Cam Heyward ‘Hated’ Hearing Steelers Would Be Featured On HBO's ‘Hard Knocks’

Plenty of NFL players have been vocally opposed to participating in HBO's Hard Knocks. And you can add Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Cam Heyward to that list.

This year, the Emmy-winning docu-series will follow the entire AFC North for its "In Season" installment. That means viewers will get a behind-the-scenes view of the Steelers, Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals as they battle for playoff spots in the final weeks of the season. And on last week's Not Just Football podcast, Heyward made it clear he's not at all excited about it.

"I hated it," he said. "I don’t want to be on this."

Heyward says he believes clips can be taken out of context to make interactions in NFL locker rooms look different than they are.

"The locker room is the locker room, and I just don’t want that getting messed up. There’s so many inside jokes, so many people," Heyward said. "There’s so many people, like, you would assume everybody’s a jerk if you heard everything. But it comes from a loving place, and it comes from a caring place. 

"We all want to be better, and we joke a lot. We poke and prod at each other, but it doesn’t always come off that way. And so, that’s the only thing I really worry about."

Heyward — a six-time Pro Bowler and last season's Walter Payton Man of the Year — has spent his entire career in Pittsburgh. But the 35-year-old is entering the final year of a four-year deal with the Steelers, and you can pretty much bank on his future becoming a featured storyline on Hard Knocks.

Cam Heyward wants nothing to do with HBO's <i>Hard Knocks.</i>

(Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)

Hard Knocks: In Season with the AFC North will debut Dec. 3 and run through the remaining regular season and playoffs — as long as an AFC North team is alive, that is.