HOUSTON -- The Los Angeles Rams are next on the "Hard Knocks" rotation, a year after the Houston Texans appeared on the HBO show produced by NFL Films. Here are five lessons for the Rams based on the Texans' experience.
1. Hide the show from your moms: After previewing the show, Texans coach Bill O'Brien called his mom to ask her not to watch the show. She goes to mass every day, see, and he doesn't exactly use church-approved language in his morning meetings.
2. Know the back ways out of practice better than the film crew: Sometimes the Texans gave Arian Foster a break during practices, especially in training camp, so the fact he was no longer on the field during the team's first padded practice last summer, an open practice at that, didn't raise any alarm bells for media in attendance. His departure slipped the notice of the NFL Films crew, who missed him being taken into the facility where he learned he had a potentially significant groin injury. By the next day, we knew Foster had suffered a torn groin that could require surgery, and Hard Knocks did show the events surrounding Foster's injury. But a team that's hypersensitive about injury information was able to hide at least part of how that one happened.
3. Buy an alarm clock: If not for Hard Knocks we never would have gotten to see Ryan Mallett show up to the general manager's office and offer his explanation for why he was hours late to the facility just days after losing the starting quarterback competition to Brian Hoyer. His alarm clock broke and he bought a new one, promising it wouldn't happen again. Well, it did happen again, and even his explanation led to some skepticism about whether it really was as simple as a malfunctioning alarm, but this is more of metaphorical advice for everyone featured. If you mess up, the HBO audience will learn all about it.
4. If everyone loves a guy, there might be a reason: Hard Knocks fans were crushed during the Texans' final cut to 53 players when they learned that both EZ Nwachukwu and Charles James didn't make it. Nwachukwu and James endeared themselves to viewers with their quirky personalities and plucky attitudes. And while Nwachukwu is now trying his hand in the Canadian football league, James returned to the Texans midseason and gave a major boost to their ailing special teams units. The Texans might have been better off never releasing him in the first place.
5. Mention your favorite rapper: O'Brien bleepin' loves Rick Ross. His words, not mine, from an episode of last season's show. And guess what? Rick Ross bleepin' loved that. So he visited the Texans for their Oct. 8 Thursday night game against the Indianapolis Colts. He met team owner Bob McNair, he met cO'Brien and J.J. Watt came by to say hi. The Texans did lose that game, though, so maybe don't mention your favorite rapper.