HBO will announce later this spring who will take part in the 2019 version of Hard Knocks. What used to be something teams volunteered for has turned into something the NFL has had to create rules for to get teams participating. And this year, the San Francisco 49ers are one of the teams that cannot say no if asked.
The NFL states that a team now has to appear on Hard Knocks when asked, with three exceptions:
- They have a first-year head coach in place.
- They have a playoff berth in the past two seasons.