Having the Jets appear a second time on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” is “a dumb idea,” and the show “should focus on a unique situation: the New Orleans Saints," according to Michael Hiestand of USA TODAY. There has never been an NFL team "adjust to having its coach being on a forced one-year sabbatical.” For the NFL Films-produced “Hard Knocks” to show “how the team adjusts to [coach] Sean Payton being sidelined because of his team's paying bounties … could give the NFL's vaunted film arm even more credibility.” And there are “better options than making the Jets become the second team … to make a Knocks encore.” Hiestand: “Let's see John Elway and Peyton Manning with the Denver Broncos. Or the Indianapolis Colts breaking in Andrew Luck” (USA TODAY, 4/4). In N.Y., Justin Terranova wrote what would make the Jets “such an intriguing reality subject is the exact reason they should avoid the spotlight.” Coach Rex Ryan “admittedly lost control of a fractured locker room last season, and things have only gotten worse since then.” It is a “question that will be asked many times during training camp,” and if Jets Owner Woody Johnson “gets his way, cameras will be rolling the whole time to watch the drama unfold.” It seemed “[disingenuous] for Johnson to suggest the [QB Tim] Tebow move had nothing to do with the off-the-field attention the controversial quarterback would provide.” If the Jets “go forward with this it would seem like a farce” (NYPOST.com, 4/3).
PROS AND CONS ON THE JETS: Dallas Morning News columnist Tim Cowlishaw said of the Jets appearing on "Hard Knocks" again, “I love the idea. I think they are the perfect team for it. You know Tebow is going to carry half of it. For me personally, it will be a successful run if I could keep my name off of the show and they’re not asking why am I writing about Darrelle Revis.” But L.A. Times columnist Bill Plaschke said, “I hate the idea because they have done it before, they know what’s going on, they’ll probably script it this time. It won’t be natural, it won’t be real. Jets have had their chance, let someone else do it” (“Around The Horn,” ESPN, 4/3). ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser said, "This is completely precarious for Tim Tebow. Okay, the Jets and Rex Ryan, they are the most profane team in the league and they’re going to try and see if they can get Tim Tebow to drop ‘f-bombs,’ to be totally corrupted. Rex Ryan is like the serpent, handing the apple to Eve in the Garden of Eden.” ESPN’s Michael Wilbon said, “Enough already! Enough with the Jets, we just saw this. If you could promise me Bart Scott, plenty of Bart Scott. Let 60% of the show be on Bart Scott because Bart Scott can be profane, but he’s thoughtful, clever and funny. Tim Tebow, he doesn’t say controversial stuff and he’s not going to do that” (“PTI,” ESPN, 4/3). The WALL STREET JOURNAL’s Jason Gay writes maybe HBO “is exactly where these New York Jets are supposed to be.” Gay: “Bring it all on -- the training camp dramas, the F-bombs, the pranks and The Tebow. That's enough of a sequel to suck us all in -- maybe it will even be good” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 4/4).
STEEL RESOLVE: Steelers WR Antonio Brown was asked if he would want the team to be "Hard Knocks.” He said, “No. ... That’s not how we get down as an organization and not what we do as ‘Pittsburgh Nation’” ("SportsNation," ESPN2, 4/3).
