The season finale of HBO’s Emmy Award-winning sports docuseries “Hard Knocks” will showcase players from the New York Jets attending a performance of “MJ” on Broadway. The episode will be released at 10 p.m. ET via Max on Sept. 5.
Each season, “Hard Knocks” features one NFL football team as they undergo training camp. The current season, the 20th of the series, focuses on the Jets. Throughout this TV season, Jets players — most notably defensive lineman Solomon Thomas and tight end CJ Uzomah — have expressed their admiration for Broadway. Thomas and Uzomah have both talked about their multiple visits to “MJ,” and decided to bring their fellow footballers along for their most recent visit.
Joining Thomas and Uzomah at this particular performance of “MJ” were Aaron Rodgers, Zach Wilson, Timothy Boyle, Tanzel Smart, John Franklin-Myers, Tyler Conklin, Quinton Jefferson, Michael Carter II, Randall Cobb, Chris Glaser and Nathaniel Hackett. “Hard Knocks” tracks their visit to the Neil Simon Theatre as well as the post-show moment these Jets met members of the “MJ” cast and creative team and attempted to moonwalk.
“It was an amazing experience taking a bunch of my teammates to ‘MJ’ with CJ Uzomah!” Thomas said in a statement. “The guys loved it and we had some first-time Broadway attendees with us. They are Broadway fans now.”
“Hard Knocks” isn’t the first time this year that the Jets and Broadway have come together. Uzomah and Rodgers were seen on the 2023 Tony Awards telecast. Uzomah was a member of the producing team of “Ain’t No Mo’,” which was nominated for Best Play. Rodgers attended as Uzomah’s guest.
