'Hard Knocks' finale recap: UFO to Broadway show
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers walks on the field during warm-ups before an NFL football game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Saturday, Aug. 19, 2023, in East Rutherford, N.J. He’ll become a folk hero if he can lead the Jets to a Super Bowl for the first time since Broadway Joe Namath. Credit: AP/Seth Wenig
Two undrafted rookies making the Jets’ 53-man roster. Aaron Rodgers recalling the time he said he saw a UFO. Solomon Thomas learning how to moonwalk. The season finale of “Hard Knocks” had a little bit of everything as the five-episode show wrapped up. As Jets coach Robert Saleh likes to say, “Now What?”
It’s the Episode 5 recap, that’s what.
(Note: Spoilers below)
WHEN YOU’RE A JET, YOU’RE A JET ALL THE WAY. “Hard Knocks” finales have traditionally focused on players being summoned to the coach’s office to see if they made the team. This year’s show eliminated that aspect because the Jets didn’t want to air the cuts. Instead, the only two meetings we were privy to were undrafted rookie receivers Jason Brownlee and Xavier Gipson. In separate sitdowns, they met with Saleh and Jets general manager Joe Douglas, who told each, “You’re a New York Jet.” The buddies, whose friendship was featured in a previous episode, celebrated together while walking the halls. “I’m really proud of both those guys,” Rodgers said in an interview. “Those are the guys you pull for.”
THE FLIP SIDE TO CUT DAY. The “on the bubble” player featured most this season was Tanzel Smart, the fun-loving defensive lineman known for his love of Broadway shows and not being able to pronounce charcuterie board. He didn’t make the cut, and while that conversation wasn’t aired, he did talk about the decision while holding his young daughter. “I feel like I deserve to be on the 53,” said Smart, who later was in better spirits after making the Jets’ practice squad: “This is a perfect fit for me. I wouldn’t want to go anywhere else. My goal was to make the 53, but I still have a job. I accomplished sticking around, which is a blessing.”
IT’S NOT TV, IT’S . . . UFO? Leave it to Rodgers to talk about how he and his buddies once saw a UFO in New Jersey. After Rodgers’ college teammate and friend Steve Levy was shown at Jets practice, Rodgers went into storytelling mode about that unforgettable night back in 2005 when he was in New York getting ready for the NFL Draft. “I saw a UFO at his house . . . 5 a.m., wake up, I heard this alarm in the distance going off and Steve and his brother and I walked outside and up in the clouds we saw this tremendously large object moving through the sky and it was like a scene out of ‘Independence Day.’ We heard fighter jets chasing this object . . . We froze and eventually it went out of sight and nobody said a word. We just stood frozen, the three of us, and about 30 seconds later we heard the real recognizable sound of fighter jets.”
BROADWAY JETS. As a team, the 2023 Jets may have set a record for “Most Broadway Shows Seen” during training camp. A topic frequently discussed throughout the five-episode series, the finale showed a dozen or so Jets, including Rodgers and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, taking in a performance of “MJ The Musical.” They were all into it, standing up, smiling, cheering, singing along to the songs. Afterward, they met Elijah Rhea Johnson, who portrays Michael Jackson in the show. “What can you not do?” Rodgers told him. “Crazy!” Then, Johnson tried to teach Thomas, a defensive lineman, how to moonwalk. He did his best, but he probably should’ve left that footwork to Garrett Wilson, the Jets’ No. 1 receiver who fellow wideout Randall Cobb observed at practice had similar moves to the pop icon.
THRILLER SEASON? The finale focused on “Finish The Wall,” a project the Jets have where they place images from every game they play this season (preseason included) onto a wall. Of course, they’ve left enough wall space for the season to last into February. The hype and confidence is at an all-time high. So are the good vibes and smiles, shown often during a Rodgers montage to close out the show.
Now what?
Week 1. Monday night against the Bills. Let the hard knocks begin.
Joe Manniello, an editor on the sports copy desk, has written the NFL picks column since 2015. Manniello joined Newsday in 2004. He graduated from St. John's.
