Chris Russo attacks Giants’ editorial control over “Hard Knocks”

The first episode of Hard hits: 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 Hard blows Spinoff earlier this year, designed to give fans a glimpse into the Giants’ offseason from January to July 2024 as the franchise prepares for its 100th season. As July approaches, football fans are hungry for NFL content. A new version of Hard blows seems like a good way to fill the void, but not for Russo.

Wednesday morning during his segment “What Are You Mad About” on First takeRusso panned the concept and could hardly ignore the fact that the Giants had editorial control over the series.

Chris Russo on the Giants’ “hard hits”

“I wouldn’t look at this if it was in my garden! I would close the blinds!” pic.twitter.com/Otlq4xcBKZ

— Awful Announcement (@awfulannouncing) July 3, 2024

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

“You can’t let them have editorial control,” Russo insisted of the Giants. “They want to see it, they want to stir up grief, they want to talk to Goodell about it … if you’re going to allow cameras in your locker room or in your offices to show and document the offseason, you have to let it go. That’s television, if you don’t like it, you don’t like it. But it’s good television! It’s good for football! And the fact that the Giants tell you what they want you to see doesn’t make it worth it. I wouldn’t watch it if it was in my backyard! I’d close the blinds!”

But this is no exception for John Mara and the Giants. The Jets had editorial control over Hard blows last season, their first training camp with Aaron Rodgers in the building. And Michael Jordan maintained remarkable editorial control over The last Dancea documentary where Russo probably didn’t close the blinds.

Would Hard blows Would it be better if it was a no-holds-barred series and the team had no editorial control over the product? Sure. But that’s not realistic, especially in the offseason when front offices are giving honest evaluations of their team’s and the league’s players.

(First take)