Tampa Bay Buccaneers Decline: No 'Hard Knocks' for the Bucs in Hard Times

There was plenty of hype surrounding the possibility of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers appearing on HBO's Hard Knocks series this summer, which could've been a chance for fans to see inside the Bucs organization.

But the team decided against letting the show invade their camp, and with good reason.

The Bucs were supposedly selected first by the show, after the team's amazing turnaround last season. Even with the added exposure the Buccaneers would've received, added stress might have entered camp as well, making it a good choice for the Buccaneers to say no to HBO.

When declining, the Bucs expressed their interest in keeping the focus on the field and keeping their gaze set on what they wanted to achieve for the 2011 season.

That is if the "hard knocks" in the courtrooms get settled.

If the lockout is ended in the next couple of months, teams will still be scrambling to get ready for the season, and the added pressure of having cameras all about at your facility doesn't help anything.

The Bucs should also not let themselves fall in the group of teams that have already appeared on the show. Tampa Bay isn't the Bungles (Cincinnati) or America's Team (Dallas) squad that always seems to have trouble or controversy.

The Bucs have already had plenty to worry about in that category in the past year: Geno Hayes getting tased, Tanard Jackson once again being suspended, Aqib Talib's disaster of an incident and Alex Mcgee's May arrest all add up to things the Bucs need to handle in a private manner.

So the famous television program will move on, possibly to Al Davis' dump of a team or an NFC North squad (please, not Cleveland). New Orleans could also be in the running.

The Bucs will gladly let their division foes have the spotlight. For now, that is.

There's no curse like the Madden curse, and the Bucs wouldn't have had followers mad at them for their actions if they had done the show. But it would've been too much of a distraction to bring HBO in, especially in these times and this crucial moment in the Bucs' climb to the top.