Hard Knocks and the Giants: What will they do for an encore?
Jaxson Dart and Jameis Winston of the Giants celebrate after defeating the Philadelphia Eagles at MetLife Stadium on Oct. 9. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Just when you thought this mess of a Giants season couldn’t get any worse, here comes the extreme close-up on their misery.
The Giants are making their return to the “Hard Knocks” universe as part of the in-season version that will follow them and the rest of the NFC East throughout the last six weeks of the regular season. That means as soon as the bus pulls into the parking lot on Sunday night when they return from Detroit, the red lights on the cameras will go on and the microphones will go live.
Gulp.
Back when this venture was announced, it was met with uneasy trepidation by the Giants. Their last go-round with the good folks at HBO and NFL Films was not the sparkling, star-making infomercial for the stability and grandeur of their franchise that they thought it would be. Rather, that “offseason” edition that aired in the summer of 2024 devolved into a weekly soap opera as it recapped the team’s divorce from Saquon Barkley, its desire to replace Daniel Jones while he remained on their roster and assorted other dysfunctions that would have been better kept private.
At least when it was announced, the Giants had hopes about this season. Now, just as the show is about to begin, they have only two wins, already might be mathematically eliminated from postseason contention (that dissolved in every practical sense weeks ago), have gone through three starting quarterbacks, fired their head coach and are in the process of evaluating a general manager whom they already have publicly tapped to head their search for a new coach.
Double gulp.
There are only two ways this does not serve to amplify the Giants’ current maladies and embarrass the always image-conscious organization more than it already has been exposed.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell, left, talks with quarterback Jared Goff during a game against the Washington Commanders on Nov. 9 in Landover, Md. Credit: AP/Stephanie Scarbrough
The first is that things in Dallas, Philadelphia and Washington wind up being much more interesting than they are and the Giants are pushed to the background.
The second is that rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart steals the show and the Giants manage to win a few games and salvage some dignity heading into the offseason.
Neither seems very likely at this point.
For the Giants players, having all of this attention on them as they kerplunk into January is far from ideal. Many had forgotten about their role in this season, but in recent weeks, they started to notice small electronic spheres and bulbs popping up in the corners of their meeting rooms and hallways. Those “hidden” cameras haven’t been turned on yet, but they will be starting this week. That is sure to change the dynamic, at least for a little while.
“It’s very weird,” wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson said. “We’ll definitely be more careful about what we say. Even when we get mic’d up [during practices or games for team media], we’re always like, ‘Hey, I got the mic on, let’s make sure we’re talking right.’ It’ll be interesting.”
And after the 2024 expedition into reality television created so many memes from Joe Schoen and John Mara that continue to buzz around the team, no one wants to be the player who adds to that collection of blunders.
“It’s a little nerve-wracking,” tight end Daniel Bellinger said. “Am I going to say the wrong thing?”
Said wide receiver Darius Slayton: “I’m sure we’ll give them some great clickbait just off somebody forgetting. I know [the recording devices] will not be at the forefront of my mind, but I guess we’ll try to be mindful of our words as much as we can.”
This is mostly new for the players, although some have had peripheral experiences. Running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. was drafted in 2024, so he had a few brief cameos in that offseason production. He said he didn’t watch the show but family and friends would text him clips whenever he appeared.
“I don’t really like all the attention, me personally,” Tracy said, “but I know people on the outside like it for the entertainment.”
Humiliation sells, too. There undoubtedly will be a good portion of the audience tuning in to see just how hi-def ugly this Giants season will get. The world will be rubbernecking as the chagrined Giants idle on the side of the road with their bumper torn off and steam coming from their engine.
The one good thing, Robinson said, is that the Giants do have a say in what gets aired and what remains private.
“I’m pretty sure they have to approve it,” he said.
Then again, they had the same veto power during the offseason show. If those are the clips they allowed through, imagine what the stuff they blocked looked like!
“I definitely think they’ll be a little more [skeptical] about what they put in there this time,” Robinson said. “But that’s up to them.”
Slayton, one of the longest-tenured Giants, said he doesn’t really have an opinion on this new adventure. He has been around enough to know it wouldn’t matter anyway. As he pointed out, everything the team does is pretty well documented these days, so whether it’s video cameras at practices or mic’d-up players for team website productions or NFL Films footage of the games, it’s all pretty much out there. “Hard Knocks” just brings it all together and packages it.
“It ain’t going to change anything for me,” Slayton said.
What it could change, though, is how we see these Giants. And perhaps even how they see themselves. That’s what happened the last time.
When the first episode airs on Dec. 2, having followed the Giants through their prep and right up to their Monday night game against the Patriots on Dec. 1, will they be portrayed as pathetic this time or come across as sympathetic? Will they crumble right in front of us or manage to somehow keep the frayed ends of a season together? Will we really see what is going on in the organization during this clearly tumultuous time or will everyone be acting as if important company is over?
Said Slayton: “I just hope nobody starts acting weird.”
They’re 2-9. What would be the point of watching if they did not?
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
