HBO Puts Hard Knocks Back on Playing Field

After a four-season hiatus, HBO Sports is returning to the gridiron with its Hard Knocks National Football League-based reality series, which will take a behind-the-scenes look at the Kansas City Chiefs’ preseason training camp.

The five-part series will debut Aug. 8 and will follow the Chiefs’ players and coaches both on and off the field as they prepare for the upcoming NFL season.

HBO Sports first premiered the series in 2001 with a behind-the-scenes look at the Baltimore Ravens’ camp, followed in 2002 with a look at the Dallas Cowboys’ preseason camp.

“Our first two seasons, with the Baltimore Ravens in 2001 and the Dallas Cowboys in 2002, gave our subscribers a truly unique experience of life inside an NFL training camp,” HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg said in a prepared statement. “This summer, HBO and NFL Films will team up with one of football’s most hallowed and storied organizations. With their dynamic head coach, Herm Edwards, and his roster of talent, the Kansas City Chiefs are a natural choice for this year’s program.”

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.