On Tuesday night, football fans were turned to HBO to watch the season premiere of Hard Knocks featuring the New York Jets, and the show received quality reviews from fans – specifically highlighting the impact of star quarterback Aaron Rodgers. The Jets acquired Rodgers in the offseason after he contemplated his future and subsequently requested a trade out of Green Bay, Wisc. to play for “Gang Green.”
He was prominently featured on the opening night of the show and figures to play a major role throughout the five-episode series, which is also available to stream on Max. Jets fans were encouraged by what they saw from the coaching staff, emerging stars and veteran presences, and seem to be fully convinced that this could be the year the team snaps its 12-year playoff drought – or more.
“Jets are winning the Super Bowl folks,” Jerry Recco said to open Wednesday’s edition of the Boomer & Gio show on WFAN. “I will tell you now – I watched One Jets Drive a couple of nights ago [and] I watched Hard Knocks not last night, but this morning. The Jets are winning the damn Super Bowl.”
Recco’s co-host, former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason, played three seasons with the Jets towards the end of his professional career. After viewing the first episode of Hard Knocks, he reflected on the camaraderie and hijinks that take place at training camp and considers himself fortunate to have participated in 14 of them. Being a former quarterback, he is cognizant of the tone they set and their influence on the team.
“You see the incredible impact that Aaron Rodgers has had on everybody,” Esiason said. “It was the Aaron Rodgers highlight film last night, and rightfully so – that’s exactly what HBO should have done because that’s all we’ve been talking about for the last six months and the impact he was going to have on this franchise.”
One moment in the episode that stood out in particular was when longtime Hard Knocks narrator Liev Schrieber attended Jets training camp. The appearance marks the first time Schrieber had been to a practice or appeared on camera during the series. Rodgers seemed starstruck by the award-winning actor’s presence, imploring his coaches and teammates to greet him on the sidelines. Seeing the quarterback in this sense, along with peregrinating New York City over the last several months, seems to communicate an invigorating sense to take the field.
“What I see now is a guy that is really motivated, actually very funny – and you can see how smart he is; he knows everything that’s going on around him obviously,” Esiason said. “Who knew that Liev Schrieber was a football player, supposedly – I’m not so sure about that – but he had some pretty good lines last night as the ‘voice of God’ as Aaron Rodgers described him.”
Earlier in the week, Recco watched the season premiere of One Jets Drive, the team’s award-winning behind-the-scenes digital series, and thoroughly enjoyed the content within the episode. There was footage from organized team activities (OTAs) leading up to training camp, along with access within the team’s quotidian routines. The series was extremely detailed and comprehensive, leaving him wondering just how, if at all, Hard Knocks would be able to top it.
“I actually even wavered on watching it to be quite honest with you because I’m like, ‘What else could they show us,’” Recco said of Hard Knocks, which is produced by HBO Sports and NFL Films. “There was a lot of crossover – there was 100%… crossover with the footage.”
Both Esiason and Recco recognized that one of the illuminating moments in the episode was seeing defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich lead expletive-filled meetings and coach his players. Ulbrich is familiar with much of the Jets defense, being in his third season on the coaching staff and leading a young, explosive unit that continues to improve each year. Led by star sophomore cornerback Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, they are adopting a mindset of exceeding their job descriptions in order to compete for a Super Bowl championship.
“Hard Knocks had some different stuff as well, and the one thing that stood out to me – and I wrote a whole bunch of stuff down – was Ulbrich,” Recco said. “I thought he stood out in this episode.”
“Jeff Ulbrich, the defensive coordinator, how many F-bombs can you drop in one session?,” Esiason said earlier in the segment.
