The NFL Films and HBO Sports original series, Hard Knocks, premiered its final episode of the season Tuesday night as the New York Jets prepare to take flight on the 2023 regular season schedule. Fans were treated to a behind-the-scenes look of training camp with unfiltered conversation and access into meetings. While moments of roster cuts were not prominently displayed as in years’ past, viewers were privy to moments where rookie wide receivers Jason Brownlee and Xavier Gipson were told they had made the 53-man roster.
Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo, however, did not appreciate the amount of expletives used throughout the series, disclosing his views on Wednesday’s edition of First Take on ESPN. Russo often makes allusive remarks and places sports news in historical context, and emphasized that two-time Super Bowl champion head coach Vince Lombardi would have never spoken with profanity. In fact, Russo tries to limit the amount of imprecations he says, affirming that he speaks “properly.”
“When you’re passionate, you don’t curse a little bit sometimes?,” First Take host Molly Qerim asked Russo.
“Not every other word,” Russo replied.
Stephen A. Smith, featured commentator and executive producer of the top-rated morning program, challenged Qerim’s assertion. Having worked with her for several years on the show, Smith knows that she often curses while off the air in private discussions to express her sentiment towards situations.
When the cameras are rolling though, Qerim and the rest of the First Take crew refrain from bringing this language to the airwaves. Qerim stated that Smith’s claim was inaccurate, leading him to offer to get staffers in the hallways from ESPN’s Seaport District studios to testify on his behalf.
“It’s just when I’m passionate,” Qerim replied. “When I’m passionate about certain matters [in] private conversations, I can get a little fired up.”
Hard Knocks is an all-access series, but it is not meant to influence how people act on the screen. The series deliberately tries to stay in the background, merely documenting the everyday action from the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, N.J. NFL reporter Kimberley A. Martin was on Wednesday’s edition of the show, and she offered her perspective on Smith’s opinion that what the show films does not encompass a private conversation.
“It’s not utterly ridiculous because those cameras are supposed to capture everything as it’s supposed to be,” Martin said.
“Stephen A., you can’t change who you are ‘cause cameras are there,” Qerim added.
The fact that the program aired on a premium subscription channel free of advertisers, which are traditionally not as regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as other networks, renders the matter inconsequential to Hard Knocks itself.
“It didn’t air on Disney,” Smith said. “It’s on HBO, so you talking about, ‘Oh my goodness, enough with the profanity or cursing or whatever.’ Will you stop it?”
ESPN recently announced that First Take has attained 13 straight months of year-over-year viewership growth. The show will remain in its familiar 10 a.m. EST/7 a.m. PST time slot as the network unveils a new daytime programming lineup featuring The Pat McAfee Show on Thursday. Shannon Sharpe, former FOX Sports 1 commentator on Undisputed, made his on-air debut earlier this week and will join the program on Mondays and Tuesdays throughout the NFL season.
