Chicago Bears 1 of 7 teams up for HBO's Hard Knocks

In 2015 the Houston Texans were featured on HBO's Hard Knocks, the popular sports reality documentary that is often called a distraction by fans, players and coaches. But the Texans won the AFC South and are the 6th straight team that has appeared on the show that didn't lose more games than their previous season.

The distraction myth is dead.

Especially considering every NFL team has cameras around them during training camp anyway, the HBO show just ramps it up a little bit.

The NFL passed a rule a few years ago that gave them the power to pick a team to appear on the show, but there are a few circumstances that make a team ineligible to be selected.

• They have appeared on the show in the past ten years
• They have a first-year head coach
• They reached the playoffs in either of the two preceding seasons

The Chicago Bears don't meet any of those bullet points, so technically the NFL could force the Bears to appear on the show. The other teams eligible for selection are the Buffalo Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars, Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers, New Orleans Saints and the St. Louis Rams.

The only thing that could save one of these 7 teams from being picked if if another team volunteers for the show.

We're still 5 or 6 months from the league announcing the Hard Knocks team, so stay tuned.