Fans of the Chicago Bears and the National Football League as a whole will get to see Caleb Williams a bit earlier than expected as the Bears have been selected to appear on HBO’s series Hard Knocks.
Williams is slated to make his NFL debut on Sept. 8, but the first episode of Hard Knocks will debut on Aug. 6. It marks the Bears’ first time appearing on the show, which is a reality documentary that provides a behind-the-scenes look at an NFL team during training camp and preseason. Members throughout an organization are featured from players to coaches to staff, and rookies are often the focus.
The first overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, Williams figures to be featured prominently after a standout college career that began at Oklahoma and then saw him transfer to USC where he won the Heisman Trophy in 2022. He will become the third top overall rookie draft pick to be featured on Hard Knocks, joining Baker Mayfield of the Cleveland Browns in 2018 and Jared Goff of the Los Angeles Rams in 2016. But Williams surely won’t be the only storyline to follow as the Bears embark on their training camp in mid-July from Halas Hall in Lake Forest, Illinois.
The franchise has three former players who are being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August, Devin Hester, Julius Peppers, and Steve McMichael. Thus, Chicago was selected as one of the teams to play in the annual Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio. It will face the Houston Texans in that contest, which officially kicks off the NFL preseason on Aug. 1.
This is just the third time in the 21-year history of Hard Knocks that the featured team will also play in the Hall of Fame Game. Because the Bears and Texans start their preseasons one week before everyone else, they also get to start training camp before the other 30 teams, so HBO will have additional footage that it normally doesn’t have.
The Bears will be making their debut on Hard Knocks, and the faces of the organization discussed this opportunity in a statement.
“'Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Chicago Bears’ will provide our passionate fans across the world the ability to experience this unique and critical time in the history of our franchise,” said president and CEO Kevin Warren.
“The 2024 training camp will be big for us in preparation for achieving our season goals and we look forward to bringing the fans at home along for the journey,” said general manager Ryan Poles.
Williams isn’t the only newcomer that Bears fans will get to know on the show as the team made several moves in the offseason to improve a unit that went 7–10 last year and hasn’t had a winning season since 2018. Chicago had another first-round pick in which it drafted wide receiver Rome Odunze after he led the entire NCAA in receiving yards last season.
Hard Knocks often feature not just players but their family members as well such as parents, kids, and spouses. That could make safety Jonathan Owens a popular player amongst show producers as he begins his first year in Chicago. Owens has spent five years in the NFL, but he’s best known for who he is married to, and that’s the most decorated gymnast in history Simone Biles. The filming of the show just so happens to come at the same time Biles will be competing at the Summer Olympics in Paris.
Hard Knocks will consist of five episodes, each airing on a Tuesday. The debut is on Aug. 6, with the series finale coming on Sept. 3.
