This week's Hard Knocks will determine if it's reality TV or a "kind of state-run television"

Yahoo! Sports

The helmet drama revolving around Oakland Raiders wide receiver Antonio Brown has been the biggest NFL story of the past week, yet the first promo for Tuesday's Hard Knocks, released Monday morning, completely ignores the controversy. The NFL Films reality show is hampered by having to give final say to the Raiders. As Charles Robinson explained on Saturday, “Hard Knocks wanted drama. Brown delivered. And now we get to see who truly has the power in this marriage between HBO and the NFL. Of the litany of revelations from the latest 24-hour cycle of Antonio Brown chaos, that is certainly one of them. There is no question whether the material is there for some Hall of Fame episodes in the coming days. But if the network can’t land something meaningful in the midst of this craziness – from the landing strip of jaw-dropping details already laid out by several reports – then it means we aren’t watching reality TV. Instead, it’s the kind of state-run television that has made the show an often forgettable spectacle in the past."