Posts Tagged hard knocks

by Mike Bako
The decision by the NY Jets to allow HBO camera’s follow their training camp for this seasons installment of Hard Knocks was thought to be a stroke of programming genius four months ago when the partnership was announced. Take one over-sized and outspoken coach in Rex Ryan, mix in a star quarterback in Matt Sanchez and sprinkle in a contract dispute with one of its best players and you had the recipe for great television.
Last weeks premiere provided viewers with an inside look at a cursing and foul mouth Rex Ryan hamming it up for the camera as well as taunting the rest of the league with the pronouncement that the Jets will be the team to beat. Ryan has been getting heat in the NY media since the broadcast because of the language that he used and if it is really in the best interest of the Jets to have the face of their franchise going on TV littering the airwaves with four letter words.
The Jets are owned by Woody Johnson of Johnson & Johnson fame so he is well aware of corporate image. From a media standpoint it would not be in his best interest to have the CEO of Johnson & Johnson going on TV cursing up a storm and putting down Kraft. When he puts on his owners hat he is fully aware that having a coach who is so boisterous and outgoing is a good thing. Ryan has become a brand in his own right and if he can back up his big talk with big wins he will only enhance his media image.