The Problem With Hard Knocks
After spending so much time on Monday discussing the joys and benefits of sports shows from the perspective of a new fan, it feels right to bookend the week with a more critical look from someone deep in the weeds. The Giants are the current subject of the HBO series Hard Knocks, although they are the guinea pig subject of a new type of Hard Knocks: the offseason. Specifically, it seems focused on how the team operated during free agency through the draft.
I’m not normally a Hard Knocks watcher but I wasn’t going to turn down an opportunity to see my own team on the show and so far, after 2 episodes: I am reminded why I do not particularly care for Hard Knocks. Hard Knocks is hollow. It gets more and more hollow every year despite attempts at changing the formula. The problem is simple: it’s very obvious we aren’t going to see the stuff that’s actually interesting. We aren’t going to be treated to the actual discussions and are mostly seeing fluff or performance. You can tell during almost every segment that Daboll, Schoen and company are very acutely aware of having cameras on them. The conversations feel stilted and directed about subjects while also being very vague with details. There is a reluctance and awkward delivery to everyone. The phone call with Saquon features Schoen delivering what feels like extremely forced lines about being in the Giants ring of honor and whatnot. It’s telling that one of the best segments of episode 2 is watching Schoen be coached on topics by his media relations guy for his interview because it shows how media-trained these guys already are. They know how to keep stuff away from the cameras. One of my followers told me on twitter that during the 100 Years celebration they had at Madison Square Garden a month ago Daboll told the audience that he would play licensed music on occasion so that HBO couldn’t use the footage. That’s an age-old hack. I also have to assume the Giants have some sway over the final cut and what is allowed to be shown.
The result is a TV show hamstrung by circumstance. What we have mostly gotten is meaningless fluff. One of the longest segments of episode 2 is dedicated to Dabs arguing with his staff over whether he can run a sub-7 second 40. That’s charming, sure, but it has nothing to do with running a team. While the episode takes place during the combine, the player who gets the most dedicated footage is Xavier Worthy and his record-breaking 40 run, and the reactions of the Giants staff about it. But why? Xavier Worthy was never going to be drafted or targeted by the Giants. He has nothing to do with the Giants. Why would the editors not dedicate more time to the potential QBs or Malik Nabers? If you are going to craft a narrative about how the Giants are operating the offseason that would be the number 1 move considering how that story ends. They’ve been setting it properly with Brian Burns. But the editing team is probably limited on what they have.
Most of the good content is still pretty mild. The player interview sections was mostly softballs or QBs breaking down plays on a whiteboard. We know teams ask bizarre questions during the interview process but instead we get “whats your best trait” to Rome Odunze or “how do you handle losing” to Nabers. We get a long segment of the combine scouting team enjoying a nice dinner with a spicy shrimp cocktail and giving a milquetoast toast. These are the employees I want to hear more from about the actual process of scouting and information gathering and we really aren’t getting it, which feels like a failure on HBO’s part.
About the only things we’ve really learned so far (granted, 2 episodes as of writing), is that the Giants did indeed inquire about trading up with the Patriots and that Brian Burns was on the market pretty early. I was hoping for some real meat to chew on but so far it’s mostly gristle.
Comparing it to something like Unchained, Drive to Survive or even Quarterback is also unfavorable and it is ultimately not a good show for newbies or crusty experienced grumpuses like myself. There is a distinct meandering to the episodes. Lots of shots of guys just sitting there in the office, talking awkwardly on phone calls in ways actual co-workers don’t talk unless they know they are being recorded. There isn’t much of a narrative being built so much as faintly skirted around. An offseason Hard Knocks was an interesting idea but in practice, I think the limitations imposed on the team are holding it back and without the ability to get into the weeds on how this stuff goes down, we’re left without anything to eat. There’s no emotional journey here either as this time of year is mostly scouting dudes doing homework in boardrooms. The usual Hard Knocks has training camp rookies to follow. The in-season Hard Knocks has the drama of the season to see. This? All the stuff that would make this interesting is not going to make it to broadcast.
EDIT: No new comic till Wednesday, because I had a bad burrito and paid for it dearly
I didn’t watch the ep2 yet, but the first one spent WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too much time on Saquon, which is worse since Saquon doesn’t appear in the episode. Like, yea, we all know what happened, there’s no suspense here, just spend 5mins shoving the dufus out the door and move along. I don’t doubt that all the censoring forced them scrape that storyline for as much as they could, but I didn’t really enjoy it, even as a Giants fan. No revelations, no secrets to show… it’s a shame.
The Saquon bit is indicative of a much larger issue with Hard Knocks nowadays as a whole: We already know everything that goes down before the episodes even air. I haven’t watched Hard Knocks in any capacity since the Cowboys in 2021 and it was a major problem even back then. I just don’t think a show like Hard Knocks can survive in an age where the sports media cycle is constantly running on overdrive.
Just a decade ago (2014 was really a decade ago, huh?), this wasn’t as big an issue. You didn’t get all the juicy details of every single thing that went down in camp. Didn’t hear about fights, drama.. shoot, you didn’t even find out about cuts until the episode dropped sometimes. Now, everyone knows everything well beforehand and the episodes end up feeling more like a retelling of stories we already knew. It’s just not as compelling anymore.
Exactly. This is my first time watching Hard Knocks with intimate knowledge of the team being covered. This really hit home to me how much of an empty calorie this format is. You’re not giving me knowledge, you’re not giving me insight. It’s weird that the show almost seems more valuable to non-fans of the Giants, lol.
It’s a general issue with Hard Knocks. Teams won’t allow anything interesting to be shown.
It’s a neat idea but it’s hard to find info that is both ok to release and interesting esp since all that stuff leaks now anyway.
Part of me suspects Belichick quit/”got fired” bc this is the first season the Patriots would be eligible for it. And they would totally have been selected with him still there.
Offseason and In Season Hard Knocks aside, I feel like what really hurt the traditional Hard Knocks was the NFL changing the preseason formula around roster downsizing.
The interesting parts of the show aren’t the stars, it’s the guys just trying to make the roster. Showing the work they put in, their families, the anxiety about whether or not they will make it. Then being able to watch them play in the preseason game that episode wondering if they are going to be cut after. Finding players you’d never heard of and becoming invested in them, rooting for them to make it and having to sit there each week to see if they’ll still be around for the next episode.
With the cut-down days being pared back from three to two and now just one, we lose that drama and how the show could humanize players on the bubble and make you feel for them. What was a moment of tension included in most episodes once the preseason games started is now just an afterthought at the end of the show.
This is the exact reason I’ve stopped watching. There’s no story worth watching anymore. And while you could argue that a lot of the scenes boiled down to either “X guy gets cut and goes silent” or “X guy makes the team and hushedly calls his SO to tell the news”, it was still worth watching.
I think the only stuff I likes to watch outside the games were those NFL films yearbooks or documentaries. Usually they got great footage, interviews and editing. The Football Life ones I find particularly interesting.
Is it weird that I thought Tim Mara was Tom Coughlin until addressed otherwise?
Also, I know it probably wasn’t an intentional reference, but the changing faces of the editor reminded me of Mr. Burns when Homer is telling him how his car got impounded and then crushed into a cube.
*edit- I meant John Mara, Tim was his grandpappy*
Now I’m interested in checking out that show with Sam Huff.