NFL Films executive explains a bunch of behind-the-scenes details on Dolphins’ Hard Knocks

Through seven episodes, HBO’s in-season installment of “Hard Knocks” has produced not only compelling television, but also popular programming, too: This ongoing Dolphins-focused series was the most-streamed show on Max for several days last week.

Ross Ketover, an NFL Films senior executive, offered behind-the-scenes insight on the series during a phone interview with The Miami Herald on Wednesday:

▪ Exactly how much are you filming each week and who is watching all these hours of meetings and practices and deciding what should be in the show?

NFL Films has cameras in most meetings, and Ketover said “somewhere from 200 to 300 hours” is filmed “for every hour that airs.” Eight players are wired during every practice, and that audio must be reviewed, too.

Here’s what happens most days:

“We feed everything back from Miami” to NFL Films headquarters in Mount Laurel, New Jersey.

“We have 30 people in Mount Laurel going through the material. Everything is logged and labeled. Those loggers are telling the producers, ‘Don’t miss out on this.’

“Everyone is assigned a different topic. There are 10 to 12 different editors and producers. One will say, ‘I’m doing Zach Sieler this week.’ Everyone has a different topic. All are edited into short segments. Then one or two editors figure out the story lines.”

NFL Films will try to have light, human interest segments and all non-game-day elements of the show finished by Sunday morning.

On Sundays, “seven or eight people, me and the showrunners and the executive producer, and one or two people from HBO, watch the first half of the show up to the game” highlights that will be added later on.

Everyone in that room weighs in on what “we should trim down, what segments we shouldn’t touch.”

After the game, “there is a game editing crew” that pieces together the 15 minutes or so of game highlights that air at the end of every episode.

“We end with game [highlights] every week because it would be a tough way to do it otherwise.”

▪ Through seven episodes, what segments come to mind where you said to yourself, ‘That’s really good television?’”

“I love the Sieler and [Christian] Wilkins relationship [piece]. It was fun, light-hearted, but serious.

“On the negative, sad part, coverage of Jaelan Phillips’ [Achilles injury] and him allowing us to be there for a negative moment of his career and how he dealt with it [is the type of thing] that makes this show unique in all of sports television.

“This show isn’t just wealthy athletes. This is a really hard job and a really emotional job, and these guys care about each other’s lives. That was a powerful moment.

“And anything with coach [Mike] McDaniel has been great. He’s unique, brilliant, fascinating, funny.”

▪ Getting back to the season-ending injuries involving Phillips and Bradley Chubb, do you ask for their permission to air their visceral reaction, including audio of them writhing in pain, after they sustained their injuries? It was heartbreaking to watch but it also was compelling television. In Phillips’ case, you also had unique access in the days that followed.

Ketover said NFL Films didn’t seek permission to air their emotional reactions and “we didn’t show them the segments” before they aired. But he said with injuries, NFL Films isn’t going to air anything that a player would strongly oppose.

“What’s really important to us and important for six decades is earning the trust of these players,” Ketover said. “They know we are trying to tell their story the right way and we’re trying to do it without being exploitative. We are making a documentary; we are not making reality television. It’s showing the audience what happened without being manipulative. We work with them. They trust us.”

▪ We have been taken inside the homes of Tyreek Hill, Alec Ingold, Raheem Mostert, Chubb, Sieler and Andrew Van Ginkel — among others — but not inside Tua Tagovailoa’s home. Is that something he declined to do?

“Tua is a private person and hasn’t wanted his family to necessarily be on TV. But he has been completely cooperative and engaging inside the facility.

“The material we got from Tua has been so fabulous in the quarterback room. That’s the advantage of robotic cameras we have in meetings. We are able to shoot rooms all day without being in the players’ faces. The amount of stuff with Tua — the Secret Santa stuff, [showcasing] the relationship with Dan Marino, Tua meeting the grass guys — we haven’t felt lacking with anything with Tua; we haven’t felt light on Tua” material at all.

▪ Has anyone on the team told you that they want no part of the show and don’t want to be featured?

Not that Ketover is aware of. He praised how the Dolphins have handled the microscope that “Hard Knocks” brings.

“We haven’t had any pushback football wise. We can wire guys in practice. There are some who say, ‘I like to keep my personal life personal. I don’t want it exposed. I do not want to do a dinner or anything like that.’

“There are 100 people we can feature. It’s not a problem if certain people say ‘I’m here to play football.’ Some guys are more interested than others.

“Our directors are asking to do stuff with players” routinely. “What they do on off days [Tuesdays typically], I’m sure some guys say, ‘Not this week, I’m spending the day with family.’

“But there’s no specific event we missed out on. It’s a constant figuring out [type thing]. We are trying to tell a story and trying to spend off-the-field days with guys we are going to be miking in the games. It’s a tough planning job.”

▪ Conversely, is there anyone who has asked to be featured more on the show?

Ketover isn’t aware of anyone who has lobbied for more air time but acknowledges that unique access with some players hasn’t yet made air, usually because other story lines might be more appropriate or newsworthy on a particular week.

“There are people we shot and had hopes for, and it didn’t work out in the story and it hit the cutting room floor.”

It could be a case where “that story makes sense a few weeks later. You cover a guy and it doesn’t play out in the game the way you want.”

Ideally, “two weeks later, he has the game winning play and you get to it” in that episode.

▪ What exactly did you tell the players before starting production?

“The only advice that directors said is ‘try your best to forget we are here. We are not asking anyone to do anything different. Our goal is to be a fly on the wall.’

“The only time [to notice that NFL Films cameras are there] is when the director is asking questions” during individual interviews.

“Anyone who hams for the camera, we are probably not using the material. Our goal is to be observers. After 48 hours, they forget we are here. Their lives are videoed all the time between the games and social media and the teams and their video departments. Our crews are good at staying out of the way.”

▪ It has been widely reported that teams can review ‘Hard Knocks’ episodes before they air and can have something removed that they believe would be hurtful to the organization, especially competitively. What have the Dolphins scuttled, if anything?

“The team has been terrific; coach McDaniel, the way he deals with everything. Occasionally, there are X’s and O’s things that we might not have noticed that they asked us to remove. It might be a play design in the background of a [meeting] room that shows one of their plays. They might say, ‘Take a different angle’ so that the play design” doesn’t make air.

Another example, Ketover said, would be if “the name of one of their audibles” was identified on the show. The Dolphins would ask for that to be removed.

“Other than football X’s and O’s” that could compromise them competitively, “they’ve been really good” with allowing everything to air.

▪ The family in the stands segments usually make for good television. Nobody will forget Hill’s wife, Keeta, accidentally knocking food out of fan’s hands and getting nacho cheese in her hair. How difficult are those to produce?

“We shoot [in the stands] for 3 1/2 hours to get 45 great seconds. We put a mike on [a family member] and say, ‘See you in four hours’ and they forget about it. It almost always pays off and is great material. You are living the emotion of being a family member.”

But here’s the challenge: “It’s hard to do because you have to shoot them from so far away. We don’t want cameras in the stands because it disrupts fans and makes them uncomfortable. We use a wireless mike and shoot them from across the field.

“We were just talking [in NFL Films offices] about ‘how can we shoot it with a higher resolution and zoom in and not be as wide?’ Even Tyreek’s wife, you are looking at three rows of people [around her]. How we shoot those is something we talk about a lot; if it’s in a suite, it’s even tougher.”

For the record, nothing is ever scripted with family-in-the-stands shots.

“Tyreek’s wife wasn’t happy she had nachos in her hair. Nothing is scripted; you’re hoping for one moment when a person they care about does something” significant to elicit a reaction.

▪ What have you aired in recent weeks that drew feedback from the commissioner’s office or anyone else notable?

“I heard from the league office about how much they loved that we showcased Raheem Mostert going back to his hometown” of New Smyrna Beach on Dec. 19 “and giving back.”

▪ Overall, what has stood out to you in telling the Dolphins’ story?

“You can see how much the Dolphins love each other and how much Mike cares about the team. It has felt like a unique organization and that’s what has been really exciting.”

Ketover points out that he has been “a Dolphins fan and season ticket holder growing up. I have friends from Miami who say, ‘I really love these off the field stories [and spotlighting subjects] like the equipment guy and how they grow their own grass.’

“We have been able to bounce around and tell the stories of the stars, the glue guys, other [team employees and angles]. It has been a great blend.”

NFL Films is producing more non-game content than ever before. Seven different programs, including Netflix’s quarterback series, ranked No. 1 on the most streamed rankings at some point in 2023.

The Dolphins’ Hard Knocks series will air through the week after their season ends, on HBO and Max.