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 "excerpt": "All or Nothing: A Season with the Arizona Cardinals, the 2016 first season of Amazon's All or Nothing docuseries, is an eight-episode NFL Films production narrated by Jon Hamm following the Cardinals' 2015 season from draft to NFC Championship, the first NFL season-long embed and a Sports Emmy winner.",
 "snippet": "All or Nothing: A Season with the Arizona Cardinals, the 2016 first season of Amazon's All or Nothing docuseries, is an eight-episode NFL Films production narrated by Jon Hamm following the Cardinals' 2015 season from draft to NFC Championship, the first NFL season-long embed and a Sports Emmy winner.",
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 "markdown": "# All or Nothing (2016 TV series)\n\n**All or Nothing: A Season with the Arizona Cardinals** is the first season of the Amazon Original docuseries *All or Nothing*, an eight-episode, one-hour-per-episode series produced by NFL Films that follows the [Arizona Cardinals](https://www.edgepedia.org/arizona-cardinals)' 2015 season from the draft through the NFC Championship game. It premiered on Amazon Prime Video on July 1, 2016, with actor [Jon Hamm](https://www.edgepedia.org/jon-hamm), known for *Mad Men*, as narrator.<sup>[1](https://press.aboutamazon.com/uk/2016/6/amazon-original-series-all-or-nothing-a-season-with-the-arizona-cardinals-premieres-on-amazon-prime-video-on-1st-july)</sup> NFL Films describes it as the first show ever to embed with an NFL team for an entire season.<sup>[2](https://www.nflfilms.com/work/all-or-nothing)</sup>\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Format | Eight one-hour episodes, all released on demand on Prime Video on July 1, 2016<sup>[1](https://press.aboutamazon.com/uk/2016/6/amazon-original-series-all-or-nothing-a-season-with-the-arizona-cardinals-premieres-on-amazon-prime-video-on-1st-july)</sup> |\n| Subject | The Arizona Cardinals' 2015 season, from the draft through the NFC Championship game<sup>[1](https://press.aboutamazon.com/uk/2016/6/amazon-original-series-all-or-nothing-a-season-with-the-arizona-cardinals-premieres-on-amazon-prime-video-on-1st-july)</sup> |\n| Narrator | Jon Hamm<sup>[1](https://press.aboutamazon.com/uk/2016/6/amazon-original-series-all-or-nothing-a-season-with-the-arizona-cardinals-premieres-on-amazon-prime-video-on-1st-july)</sup> |\n| Production | NFL Films, as an Amazon Original Series<sup>[1](https://press.aboutamazon.com/uk/2016/6/amazon-original-series-all-or-nothing-a-season-with-the-arizona-cardinals-premieres-on-amazon-prime-video-on-1st-july)</sup> |\n| Access | First show to embed with an NFL team for an entire season, from the offseason through the playoffs<sup>[2](https://www.nflfilms.com/work/all-or-nothing)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[3](https://www.azcardinals.com/news/documenting-a-season-with-the-cardinals)</sup> |\n| Award | Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Serialized Sports Documentary<sup>[4](https://static.clubs.nfl.com/image/upload/cardinals/eij238fnetincvjctq3w.pdf)</sup> |\n| Season covered | The 2015 Cardinals won a franchise-record 13 regular-season games and earned the first postseason bye in team history<sup>[5](https://www.huddle.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-16-Arizona.pdf)</sup> |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Content\n\nThe series chronicles the Cardinals' entire 2015 season, with a focus on the players off the field and on how the team prepares for and plays its games.<sup>[7](https://www.azcardinals.com/news/cardinals-enjoy-all-or-nothing-premiere-17245220)</sup> The first episode includes an inside look at the Cardinals' draft room from the 2015 draft, where Arians makes the case for running back David Johnson out of Northern Iowa.<sup>[8](https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/amazons-all-or-nothing-series-about-the-arizona-cardinals-is-a-game-changer/)</sup> The season the cameras captured gave the producers ample material: a franchise record for wins, [Tyrann Mathieu](https://www.edgepedia.org/tyrann-mathieu)'s strong season and subsequent knee injury, [Carson Palmer](https://www.edgepedia.org/carson-palmer)'s MVP-caliber play, [Larry Fitzgerald](https://www.edgepedia.org/larry-fitzgerald)'s resurgence, Dwight Freeney's midseason arrival, and five primetime games.<sup>[3](https://www.azcardinals.com/news/documenting-a-season-with-the-cardinals)</sup>\n\nThe seventh episode covers the Cardinals' playoff win against the [Green Bay Packers](https://www.edgepedia.org/green-bay-packers), cut dramatically with an original score; it was screened at the series' Los Angeles premiere in June 2016, which Cardinals players including defensive lineman [Calais Campbell](https://www.edgepedia.org/calais-campbell) attended.<sup>[7](https://www.azcardinals.com/news/cardinals-enjoy-all-or-nothing-premiere-17245220)</sup> The season ended one step short of the [Super Bowl](https://www.edgepedia.org/super-bowl), with the NFC Championship game as the final chapter.<sup>[1](https://press.aboutamazon.com/uk/2016/6/amazon-original-series-all-or-nothing-a-season-with-the-arizona-cardinals-premieres-on-amazon-prime-video-on-1st-july)</sup>\n\nAll eight episodes were available to [Amazon Prime](https://www.edgepedia.org/amazon-prime) members on demand from July 1, and, through August 31, 2016, to regular Amazon customers as well.<sup>[1](https://press.aboutamazon.com/uk/2016/6/amazon-original-series-all-or-nothing-a-season-with-the-arizona-cardinals-premieres-on-amazon-prime-video-on-1st-july)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[7](https://www.azcardinals.com/news/cardinals-enjoy-all-or-nothing-premiere-17245220)</sup> Both unrated and edited (bleeped) versions were offered.<sup>[6](https://www.azcardinals.com/news/all-in-on-all-or-nothing)</sup>\n\n## Production and access\n\nAn NFL Films crew embedded with the Cardinals continuously through the 2015 calendar: in the offseason, at training camp, through the regular season and playoffs, and even on the team's charter flights. Team president [Michael Bidwill](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-bidwill) liked the idea and pushed for the project from the top.<sup>[3](https://www.azcardinals.com/news/documenting-a-season-with-the-cardinals)</sup> Cameras were installed in offices and meeting rooms and operated remotely from a control room set up in the team facility, so that filming would not disturb staff.<sup>[3](https://www.azcardinals.com/news/documenting-a-season-with-the-cardinals)</sup>\n\nBecause the series aired only after the season ended, it could not affect the team's performance the way a show broadcast during the season might. Head coach [Bruce Arians](https://www.edgepedia.org/bruce-arians) had long declined HBO's *Hard Knocks*, a training-camp series, in part because of how it shows players being cut, and he insisted from the start that *All or Nothing* not be that kind of program; he and Bidwill did like the human side of players and coaches that *Hard Knocks* shows.<sup>[6](https://www.azcardinals.com/news/all-in-on-all-or-nothing)</sup>\n\n## Comparison with Hard Knocks\n\nCommentators treated the series as a season-long counterpart to HBO's *Hard Knocks*, which covers a team's training camp. NFL Films applied many of the *Hard Knocks* methods to a different part of the NFL calendar, and the two shows differ chiefly in perspective: *Hard Knocks* is built on hope before a season begins, while *All or Nothing* shows a completed season whose outcome the viewer already knows.<sup>[9](https://www.nfl.com/news/all-or-nothing-recap-foreshadowing-an-unhappy-end-0ap3000000672628)</sup> Unlike *Hard Knocks*, the series did not place cameras in the coach's office, a distinction NFL Films producers drew when making the second season about the [Los Angeles Rams](https://www.edgepedia.org/los-angeles-rams).<sup>[10](https://www.latimes.com/sports/nfl/la-sp-rams-all-or-nothing-20170704-story.html)</sup> Reviews of the first season were mixed: some writers praised it, with one calling it \"Hard Knocks to the next level,\" while the writer Will Leitch called it \"surprisingly dull\" and compared it to an officially sanctioned season wrap-up video.<sup>[11](https://awfulannouncing.com/2016/amazons-all-or-nothing-follows-espns-oj-doc-in-attempt-to-change-user-habits.html)</sup>\n\n## Reception and the series that followed\n\n*All or Nothing: A Season with the Arizona Cardinals* won a Sports Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Serialized Sports Documentary.<sup>[4](https://static.clubs.nfl.com/image/upload/cardinals/eij238fnetincvjctq3w.pdf)</sup> The showrunner, NFL Films coordinating producer Keith Cossrow, described the access the Cardinals granted as \"the Holy Grail of sports documentary programming.\"<sup>[8](https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/amazons-all-or-nothing-series-about-the-arizona-cardinals-is-a-game-changer/)</sup>\n\nThe season became the template for a franchise. Amazon and NFL Films followed it with seasons on the Los Angeles Rams (2016 season, released 2017), the [Dallas Cowboys](https://www.edgepedia.org/dallas-cowboys) (2018), the [Carolina Panthers](https://www.edgepedia.org/carolina-panthers) (2019), and the [Philadelphia Eagles](https://www.edgepedia.org/philadelphia-eagles) (2020), and extended the *All or Nothing* format to soccer and other sports with seasons on Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Juventus, and the Toronto Maple Leafs, among others.<sup>[12](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/all_or_nothing)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[13](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/entertainment/all-or-nothing-manchester-united-prime-video-documentary)</sup> A Manchester United installment following the club's 2026/27 season was announced for release in summer 2027.<sup>[13](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/entertainment/all-or-nothing-manchester-united-prime-video-documentary)</sup>\n\n## References\n\n1. [Amazon Original Series All or Nothing: A Season with the Arizona Cardinals Premieres on Amazon Prime Video on 1st July, Amazon Press Center](https://press.aboutamazon.com/uk/2016/6/amazon-original-series-all-or-nothing-a-season-with-the-arizona-cardinals-premieres-on-amazon-prime-video-on-1st-july)\n2. [All or Nothing, NFL Films](https://www.nflfilms.com/work/all-or-nothing)\n3. [Documenting a season with the Cardinals, azcardinals.com](https://www.azcardinals.com/news/documenting-a-season-with-the-cardinals)\n4. [Arizona Cardinals media guide (award listing)](https://static.clubs.nfl.com/image/upload/cardinals/eij238fnetincvjctq3w.pdf)\n5. [Arizona Cardinals 2016 season publication](https://www.huddle.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-16-Arizona.pdf)\n6. [All in on \"All or Nothing\", azcardinals.com](https://www.azcardinals.com/news/all-in-on-all-or-nothing)\n7. [Cardinals Enjoy \"All Or Nothing\" Premiere, azcardinals.com](https://www.azcardinals.com/news/cardinals-enjoy-all-or-nothing-premiere-17245220)\n8. [Amazon's 'All or Nothing' series about the Arizona Cardinals is a game-changer, CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/amazons-all-or-nothing-series-about-the-arizona-cardinals-is-a-game-changer/)\n9. ['All or Nothing' recap: Foreshadowing an unhappy end, NFL.com](https://www.nfl.com/news/all-or-nothing-recap-foreshadowing-an-unhappy-end-0ap3000000672628)\n10. [NFL Films tackles challenge of making the 2016 Rams watchable, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/sports/nfl/la-sp-rams-all-or-nothing-20170704-story.html)\n11. [Amazon's \"All or Nothing\" follows ESPN's OJ doc in attempt to change user habits, Awful Announcing](https://awfulannouncing.com/2016/amazons-all-or-nothing-follows-espns-oj-doc-in-attempt-to-change-user-habits.html)\n12. [All or Nothing, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/all_or_nothing)\n13. ['All or Nothing: Manchester United' documentary coming to Prime Video in 2027, About Amazon](https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/entertainment/all-or-nothing-manchester-united-prime-video-documentary)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Documentary, docudrama, and lifestyle series › Factual entertainment and specialist-interest formats*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n",
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 "speakable": "All or Nothing: A Season with the Arizona Cardinals, the 2016 first season of Amazon's All or Nothing docuseries, is an eight-episode NFL Films production narrated by Jon Hamm following the Cardinals' 2015 season from draft to NFC Championship, the first NFL season-long embed and a Sports Emmy winner."
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