There’s an obvious amount of uncertainty in the world of sports right now, not to mention the world overall. But we now know that if the NFL does return to normal operations in time for teams to hold training camps, we’re going to get Hard Knocks featuring both Los Angeles teams, the Rams and Chargers, as both teams get set to play at the new SoFi Stadium in 2020.

That’s according to a report today from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, who notes that the league isn’t planning to officially announce participants just yet, for obvious reasons.

No announcement is planned this week, as the NFL and NFL Films are focused on the first virtual draft in league history because of the coronavirus pandemic.

But NFL Films, which produces the show with HBO, would be excited to have not one, but two teams volunteer for “Hard Knocks,” and it would, in the words of one source, “be special to figure out the creative for a ‘supersized’ series this summer. “

The announcement had been scheduled to be made at last week’s NFL annual meeting, but the meeting was canceled because of the pandemic. NFL Films plans for the show go on, assuming training camp does.

Having two teams is obviously a step in a new direction for Hard Knocks. It means more potential storylines to follow, and the geographical link between the two teams is an obvious thematic connection. The Rams and Chargers would be agreeing to this as well; neither was on the list of teams that could have been forced to appear on the show. Let’s hope this happens, because if it does, it means things are probably a lot closer to normal than they feel right now.

[ESPN]

About Jay Rigdon

Jay is a columnist at Awful Announcing. He is not a strong swimmer. He is probably talking to a dog in a silly voice at this very moment.