More details emerged Wednesday as to why North Carolina football and first-year coach Bill Belichick were cut from HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” an annual show that chronicles one NFL team’s preseason lead up to the season.
The Athletic reported Wednesday that Jordon Hudson, Belichick’s girlfriend, played an “instrumental role” in the show being audibled away from North Carolina. According to The Athletic, citing industry sources, she requested to be “heavily involved with the project.”
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HAYES: Bill Belichick-Jordon Hudson interview reveals North Carolina may be headed for train wreck
North Carolina was previously set to be the team featured on the show, according to multiple reports, marking the first time the set would follow a college team. But the deal reportedly fell through on March 4, just days before it was reportedly set to be officially announced.
The Athletic reported that Belichick wanted North Carolina to be featured on the show – which is overseen by the NFL – according to more than 200 pages of emails the outlet acquired in a public records request. An email dated Feb. 24 from Bobby Teahan, UNC’s assistant director of football operations, claimed “this production is at the request of Coach Belichick.” It was sent to school administrators.
According to documents obtained by The Athletic, filming was set to begin March 1, with film crews sticking on campus for two months. But emails sent from Jessica Boddy – NFL vice president for commercial operations and business affairs – to Belichick’s counsel stated, “the conversation took a turn we were not comfortable with.” They were dated March 3.
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Hudson was not mentioned or included in the emails, per its report.
REQUIRED READING: Bill Belichick’s girlfriend Jordon Hudson shuts down question on how they met
Belichick and Hudson’s relationship have been under heightened scrutiny this week after they appeared on an interview segment on CBS “Sunday Morning” to promote Belichick’s new book, “The Art Of Winning: Lessons from My Life in Football.”
When Belichick was asked how he and the 24-year-old met, CBS showed a clip of Hudson interjecting, “we’re not talking about that.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jordon Hudson ‘instrumental’ in UNC being cut from ‘Hard Knocks’
