HBO’s NFL Hard Knocks has been a smash hit for football fans since the Baltimore Ravens were the first team to be featured in 2001. On Wednesday, it was announced that the New York Giants will be featured in this offseason’s edition of Hard Knocks.
Here is everything you need to know about the newest version of Hard Knocks.
New York Giants Announced as 2024’s Hard Knocks Stars
Max and the NFL announced that the Giants would take part in the first-ever Offseason Hard Knocks, premiering on July 2, 2024. The documentary crew will follow New York’s plan from the start of the offseason to the beginning of offseason workouts.
Unprecedented access to the biggest decisions and boldest moves. #HardKnocks Offseason with the New York Giants premieres July 2 on Max. #Giants100 pic.twitter.com/HVvavr4SBM
— Max (@StreamOnMax) May 15, 2024
The NFL has expanded past its usually scheduled programming of Training Camp Hard Knocks in recent years. They have also added the “in-season” showing of teams since 2021. Now, the league is looking to cover the offseason.
In many ways, the NFL and HBO’s idea here is a unique and excellent way to keep fans engaged during the dead period of the season. From the end of June to early August, most teams go away for vacation before the start of training camp. By having something to watch, fans can now be engaged in NFL content even when there’s not a lot of news going on.
There’s also another part to this.
While the notion that the NFL season never ends, the Giants are celebrating their 100th anniversary as a franchise this season. The push to make the Giants a team to follow will allow the league to show the history of the organization and how they got to where they are not.
Top Storylines To Follow for This Year’s Series
When it comes to finding teams that fit what the NFL is looking for in this new show, the Giants might be the perfect overall franchise.
New York went through plenty of transformational changes over the last six months following a 6-11 season. Former defensive coordinator Wink Martindale “parted ways” with the Giants on top of several anonymous coaching leaks that cited head coach Brian Daboll as a “tyrant.”
Then came free agency.
New York lost star running back Saquon Barkley to their NFC East rival, Philadelphia Eagles, and standout safety Xavier McKinney left for the Green Bay Packers.
The Giants, however, made a splash trade with the Carolina Panthers for EDGE Brian Burns. The conversations about how those negotiations broke down, and how the trade came to be would be fascinating storylines to follow.
To cap it all off, the Giants’ debate about drafting LSU wideout Malik Nabers over trading up for a quarterback could be must-see television.
In short, there won’t be any missing storylines to gloss over when it comes to the Giants on Hard Knocks.
What Is Hard Knocks?
Hard Knocks is a reality sports documentary produced by NFL Films that airs on HBO and their streaming service Max.
As mentioned, the docuseries started with the Ravens in 2001 after Baltimore won the Super Bowl the previous season. The series chronicled the Ravens’ training camp on their quest to repeat as Super Bowl champions.
For the next 20 years, Hard Knocks revolved around one team per year in training camp. While that tradition has continued, in 2021, NFL Films and HBO introduced an in-season Hard Knocks, starting with the Indianapolis Colts.
Since then, there have been two editions of Hard Knocks every season — training camp and in-season — and this year, they’ve added an offseason version as well.
When Does Hard Knocks Start?
“Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants” will premiere on Tuesday, July 2, at 9 p.m. ET. It will be the first of five episodes that air every Tuesday through July 30.
This will be the first time the Giants have been featured on Hard Knocks, as they’re now the 19th franchise that the NFL and HBO will be devoting the series around.
How Can You Watch the Series?
Each episode of Hard Knocks will be live on HBO and available for streaming on Max as well. As noted above, each episode will premiere at 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday nights throughout the entire month of July, giving NFL fans some much-needed content before training camp begins.
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This will be the case for not only the offseason edition but for the training camp and in-season versions as well. Dates and teams for those two Hard Knocks series are unconfirmed at this time.
Which Teams Have Been on Hard Knocks the Most?
To no surprise, the Dallas Cowboys have been on Hard Knocks more than any other team. The Cowboys appeared on the show three times: in 2002, 2008, and most recently, in 2021.
After the Cowboys, four franchises have been the featured Hard Knocks team twice — Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets, Miami Dolphins, and Los Angeles Rams.
The Jets were on Hard Knocks for the second time during training camp last season as they prepared for Year 1 with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback. Unfortunately, Rodgers suffered a season-ending torn Achilles injury just four offensive snaps into the season.
How Does the NFL Decide Who Has To Be on the Show?
Most teams don’t want to be featured on Hard Knocks because they find it distracting, and they want as much privacy from cameras and media as possible inside their buildings.
Because of that, the NFL has instituted rules that can exempt organizations from being in the pool of possible Hard Knocks teams for that given season:
- Have appeared on Hard Knocks in the past 10 years
- Have a first-year head coach OR
- Have made the playoffs in either of the two preceding seasons
The NFL seems to prioritize franchises that don’t fall under those guidelines and who also offer a lot of intrigue to be the featured team.
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For example, last season, there was much hype around the Jets’ acquisition of Rodgers. Not only is New York a big-market team, but they traded for one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, so the storylines were endless.
