Amid 4th of July celebrations and other news stories surrounding the New York Giants, you may have missed one bit of information that came out a couple of days ago – the Giants won’t be the team covered on HBO’s Hard Knocks, as the Dallas Cowboys have been selected.
This will bring a sigh of relief for many Giants fans that don’t want more distractions for the team during an offseason which is already high pressure for a number of reasons. The Giants are integrating a number of new players and Daniel Jones is about to embark on his most pressure-filled season yet. The last thing the team needs in that climate is a camera crew following the biggest narratives during training camp.
As the Giants haven’t been to the playoffs recently and don’t have a rookie head coach this year, the league could have made them appear on the show regardless of the organization’s willingness. It didn’t come to that, as it seems Cowboys owner Jerry Jones couldn’t resist the chance to keep his team in the spotlight by having them show up on a nationally televised show.
The show, of course, follows one team through training camp. But due to the distractions it brings, fans of the chosen team are often annoyed at their team being chosen. Due to their interesting offseason circumstances, it looked like the Giants were a candidate to end up on the show. The Jacksonville Jaguars, of course, were considered the top candidate by many – but thanks to having a rookie head coach, they held the right to refuse.
Because of the way things panned out, it’s an NFC East rival that will have to deal with the distraction. Not a bad outcome for the Giants, although with the amount of media attention the Cowboys already receive, their players are likely more or less used to it already.