Bears fans waited 23 years for this moment, the behind-the-scenes look at their team on HBO’s “Hard Knocks.” OK, maybe that’s a stretch, but it has been a preseason storyline for a bit now.
On Tuesday night, we got it all in the intro — highlights from the Bears’ past, players on a boat on the Chicago River, all the sights of the skyline.
After that, it was the Matt Eberflus and Caleb Williams Show, a show focused on the coach and the QB. Here’s our recap of Episode 1.
Who stole the show?
Fishbain: In the ethos of what “Hard Knocks” does a great job highlighting, which are the fringe roster players, it was a good night for quarterback Brett Rypien and wide receiver Collin Johnson — and even with the injury, Canadian offensive lineman Theo Benedet, because he’s now a fan favorite. But the stars were Eberflus and Williams, and I think the Bears are probably good with that.
Greenberg: The Jonathan Owens-Simone Biles storyline was fun and Biles super-fans will love the scene of her talking to him over FaceTime. But it’s Caleb Williams. The show was edited around him and Eberflus and there wasn’t much room for everyone else. As we’ve seen first-hand, Williams is pretty fun and likable, much different than what I heard about him going into the draft. The behind-the-scenes stuff makes him look even better. It was cool to see how he interacted with Eberflus. I didn’t realize there was that much conversation between them at practice. At first blush, Williams seems like a rookie QB who “gets it.”
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— NFL (@NFL) August 7, 2024
Funniest scene
Greenberg: Theo Benedet, obviously, had the most memorable scene during the rookie singing, but it kind of felt manufactured for “Hard Knocks.” So I’ll say it was Caleb absolutely butchering John Legend’s “Ordinary People” and the team’s reaction to him, booing and throwing stuff. Given his outgoing personality and sense of style, I was taken aback at what a horrible singer Caleb is. It’s reminiscent of watching him try to hit a baseball at Wrigley Field. He really did dedicate his life to football.
Fishbain: I got a kick out of Bears offensive assistant Ryan Griffin showing up to Casa de Flus in the same outfit as Eberflus, the host. Bonus points to Eberflus’ daughter noting that the difference was that Griffin looks like a quarterback (he is fresh from finishing a season slinging it in Italy!). Also, who suggested Williams choose John Legend for karaoke?
Eberflus Q rating
Fishbain: High. I was very curious to see how Eberflus would look to America, and I think his offseason glow-up has continued. We got the cool backyard, the haircut and beard trim and nothing too corny in his conversations with the team. We also got glimpses of the coach-quarterback relationship, something many were skeptical of — and still will be — but it was a positive look for their all-important connection.
Greenberg: He’s still a little stiff at times, but the glow-up scenes were perfect. We even got an extended cameo from barber Lawrence Funk, who gives everyone the same haircut. For a guy without a ton of job security, Flus sure is living large, hosting everyone at his suburban mansion, talking about his vacation to Lake Como. I sure hope he has a good season. My favorite part was getting to listen to how he coaches Caleb during practices. That was the kind of access that makes this show interesting.
What did they get right?
Fishbain: Played to the dulcet tones of John Legend, we got a montage of Williams’ rookie challenges that was pretty reflective of camp. It isn’t alarming, it’s just life for a rookie QB in a new scheme — what we’ve seen often at Halas Hall. I appreciated getting to see the back and forth with Williams and Eberflus and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. Hopefully we get more of that. You do see what everyone says about Williams, that he’s pretty even-keeled through it all.
Greenberg: Yeah, they did a nice job of showing how training camp has been a struggle for Williams. Sure, they edited it to show the growth throughout the episode, but that’s how it’s felt watching him.
What did they get wrong?
Fishbain: All due respect to undrafted rookie Austin Reed — and that was a really cool shot of his family reacting to his first NFL pass — but he’s not really in the competition to be a backup quarterback. I guess it’d be kind of clunky for Liev Schreiber to say, “Reed’s likely a practice-squad candidate.”
Greenberg: A lot of the Chicago narration was very corny, like Schreiber saying, “Anybody in Chicago can take the L, but what they really want are W’s.” Big groan from me. “The Bears have a deep connection to Chicago.” No kidding? Hopefully, the Chicago parts get deeper as the series goes on.
No Context #HardKnocks Episode 1️⃣ pic.twitter.com/0fbdTOMHcb
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) August 7, 2024
Most Chicago thing of the episode
Fishbain: Who from Chicago didn’t get chills during the Bulls intro music and ensuing montage for Caleb Williams? Oh, and there was a shot of deep-dish pizza. (Cue the Chicagoans who, rightfully, note that we should see some tavern-style pizza, too).
Greenberg: The staged boat tour in the opening scene was hard to beat — the architecture boat cruise is truly fantastic — but the winner is former Bulls PA announcer Ray Clay doing a “Sirius” introduction for Caleb Williams. That was fun and just raw meat for Chicagoans of a certain age.
Least surprising scene
Fishbain: There was way too much talk about Eberflus’ hair and beard makeover for us to not see him getting an appointment with team barber Lawrence Funk. While I am also not surprised at all to see HBO cover Jonathan Owens supporting Simone Biles, it was impressive work to get Monday morning’s gymnastics events into the episode.
Greenberg: Team president and CEO Kevin Warren inserting himself into the DJ Moore contract talk scene, even though it was painfully obvious he had little to no role. (Nor should he.) He was just reading the contract out loud!
Media cameos
This is our favorite part. We got to hear questions from 670 the Score’s Chris Emma and the Sun-Times’ Pat Finley, a voice cameo from Dan “Big Cat” Katz and a nice chunk of the radio call of the Hall of Fame Game from Jeff Joniak and Tom Thayer. Some reporters were briefly spotted on the balcony at the Walter Payton Center. Also, as an added bonus, we got Cubs employee Jim Oboikowitch giving Cole Kmet pitching advice. “Big Jim” is the guy who books and organizes all the celebrity guests at Cubs games.
(Photo by Nick Cammett / Getty Images)
