As the Hard Knocks franchise announced it would expand into an offseason version with the New York Giants, many fans wondered how much access the HBO program would get given the team had final say in what was shown. After two episodes of the newest version of the program, those questions appear to have been answered and that was the topic early this morning on WFAN’s Boomer & Gio with Boomer Esiason and Gregg Giannotti.
Giannatti almost couldn’t wait to start talking about the second episode when the microphones cracked this morning. “I gotta tell you, I was reminded last night how much I really love football,” he said. “God, do I love football..Every year that goes by I get more and more in love with football. And watching this Hard Knocks, which I thought was going to be boring, I will be honest with you, I thought the NFL had taken it too far with Hard Knocks Offseason. This was awesome last night. It was football porn.
“…And we got a lot more on the Giants interest in quarterbacks in the draft than I ever thought we were going to get in this Hard Knocks. I can’t believe they approved some of the stuff that we saw last night.”
“I was surprised at the level at which the Giants were testing the quarterbacks and interviewing the quarterbacks…I thought this was great last night,” Esiason said. “It really just gives you the understanding as to what the coaches, what the teams are looking for.
I like the fact that they aren’t just talking to Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll, but they are talking to the other people that are helping them make decisions on players and what they are looking for and it really gives you an idea, when you sit through those ‘speed dating classes,’…When you sit in those meetings with those coaches and those people that are around you and how you’re trying to impress them with your football knowledge, with your understanding. And they are looking for the right people…I’m glad that Hard Knocks did this because it just goes to show you how hard it is to find the right person.”
Esiason went on to specifically talk about when the team was interviewing wide receivers Marvin Harrison Jr., Rome Odunze and their eventual selection with the No. 6 pick in the draft, Malik Nabers. He talked about the viewers getting to see what the team is looking for, the types of questions they ask and how the players handle it.
“I have to say, that was an eye-opening show last night,” Esiason said. “It was a great show last night…It was great and if it continues like this it is going to be fascinating.”
“It showed us way more than I thought we were going to see,” Giannotti said. “…We both thought there was no way they were going to dip into the ‘we are going to try and draft a quarterback’ thing, they weren’t going to show us that. They were going to show us the Saquan stuff because Saquan is gone, but they weren’t going to show us the quarterback stuff because Daniel Jones is still here.”
Hard Knocks started in 2001 with a series focused on the Baltimore Ravens. In 2021, the series shifted to having a training camp and an in season show. This year, the Giants are featured in the offseason, the Chicago Bears will be the featured team during training camp and the entire AFC North will be the focus of the in-season edition.
