Cam Heyward worries Hard Knocks could have negative impact on Steelers locker room

It is what it is what it is. Despite never being eligible to be on HBO's "Hard Knocks" during the season, the Pittsburgh Steelers will be part of it down the home stretch during the season. With the New York Giants being part of the NFL free agency and NFL Draft portion of the show, as well as the Chicago Bears doing the normal training camp show, the entire AFC North will be part of later on this season.

"Hard Knocks" will document the AFC North race in the final weeks of the season between the Steelers, the Baltimore Ravens, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns. Last year, three of the four teams in the division made the AFC playoffs, with the lone exception being the Bengals, who went 8-9 after losing Joe Burrow for the season. It should be a lot of fun, but not fun for everyone...

Steelers defensive lineman Cam Heyward had some thoughts over on his podcast, "Not Just Football."

"I hated it, I don't wanna be on this," said Heyward. "The locker room is the locker room, and I just don't want that getting messed up. There's so many inside jokes. 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 wanna be better and we joke a lot. We poke and prod at each other, but it doesn't come off that way always. And so that's the only thing I really worry about."

Heyward may have laughed initially with his comment about the Steelers being part of this year's in-season version of "Hard Knocks," but I think there is something more to this than he is letting on. While he may be a team leader and one of the most tenured members on the Steelers, the cameras are going to pick up on so many things that are going to reveal this franchise to be so dysfunctional.

Here is the latest episode of "Not Just Football" featuring Heyward's thoughts on HBO's "Hard Knocks."

If there was every an avenue to see how unbuttoned the Steelers have become, HBO will provide us.

Cam Heyward not happy the Pittsburgh Steelers will be on Hard Knocks

Yes, the entire concept of having cameras in the locker room is invasive, especially during a playoff race. Then again, this may be collectively bargained for. Plus, this isn't like some new phenomenon in the NFL world. Seemingly every franchise has been featured on "Hard Knocks" at some point over the last two decades. Not the Steelers, but I think it is a bigger problem for them than their other rivals...

See, the Bengals, Browns and Ravens have all been on the program before. Yes, it may have been during different coaching regimes, but many people from ownership on down have seen what HBO has done before at their facilities and what they want to do before. Not the Steelers, the exception. Unfortunately, I think what HBO catches on camera is going to be a bad look for this AFC franchise.

Heyward talked about how the locker room is a special place and there are so many very important inside jokes that don't need to get out. That's fine. We don't need to be in on the joke. However, his worries that some of his teammates will come across as jerks is a very real concern. The Steelers still find ways to win games, but their locker room could be exposed as dysfunctional during this series.

This is a direct reflection of Mike Tomlin. We have heard about so many strange things supposedly going on behind closed doors in Pittsburgh for years now. Now, there is nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide. The equivalent of Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell nonsense from yesteryear cannot get swept under the rug or covered up by a well-crafted series of 10-second soundbites from Tomlin.

Baltimore doesn't have to worry about this. Honestly, I don't think the Bengals do either. And I can't believe I am saying this, but I trust the Browns to be a little more tame behind the scenes than Pittsburgh. To me, this is why HBO targeted the AFC North as a whole. Yes, it will be a great race, but we all want to see the drama being manufactured in Pittsburgh. It is Willy Wonka's chocolate factory.

Nobody ever goes in and nobody ever comes out ... until now! Look at what we have stumbled upon!