Heading into their 20th season of the series, HBO has made their selection for the team being chronicled in the hit show Hard Knocks.
With a lot of NFL teams not wanting cameras around every moment of training camp, the NFL decided in 2013 that they were going to flex their muscle in forcing teams to take part in the partnership with HBO, and stated that only teams that met the following criteria were exempt from participating: 1) they hadn't appeared in the past ten years, 2) they have a first-year head coach, or 3) they reached the playoffs in either of the two preceding seasons.
Atlanta, Carolina, Las Vegas, Los Angeles Chargers, New England, Seattle, Tennessee and Washington met the criteria to turn the show down, while the Bears, Broncos and Saints were ripe to be picked.
Of those teams, the Chicago Bears were chosen yesterday to be featured for the first time in franchise history.
The storylines will write themselves in Chicago, as the Bears get set to break in a generational talent at quarterback in Caleb Williams to see if his skills will successfully transfer to the NFL.
The Bears also picked up Rome Odunze with the ninth pick of last month's draft, securing one of the best receivers of the draft to pair with Williams for a hopeful 1-2 punch that the franchise hasn't seen in years. They also landed former Chargers receiver Keenan Allen in the off season and bring back DJ Moore who had 96 catches for over 1,300 yards last season.
Coming off a 7-10 season a year ago, there's a lot of hype for the Bears to take the next step and a renewed excitment around the team with a lot of talented new faces.
The 18-time Emmy winning HBO Series will debut Tuesday August 6th at 9pm EST, and will air new episodes each Tuesday night for five weeks.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.