Why There Isn’t Profanity on Hard Knocks This Season

The

Chicago Bears

are being featured on this

NFL

season’s edition of Hard Knocks on HBO and those who’ve tuned in will notice there’s a major difference between this season and others… there’s no swearing.

Not only is that a change for Hard Knocks, but a change from the usual programming on HBO, which was one of the first media platforms to allow profanity on television.

There’s a very simple reason fans won’t be hearing cuss words out of the Bears: the owners don’t want it.

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Hard Knocks has traditionally allowed expletives to be heard on the program.

Shannon Furman, the director of Hard Knocks explained to CHGO that the McCaskey family, who owns the Bears, doesn’t want to be associated with profanity on television.

Part of the appeal of Hard Knocks is that it gives fans the feeling that they’re inside an NFL locker room, on the practice field, in meetings and even in preseason games.

Profanity typically goes hand in hand with that, but the Bears’ owners have essentially vetoed it from being shown on television.

Why Were The Bears Chosen For Hard Knocks This Year?

The NFL has a list of criteria for choosing teams featured on HBO’s long running program.

It’s worth noting that the Bears, and most teams for that matter, never actually want to be on Hard Knocks, as it’s enforced on teams by the league.

The league has a list of criteria it follows in order for a team to be eligible to be shown on Hard Knocks.

Teams that cannot be forced to participate on Hard Knocks include:

1. Teams that have participated before in the last eight years.
2. Teams that have a first-year head coach.
3. Teams that will participate in the in-season “Hard Knocks” show in the current season or following season.

The Bears were one of three eligible teams (along with the

New Orleans Saints

and

Denver Broncos

) back in January under the old rules, which also included that teams that had made the playoffs in any of the prior two seasons could not be forced to participate. That rule was tossed out this offseason, which will make more teams eligible moving forward.

There’s More Hard Knocks To Come Later This Season

The AFC North teams will be featured on the in-season edition of Hard Knocks.

For the first time ever, HBO’s in-season edition of Hard Knocks will feature a division, rather than just one team.

So, if fans are yearning for some profanity, they’ll get their chance later in the season, when the AFC North teams are featured on the in-season edition of the program.

That is unless any of the four owners have a problem with profanity as well.

Profanity aside, the AFC North edition of the show should be very intriguing, as all four teams are expected to be playoff contenders, in what is arguably the toughest division in football.

NFL Films VP and head of content Keith Cossrow was bullish on the idea when he made the announcement back in June.

The competitive division should make for intriguing television, as teams appearing on Hard Knocks typically haven’t had memorable seasons to follow.

In case you need your profanity when watching Hard Knocks, we’re sure that the intensity of the AFC North will bring that out, especially as we get into the thick of the season.

The in-season edition will premiere on December 3rd at 9PM on HBO and Max.

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