RENTON, Wash. — Late in practice Thursday, Seattle Seahawks outside linebacker Derick Hall and defensive tackle Rylie Mills stood face-to-face on the sideline as they engaged in a bout of “shadowboxing,” the quick-timing and reaction game that became a motif of the team’s tight-knit culture in 2025.
It’s still popular among the reigning Super Bowl champions. Only this time there was an NFL Films camera nearby and a boom mic hovering overhead, capturing their head and hand movements and the accompanying sound effects for HBO’s “Hard Knocks” series.
It was the kind of authentic scene that would have unfolded with or without the cameras. That was the spirit of coach Mike Macdonald’s message to players at the start of training camp about how he wanted them to handle the “Hard Knocks” spotlight.
“I said, ‘They’re really good at doing what they do. Let’s make sure we’re us, and then trust that what’s displayed is us,” Macdonald said Thursday. “‘You can’t control what they capture, all those things. What you can control is how we go about our business.’ … The guys have been great. I feel like we’ve been us the whole time. We had a great spirit today. I don’t know if I’ll watch it, but I’ll be looking forward to seeing what they come up with.”
Macdonald’s predecessor, Pete Carroll, wanted no part of “Hard Knocks,” and because the Seahawks didn’t miss the playoffs in consecutive seasons during his tenure — that was among the exemptions that could allow a team to reject the show — they were never forced into it. But the NFL changed the rules in 2025 to ensure a larger pool of potential subjects, and the Seahawks were announced in March as the choice for this summer’s version.
So it came to be that NFL Films and its on-site crew of roughly 35 people set up shop at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center to document Seahawks training camp for the first time since the show debuted in 2001. The first of five episodes will air Aug. 4 on HBO Max, then every subsequent Tuesday through Sept. 1.
“Yeah, we noticed them for sure,” linebacker Ernest Jones IV said of the cameras and microphones. “They’re everywhere. But honestly, I think we’re enjoying it. You get a chance to see what we’re really about.”
A few years ago, a Carroll-era Seahawk who had taken part in “Hard Knocks” with another team privately bemoaned how some of his teammates put on an act around the cameras in a bid for screen time. That doesn’t appear to be the case with the Seahawks.
“It was a talk in the QB room [about] who’s going to change and who’s not when the cameras go on in the locker room, and no one’s really changed, which I’m proud of,” Sam Darnold said. “It’s been fun, though. I think after the first three or four days, you kind of forget the cameras are there, which might be a bad thing, but I think we’re all kind of used to it at this point.
“It was nice to hear that they record, I think, 300 hours of film every single day, and only one hour gets used [per episode]. That was very nice to know that.”
The first few episodes of “Hard Knocks” typically focus on established names, and though Darnold isn’t one to seek the spotlight, he is a Super Bowl-winning quarterback with an inspiring career arc — and a newlywed.
Beyond being a Pro Bowl defensive tackle, Leonard Williams might be the most interesting person on the team outside of football. He’s an avid spear fisher and gardener who plays a card trading game called Magic: The Gathering and became a father for the first time this offseason. The Seahawks and Williams’ agent have been discussing a contract extension, which is another potential storyline.
Between his contract situation and his super-charged personality, Pro Bowl cornerback Devon Witherspoon also figures to be a focal point of the show. “Hard Knocks” won’t lack for compelling audio from practice as long as they have a microphone within earshot of Witherspoon, whose energy is impossible to miss.
It hasn’t waned despite his agents and the Seahawks having yet to agree to an extension.
“I’m really impressed by it, honestly,” Macdonald said of Witherspoon’s steady enthusiasm. “It’s something that you’re not used to dealing with as a player. So to be able to take … whatever’s going on in that front and compartmentalize that, it shows you his maturity and his commitment to the team, and really his own personal development, too. How much he loves football, and how he wants to be out here and try to get better. I really respect his approach so far. It’s been great.”
After going star-heavy in early episodes, “Hard Knocks” typically shifts its focus to the cut-down drama, profiling players on the roster bubble. One such hopeful whose backstory could have appeal in that regard is second-year outside linebacker Jalan Gaines, who spent last season working at Costco while his NFL dream was put on hold.
After signing with the Seahawks as an undrafted free agent, a training camp injury ended Gaines’ bid for a spot on their practice squad. When no other teams picked him up, he got a job at a Costco warehouse just south of Seattle — making around $21 an hour — to support a family that includes two young children.
The gym where Gaines trained is directly across Interstate 405 from Seahawks headquarters, close enough that he could see the giant 12 flag that hangs on the outside wall of their indoor practice facility. In February, the Seahawks re-signed him, and he called it one of the best days of his life.
“Seeing that flag every day just reminded me that I still have a chance to be a part of this organization,” Gaines said. “I always knew that somehow, some way, that I was going to find my way back here.”
Appearing on “Hard Knocks” certainly wasn’t Macdonald’s idea, and it doesn’t align with the team’s “M.O.B.” mentality of always putting its “Mission Over Bulls—.” His early comments conveyed reluctance, but since then, he has sounded like a coach who’s embracing the situation.
As seen in a clip from the “Hard Knocks” promo, Macdonald told his players during a team meeting early in camp that the chance to be on the show is “a gift from the football gods.”
“I think we respect the fact that they have a show to put on,” Macdonald said Thursday. “So you can’t just watch paint dry for an hour, or however long it goes. I hope it’s interesting. I hope there’s storylines. I hope there’s some sort of — hopefully not too much — conflict. They’ve done a great job of saying, ‘We’re working together on this thing.'”
