You may have seen the video on the Giants’ website that shows footage of Ben McAdoo addressing the team in their first meeting of training camp. It was posted alongside a video of McAdoo wearing a microphone for a practice and a photo of one of his first staff meetings of camp.
It’s quite a departure from his predecessor with the Giants, who rarely pulled the curtain back for any views of the inner workings of the team. And it leads to a bigger question: How much more transparent is McAdoo going to be than Tom Coughlin was? Would he welcome, say, an opportunity to appear on a show like “Hard Knocks” with the Giants?
Not quite, he told Newsday on Saturday.
“I think there are some things in the game that are sacred and that’s not something that I would be real fired up about,” McAdoo said. “But I guess you never say never. And sometimes that’s not a decision (you make).”
The NFL has the authority to make teams participate in “Hard Knocks” if there are no volunteers. There are a few ways around that. One is to have a new head coach, a loophole that will expire for the McAdoo-Giants marriage after this season. Another is to have been on the show in the past 10 years. Again, not something the Giants can claim. The third and only other way to avoid being forced to do it?
Make the playoffs in one of the two previous years. That means that if the Giants don’t make the playoffs this season, they could be coming to a television set near you for training camp in 2017.
Team co-owner John Mara once said that the Giants would appear on “Hard Knocks” over his dead body. That was before the provision that the NFL could force teams to participate. Even so, an owner with the pull of Mara would likely be able to sidestep what would undoubtedly be something the league, NFL Films and HBO would crave: The Giants with Eli Manning, Odell Beckham Jr. and the rest of the cast starring in a weekly documentary.
“Hard Knocks” aside, McAdoo did say there will probably be more controlled looks into the sanctum of the team.
“I think it’s good to give (glimpses),” he said. “You wear a different hat depending on what room you are in. I don’t think everyone gets a chance to see those different hats so it gives them a chance to take a glimpse at what things are like in different areas. The fans don’t always get to see me that way.”
Still, they won’t get to see EVERYTHING.
“I think there are some things that are sacred in the game,” McAdoo reiterated, “and we need to keep them that way.”
..... - Newsday