Huddle up: Our NFL Live team makes a case for being on Hard Knocks

Before the Miami Dolphins were tabbed for HBO’s NFL reality series Hard Knocks, NFL Live host Trey Wingo and analysts Cris Carter, Tim Hasselbeck, Merril Hoge and Mark Schlereth offered their own video above for consideration.

For Hasselbeck, the experience took him back to his playing days in 2001 when he was a part of the Baltimore Ravens organization that appeared on the first Hard Knocks.

“Basically there’s no area where there isn’t a camera,” Hasselbeck recalls. “As soon as they see somebody walking to either the general manager’s office or the head coach’s office, then you see some cameramen running behind trying to capture what’s about to happen.”

Unfortunately for Hasselbeck, those cameras chronicled the day he was cut.

NFL Live producer Mike Epstein calls the video project a complete team effort. Quarterbacked by production assistant Tory Zawacki, the storylines were plausible to some degree, but also included an element of fun.

“I was told that upon his visit to ESPN, Vince Vaughn was quoting lines from the piece to Trey Wingo,” Zawacki said. “I’m thinking, Vince Vaughn thought it was funny? That must mean something!”

Epstein heard more of the same. “I was told the newsroom, our control room and our studio were all in hysterics,” he said. “A lot of people have been telling me, ‘Do Hard Knocks 2!’”

What will the NFL Live crew do as an encore? Tune in Monday through Friday (4 p.m. ET, ESPN) to find out.