Roger Goodell Misses the Boat With 'Formal Rotation' for Hard Knocks Series

With some of his recent comments it almost sounds as if teams may not have a choice when it comes to participating in the HBO series Hard Knocks.

Anyone want to guess how well that goes over with the players?

NFL.com reports Goodell as saying:

"We're talking about some kind of formal rotation where teams participate in the show on a more regular basis," Goodell told the Bengals' team site last week. "Not necessarily more frequently, but on a regular basis so that it is a shared obligation and it would give more teams an opportunity to have this."

I like Hard Knocks. I think a reality show based on the training camp experience of an NFL team is a brilliant idea. We watch the end result of all the practice these guys do, so why not check out the process that gets them to what we see on Sunday, right?

If only most of the teams actually felt that way...

The show is not popular among many teams for the added distraction it provides, and at a time when coaches want their players concentrating and paying attention the most. Players don't always like to have the cameras around either.

This year alone at least five teams declined the invite to be on the show (Falcons, Seahawks, 49ers, Texans, and Redskins). Of course the NFL would like to mandate these guys into doing it. They are marquee teams with high hopes for the coming season and some of the most popular players in the league.

But does he have the authority to say they have to do it? No, so how he plans on doing this is kind of a mystery unless he gets the players to amend the CBA (which is not going to happen).

Than again, it would be interesting to see what he would give them in return if they did...leniency on fines perhaps?