Seven Observations From HBO Hard Knocks Episode 1 With Miami Dolphins
The return of HBO Hard Knocks can only mean one thing–the 2012 NFL season is right around the corner and football fans have every reason in the world to be excited–even if the Miami Dolphins are this year’s featured team.
From quarterback battles to loud-mouthed wide receivers, the Dolphins will at least give fans plenty of entertainment over the next couple of weeks as they look to improve from their 6-10 season in 2011. Here’s a look at seven story lines from the first episode of Hard Knocks.
HBO Wastes No Time Introducing Ryan Tannehill and His Very Attractive Wife, Lauren
Most teams tend to have battles at quarterback between two players, but the Dolphins head into the preseason with a three-player battle for the starting role between Tannehill, David Garrard, and Matt Moore. Even if Tannehill misses out on the starting gig, the rookie will be quite popular throughout the 2012 season thanks to Lauren Tannehill.
If you’re a football fan and haven’t heard of Tannahill by now–you clearly aren’t as big of a fan as you claim to be.
The Old Chad Ochocinco Is Back
Forget everything you saw from Chad Ochocinco during the 2011 season–Chad Johnson is back and is excited to be the center of attention once again.
HBO wasted no time focusing the first episode around Johnson as he was shown numerous times–whether it was hanging with his wife, Evelyn, or playing a game of FIFA with Reggie Bush. The best part of the episode–Joe Philban telling Johnson that he needs to cut down on the swearing after dropping the f bomb too many times.
Les Brown–the Potential For a Feel-Good Story
In case you’re wondering who Brown is, there’s no reason to worry–you’re not the only one.
Brown is looking to make the Dolphins as a tight end after spending the last two years working in finance. He may have plenty of areas to work on (especially blocking), but here’s the best part about Brown–he hasn’t played football since high school after spending his college career playing basketball.
Derrick Dennis Receives The Awkward Moment of Being the First Player Cut
It’s never fun to have the cameras on Hard Knocks focusing on a player that has to deal with the bad news of being cut. As for rookie Dennis, he was unfortunately the first vicim as he was cut before Miami even held their first practice after the decision was made to sign veteran guard Eric Steinbach.
Lucky for him–he ended up on a much better team in the New England Patriots.
Joe Philban Looks Determined to Turn the Dolphins Around
Sure, it was one episode and he’s yet to appear in a preseason game–but it’s hard to ignore how impressive Philban looked during the first episode. Philban seems to have a different style than most coaches and the thing that stuck out the most was how he would run two units at once during practices to get more plays per minute.
Jared Odrick Doesn’t Wear Deodarant and Smells Like Roses
Not much to explain here–this was an actual comment from Odrick as he was having a conversation with some teammates about going three days without wearing any deodorant. Hopefully, Odrick was assigned a single room instead of a double–would hate to be that teammate getting stuck in the same room with him for three days.
Brief Braylon Edwards Appearance
Even if he did end up signing with the Seattle Seahawks, it was entertaining to see Edwards appear in the first episode and experience the awkward questions from the coaches about his troubles off the field. Can you imagine what this season would have been like with Edwards and Ochocinco playing together?
Oh well–at least fans get to see Edwards pair up with Terrell Owens instead
