Did HBO persuade NFL star to end holdout?

Jason Whitlock, writing about Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson's decision to sign a contract extension on Tuesday, quotes Johnson on why he suddenly ended his 25-day holdout:

“The guys on the ‘Hard Knocks’ staff would tell me and show me interviews from guys on the team saying they missed me,” Johnson told me Tuesday evening. “That really got me. It was really more about loyalty to them (teammates) to get back here as soon as I could."

Now, it goes without saying that the absence of LJ from the Chiefs training camp is one of the big stories of the NFL preseason. Holdouts are fairly rare occurrences in pro football, and Johnson is one of the league's best at his position. So it isn't surprising that when HBO sent a documentary crew to film the Chiefs' training camp for its reality series "Hard Knocks," Johnson's holdout — and the reaction it got from other Chiefs players — would be one of the storylines on the show.

Still, I'm amazed at this quote. The implication is that Johnson, in the course of being interviewed by HBO, was shown dailies of other players telling HBO that they missed having LJ around, and that this was a key persuader in his decision to sign a contract extension for less money than he might have made had he continued his holdout.

I can't believe that it never occurred to HBO Sports staff — some of the best sports journalists around — that showing Johnson such highly emotional video would have an effect on the holdout running back. (Haven't they ever watched "Survivor"?) I'm mystified why they did it.

Since HBO is so determined to give us the real behind-the-scenes story, they had better put their president of sports Ross Greenburg on camera for the next edition of "Hard Knocks" to explain HBO's part in all this. In addition, the producers who showed Larry Johnson video of his teammates longing for his return need to explain their actions. HBO needs to come clean and admit that, intentionally or not, they helped close a deal for the Chiefs.

UPDATE: An HBO spokesman told me this afternoon that "Hard Knocks" couldn't have shown Larry Johnson any tape of his teammates because the local crew interviewing him in Arizona didn't have it. "NFL Films arranged for a three-man film crew to interview Larry Johnson during his holdout in Arizona," the spokesman said.  "That's what you saw in episode one. They had no capability to show him any footage of his teammates or anything else.  Just a routine film shoot that lasted an hour.  It is the only time NFL Films or HBO spent with Mr. Johnson during his holdout prior to his return to Kansas City this week. Larry Johnson has never screened footage or rough cuts and probably watched 'Hard Knocks' like everybody else -- live on HBO on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. CT." So in other words, it made a nice story.