The New York Giants have never appeared on HBO’s Hard Knocks, but it remains to be seen how long that will last. The organization has famously been opposed to appearing on the show, but meets the conditions this year to get selected whether they like it or not.
The Giants no longer have a first year coach, they haven’t made the playoffs in the past two years, and they haven’t been on the show in the last 10 seasons. That makes them eligible even if the organization doesn’t quite want to show up on the show.
On the other hand, the show is generally unpopular for the fans of the team showcased and Giants co-owner John Mara basically said in 2010 that the Giants would only appear on the show over his dead body.
Fans tend to dislike the distraction that the show presents for the team involved, and that applies heavily to the Giants, a team that’s already based in one of the toughest media markets in the country. Furthermore, the Giants are in the second year of the Joe Judge era and have big expectations to take a step forward after being one of the last teams out of the playoffs.
All of those, things, though, make for compelling TV stories. Judge’s second year, Saquon Barkley’s return from injury, and the progression of Daniel Jones are all things to watch for if the Giants appear. With all those storylines surrounding the Giants, we shouldn’t be too surprised if HBO and the league can’t resist choosing the team to showcase during this season’s training camp.