Chris Russo torches Giants’ editorial control of ‘Hard Knocks’: ‘Wouldn’t watch that if I had insomnia’

The first episode of Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants premiered Tuesday night and Chris “Mad Dog” Russo will talk about it, but he won’t watch it.

HBO announced the Hard Knocks spinoff earlier this year, seeking to provide fans with an inside look at the Giants offseason from January – July 2024 as the franchise prepares for its 100th season. By the time July rolls around, football fans are starved for NFL content. A new version of Hard Knocks seems like a decent option to fill the void, but not for Russo.

Wednesday morning during his “What Are You Mad About” segment on First Take, Russo ripped the concept as he struggled to overlook the Giants owning editorial control of the series.

Chris Russo on Giants ‘Hard Knocks’

“I wouldn’t watch that if it was in my backyard! I’d close the blinds!” pic.twitter.com/Otlq4xcBKZ

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 3, 2024

“I wouldn’t watch that if I had insomnia,” Russo ranted. “The idea that this Hard Knocks with the offseason that the Giants have editorial control when they put it together – that’s ridiculous. You can’t do a five-part series on a football team with the machinations in the offseason and then tell me it’s legitimate television when the team that you’re doing it on has final editorial control.”

“You cannot allow them to have editorial control,” Russo insisted of the Giants. “They want to see it, they want to raise grief, they want to talk to Goodell about it…if you allow cameras in your locker room or in your front offices to show and chronicle the offseason, you gotta let it go. This is television, if you don’t like it, you don’t like it. But it’s good TV! It’s good for football! And the fact that the Giants will tell you what they want you to see, makes it not worthwhile. I wouldn’t watch that if it was in my backyard! I’d close the blinds!”

But this isn’t an exception for John Mara and the Giants. The Jets held editorial control over Hard Knocks last season, their first training camp with Aaron Rodgers in the building. And Michael Jordan notable held editorial control over The Last Dance, a documentary that Russo probably didn’t close the blinds on.

Would Hard Knocks be better if it was a no holds barred series with the team having no editorial control over the product? Sure. But it’s not realistic, especially during the offseason where front offices are making honest evaluations about players on their team and around the league.

[First Take]