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.