After the intro of the first episode of HBO's Hard Knocks, one of the first shots fans see is a souped up pick-up truck that is teal and white and about 10 feet off the ground, thanks to an air suspension kit. Think monster truck, but a more subtle version. The truck pulls into the parking lot at the Virginia Mason Athletic Center, running over a camera that the Hard Knocks crew had set up in the process, and when the truck finally parks, linebacker Derick Hall jumps out the truck.
Taking apart trucks, and rebuilding them to his liking, which usually includes a new paint job, tires and installing a lift system is one of Hall's pastimes.
"I enjoy it. It just truly who I am," Hall said. "I have tons of these things. I love the trucks. I love the trucking lifestyle, so it's true to who I am, and I like to show people what I do outside of ball."
Hall explained that the truck was built back while he was back home last year.
"That truck there, that's a 2020 Ram 2500," he said. "I've had it for a couple years. I built that truck last offseason in my shop back in Mississippi. It was brown with just polished overlay is what it was. And I got up here and I tore it apart again."
The 35-person crew from NFL Films, which includes camera operators, producers and directors all play a part in helping to tell the story of the team, including everything that happens off the field.
"It just shows who we are as a team," Hall said. "What guys do outside of ball. A lot of people see us in this limelight as professional athletes, what we do on the field, and these media sessions and different things like that. So I think it's pretty cool just being able to get out a feature on what we're doing outside of ball. Some people are bigger with their families, right? Obviously, I'm not to that point in my career yet, but, some people do this, some people do that. I love trucks. That's just me. Like, I love trucks. I feel like I always will, and that's just who I am in my heart. So I love the opportunity that they're doing that, not only with me, but obviously my teammates as well."
The show also captures what happens on the field, as well, even if it's not the most positive.
"I think it's authentic," Hall. "I think it shows who we are as a unit, as a team. Things happen out here in the football field, obviously, as you saw in the episode. I'm sure a lot of people know, things get out of control sometimes. At the end of the day, we all love each other. We're a team, we're a brotherhood, and at the end of the day, it happens out here. We go to the locker room, we hug it out. 'Hey man, I apologize.' That was beyond the line of where we're trying to go and what we're trying to get, and we move forward. And I think that's what we do really well here and that's a part that I think that's our advantage. It goes no further than out here once it's done and over with, everybody moves forward."
Head coach Mike Macdonald added, "Guys [have] been great. Guys [have] been awesome."
