Aaron Rodgers Says He Didn’t Want to Participate in HBO’s ‘Hard Knocks’: ‘Forced It Down Our Throats’

Aaron Rodgers. PHOTO:

Aaron Rodgers has made it clear that he’s not looking forward to being part of HBO’s newest season of Hard Knocks.

Each season, HBO and the NFL choose a team to feature, with the players required to take part. The Jets announced last week that its team would be the focus of this latest season.“They forced it down our throats and we’ve got to deal with it,” Rodgers, 39, said over the weekend when asked about the show at the American Century Celebrity Golf Tournament in Lake Tahoe.

Rodgers is heading into his first season with the New York Jets after he was traded to the team in late April after playing 14 seasons with the Green Bay Packers.

HBO’s Hard Knocks follows one NFL team each year during its pre-season training camp. The five-episode series will premiere August 8 and run through Sept. 5, the team said in a news release.“The New York Jets were last featured on ‘Hard Knocks’ in 2010, when former head coach Rex Ryan was at the helm,” the team said. “That season, the team advanced to the AFC Championship Game and the series won a Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Edited Sports Series/Anthology.”

Expectations are just as high, if not higher, for the Jets now that Rodgers has joined the team.

Aaron Rodgers.

GETTY IMAGES

Rodgers has won the league’s MVP award four times throughout his career, including back-to-back awards in 2020 and 2021. He also helped lead the Packers to a Super Bowl win during the 2010 season.

“There’s a lot of eyes on me, a lot of eyes on our team, a lot of expectations for our squad,” Rodgers said at last week’s celebrity golf tournament.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the Jets “fought it all along” and told the NFL they didn’t want to participate in the series.

“The Jets are not interested in being partners with NFL Films, no matter what they say,” Schefter told Get Up. “They’re going to go in there because it is, as Aaron Rodgers says, being forced down their throats. The Jets are not going to provide the level of cooperation that the Lions provided last year or that other teams have provided in other years.”

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Rodgers’ focus will likely remain on the field, as he told The Pat McAfee Show in March that he’s still determined to compete for the Super Bowl.”I still have a fire,” Rodgers said. “I want to play.”