​RENTON, WASHINGTON – JULY 25: Head coach Mike Macdonald of the Seattle Seahawks looks on during practice at Virginia Mason Athletic Center on July 25, 2026 in Renton, Washington. (Photo by Jack Compton/Getty Images) | Getty Images It’s finally here! The Seattle Seahawks are making their maiden appearance on HBO’s ‘Hard Knocks’ series, with episode one kicking off on Tuesday night. If you have not yet caught this episode, I highly recommend checking this article out at another time. Otherwise, we’re going to dive right into what happened in the season premiere and whether or not this is truly shaping up to be a fascinating look into the Super Bowl champions.Hard Knocks: Seattle Seahawks running thoughtsThe show starts with a cold open of the Super Bowl ring ceremony and awwwww look at Leonard Williams getting emotional.
The rings dropped from the ceiling like it came from the heavens!Sam Darnold opened his box and the ring fell out. This is a great reminder that the Seahawks won the damn Super Bowl. Derick Hall gets into Day 1 of training camp with a big-ass monster truck. I’m sure he’s going to be trucking opposing offensive linemen again this season.Buttercup the Goat is going to be a new Seahawks mascot and possibly a meme as far as I’m concerned.Brady Russell picked up Buttercup, who promptly peed on him. I’ve personally never had goat pee before.“How far can we take it? How can we far can we take out ‘26 team?” – Mike Macdonald in the coaches’ roomMacdonald gathers the players in to celebrate the wins. Not the Super Bowl, but the wins of Jake Bobo, Bryce Cabeldue, Ty Okada, and Beau Stephens, all of whom got married this offseason. Safety AJ Finley and defensive quality control coach Keller Chryst also welcomed new kids into the world, so congrats to them!Super cool that the 12s are heavily featured in this first episode. The best fans in the NFL!Awwww Mike’s son Jack is so cute. Jack is in Mike’s office with mom, Stephanie. Football is so back.Watch the first episode of Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the @Seahawks now on @hbomaxpic.twitter.com/63MggvOQb6— NFL (@NFL) August 5, 2026The attention shifts to Sam Darnold, the man “who’s seen just about everything, maybe because he’s played just about everywhere,” says the dulcet voice of Liev Schreiber.
“I’m not going around town being like, ‘yeah I won the Super Bowl,’” Darnold says in his interview. He really carries himself exceptionally well in a way that’s endearing to fans.Man, the offense appears to be kicking the defense’s ass in the early stages of training camp. Mike Macdonald tells Darnold this is “not where we want to be on defense.” He says they look really frustrated because the offense is making fast decisions. “They’re all on tilt now.”Devon Witherspoon: “Oh we look fried out here today.”DAMN! Beautiful pick over the middle by Patrick O’Connell on a Sam Darnold throw for Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Ernest Jones said