HBO and NFL Films had a difficult time finding a subject for this summer's edition of "Hard Knocks."
Six teams expressed a lack of interest in appearing in the program, and others, like the New England Patriots, would rather guest star on "Keeping Up With The Kardashians" before letting a camera crew distract players and intrude meetings during training camp.
The Miami Dolphins bit the bullet, agreeing to open their 2012 training camp to the project, and first-year coach Joe Philbin was personally excited about it, explaining it was a "football decision."
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Not everyone in the building was happy about the news.
"I wasn't too thrilled, to tell you the truth," veteran tight end Anthony Fasano said Friday on SiriusXM NFL Radio (via Nate Davis of The USA Today). "I think we were informed at a team meeting, and there were a lot of groans when it was announced. But we're going to have to deal with it and try not to let it be a distraction.
"But it's going to be fun for the fans and should be interesting to see, even for some of the players, behind the scenes of the team."
Part of Fasano's apprehension came from feedback he received from former teammates on the Dallas Cowboys, who went 9-7 following their appearance on "Hard Knocks" just a few months after he was traded to the Dolphins.
Groans from Dolphins players aren't a surprise, and there are sure to be plenty of coaches and executives in Miami who aren't too thrilled about having to appear in front of camera crews as they prepare for the upcoming football season. But the bottom line is that ticket sales in Miami have slumped in recent years, and a weekly hour-long commercial that everyone in the league will watch was an opportunity the team couldn't turn down.
