When the Dolphins got the assignment for this year’s in-season Hard Knocks, it was obvious the Dolphins didn’t want it.
“I wouldn’t call it a team decision,” coach Mike McDaniel said in October. “But at the same time, you guys know me well enough that I steer clear of worrying about things that we can’t control.”
They definitely had no control over this one. Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the NFL selected the Dolphins for the assignment. The Dolphins did not volunteer for it.
Last month, after news broke of the selection of the Dolphins for this year’s in-season short straw, we asked the league whether any rules or formula applies to picking the team for in-season Hard Knocks. The league did not respond.
As it turns out, there is a formula. It’s based on two of the three factors that exempt teams from preseason Hard Knocks.
For the preseason Hard Knocks, teams get a pass if: (1) they have a new head coach; (2) they’ve done it within the past 10 years; and (3) they’ve been to the playoffs in any of the prior two seasons.
For in-season Hard Knocks, the league uses the first two categories, but not the third.
It’s unclear whether participating in preseason Hard Knocks during the prior 10 years applies to in-season Hard Knocks. For the Dolphins, it doesn’t matter; they did preseason Hard Knocks in 2012, eleven years ago.
Frankly, it’s odd that the league would protect playoff teams of the recent past from preseason Hard Knocks but subject current playoff contenders to the distraction that necessarily comes from Hard Knocks.
It’s also odd that the league even feels compelled to do it. With three days of games every week (and with Friday this week and some Saturdays in the offing), why does the NFL need to carve out a one-hour, Tuesday night peek into the inner workings of a team that would rather not be knocked wobbly by prying eyes and ears in their safe space?
With the league so obsessed (when it wants to be) about competitive integrity, it seems hypocritical to hand-pick one franchise each year for a show that creates the very real potential for a competitive disadvantage.
And for what? How much value comes from a behind-the-scenes reality show at a time when so much football reality is playing out in plain sight?