking forward to the start of camp in late July.”

The first episode will air in early  Tuesday, Aug. 5 (10 p.m. ET), exclusively on HBO.

“We are thrilled that the ninth edition of the HARD KNOCKS series will spotlight the Atlanta Falcons,” said Ken Hershman, President of HBO Sports. “It’s exciting to feature a team, a franchise and a city for the first time on HARD KNOCKS. We are grateful to Head Coach Mike Smith and the entire organization for agreeing to participate and look forward to what we expect to be one of the few summertime programs that is truly appointment TV and we can’t wait for the premiere on August 5th.”