The Seattle Seahawks kicked off their appearance on HBO's "Hard Knocks" with an episode that was overshadowed by the US Navy's Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron, which visited the team's training camp. The cameo added an unexpected patriotic spectacle to what would otherwise have been a routine look at the defending Super Bowl champions' early camp sessions, drawing enthusiastic reactions from players and coverage highlighting the moment as a standout of the debut instalment.

The episode, the first in this year's "Hard Knocks" series to follow Seattle, covered the opening day of training camp and the first padded practice session. Although the Blue Angels do not typically feature in NFL training camp coverage, their appearance became the centrepiece of the episode, prompting exclamations such as "America!" from those on set.