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Behind The Scenes
Cowboys Players Tune Into Hard Knocks
Zach Buchanan - Email
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
August 7, 2008 11:12 AM
Training Camp with the Dallas Cowboys premiered Wednesday
night at 10:00 p.m.
OXNARD, Calif. - The much-awaited first episode of HBO's and NFL Films' "Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Dallas Cowboys" premiered Wednesday at 10:00 p.m. here at the team's training camp facility, and DallasCowboys.com sat down with three Cowboys - fullback Deon Anderson, running back Alonzo Coleman and wide receiver Mike Jefferson - to get their views on the show.
By all accounts, the broadcast was entertaining. From the opening sequence with wide receiver Terrell Owens running shirtless on the beach (which elicited laughs from Anderson) to the final montage, all three players were riveted. The show covered a lot of things well, but there were some sticking points.
At various times "Hard Knocks" would flash back to the Cowboys' recent playoff failures, which no one wanted to see. But Coleman said, as unsettling as those events might be to remember, it's what you do with that memory that counts.
"It reminds you to go out and have the perfect day of practice," Coleman said.
If a bad taste in your mouth can drive you to practice harder, no one should look better than rookie running back Keon Lattimore on Thursday. "Hard Knocks" showed Lattimore dropping balls and misunderstanding the playbook, but Coleman, Anderson and Jefferson thought the portrayal was unfair.
"Everybody drops balls like that, though," Coleman said. "That's just the first part of practice, warming up. They made it look worse than it was."
According to the players, the show misrepresented Lattimore from the start, showing him falling as he walked up the stairs to his room. But the reason he fell was never explained - a full-body cramp.
(It was impressive that "Hard Knocks" was able to put a camera in the home of Lattimore's brother, Baltimore linebacker Ray Lewis, as the two talked on the phone, but looking at the family resemblance, to the untrained eye it almost seemed like Lattimore was having a conversation with himself.)
While Lattimore may have gotten the short straw, another guy fighting for a spot, wide receiver Todd Lowber, was portrayed more positively. To those outside the team, it seemed odd Lowber was mentioned as one of two players with a Super Bowl ring (the other is veteran quarterback Brad Johnson), despite only being on the practice squad for the New York Giants last season. But Coleman and Jefferson, who spent last season on the Cowboys' practice squad, do see Lowber as a champion.
"I feel like he had a whole lot to do with that Super Bowl ring," said Coleman, who said he knew Lowber had one, but had never seen it. "If I were him, I'd wear it proudly."
All three players were taken aback a bit at how the Terry Glenn situation was handled, perhaps the most eye-opening portion of the show. Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones' phone conversation with Glenn's agent was much less cordial than was related to the media, or the players apparently.
"I was kind of surprised to see it happen the way it did," said Jefferson, who was directly affected by the move. "Me, personally, I didn't hear about it until after practice later on that day, just from some of the other guys. I was a little bit shocked."
All in all, the three players approved. Anderson wanted to see more hitting, and Coleman wanted a little more in-depth look at some players vying for a spot on the team, although they acknowledged that this episode was more or less an intro.
As for the next installment?
"We're going to be tuned in," Coleman said.
Cowboys Players Tune Into Hard Knocks
Zach Buchanan - Email
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
August 7, 2008 11:12 AM
Training Camp with the Dallas Cowboys premiered Wednesday
night at 10:00 p.m.
OXNARD, Calif. - The much-awaited first episode of HBO's and NFL Films' "Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Dallas Cowboys" premiered Wednesday at 10:00 p.m. here at the team's training camp facility, and DallasCowboys.com sat down with three Cowboys - fullback Deon Anderson, running back Alonzo Coleman and wide receiver Mike Jefferson - to get their views on the show.
By all accounts, the broadcast was entertaining. From the opening sequence with wide receiver Terrell Owens running shirtless on the beach (which elicited laughs from Anderson) to the final montage, all three players were riveted. The show covered a lot of things well, but there were some sticking points.
At various times "Hard Knocks" would flash back to the Cowboys' recent playoff failures, which no one wanted to see. But Coleman said, as unsettling as those events might be to remember, it's what you do with that memory that counts.
"It reminds you to go out and have the perfect day of practice," Coleman said.
If a bad taste in your mouth can drive you to practice harder, no one should look better than rookie running back Keon Lattimore on Thursday. "Hard Knocks" showed Lattimore dropping balls and misunderstanding the playbook, but Coleman, Anderson and Jefferson thought the portrayal was unfair.
"Everybody drops balls like that, though," Coleman said. "That's just the first part of practice, warming up. They made it look worse than it was."
According to the players, the show misrepresented Lattimore from the start, showing him falling as he walked up the stairs to his room. But the reason he fell was never explained - a full-body cramp.
(It was impressive that "Hard Knocks" was able to put a camera in the home of Lattimore's brother, Baltimore linebacker Ray Lewis, as the two talked on the phone, but looking at the family resemblance, to the untrained eye it almost seemed like Lattimore was having a conversation with himself.)
While Lattimore may have gotten the short straw, another guy fighting for a spot, wide receiver Todd Lowber, was portrayed more positively. To those outside the team, it seemed odd Lowber was mentioned as one of two players with a Super Bowl ring (the other is veteran quarterback Brad Johnson), despite only being on the practice squad for the New York Giants last season. But Coleman and Jefferson, who spent last season on the Cowboys' practice squad, do see Lowber as a champion.
"I feel like he had a whole lot to do with that Super Bowl ring," said Coleman, who said he knew Lowber had one, but had never seen it. "If I were him, I'd wear it proudly."
All three players were taken aback a bit at how the Terry Glenn situation was handled, perhaps the most eye-opening portion of the show. Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones' phone conversation with Glenn's agent was much less cordial than was related to the media, or the players apparently.
"I was kind of surprised to see it happen the way it did," said Jefferson, who was directly affected by the move. "Me, personally, I didn't hear about it until after practice later on that day, just from some of the other guys. I was a little bit shocked."
All in all, the three players approved. Anderson wanted to see more hitting, and Coleman wanted a little more in-depth look at some players vying for a spot on the team, although they acknowledged that this episode was more or less an intro.
As for the next installment?
"We're going to be tuned in," Coleman said.
