After rocky courtship, 'Hard Knocks' has been a comfortable fit for Jets and NFL Films

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Shannon Furman is a fixture on the “Hard Knocks” staff, having spent the past three seasons as NFL Films’ lead director for the HBO series.

But this year, she said, “I feel a lot of pressure behind it, just because of the way everything went leading up to it.”

This was before Jets practice on Tuesday, a bright, cool morning a week before the 2023 edition premieres with as much anticipation as ever.

The hype largely is attributable to the show’s biggest star to date in Aaron Rodgers, who will be a centerpiece of the five-episode series.

But the pressure Furman told Newsday she was feeling is a function of the mini-controversy around the Jets publicly stating they did not want to participate.

The NFL did not give the Jets a choice, and here we are.

“Everybody knew that they didn’t really want us here at first,” Furman said. “The things people were saying, I mean, I love working on this show, and over the past eight years that I’ve been on it, it’s been one of my goals to make that not be the perception and to make teams want to be part of it.

“Just seeing the things people are saying, like media, everyone around the whole thing, I obviously want the show to be great. So yeah, I feel a lot of pressure for a week from today.”

Adding to that pressure were logistical hurdles caused by the delay in the process.

Last year, the NFL announced on March 28 that the Lions would be featured. This year, official word came on July 17, two days before the Jets reported to camp.

“Usually, we are able to take care of all the logistics we need to over the course of weeks,” assistant director Pat Harris told Newsday. “With the Lions, it was months.”

Not so this time, as NFL Films scrambled to rent office space adjacent to the Jets’ practice facility on short notice and to meet everyone in and around the team.

“It was a lot,” Furman said. “It’s still a lot every day. There are different things that come up that would have been taken care of months ago, in theory. So we’re kind of just taking everything one day at a time.”

The good news for all concerned — and presumably for the show itself — is that despite the initial wariness, the Jets and NFL Films have gotten along well.

“I’m having fun with it,” Rodgers said. “It hasn’t quite been that distraction I think that many of us were possibly worried about. They have been great. They’ve been fantastic. It’s been fun. I think there’s a lot of great content they’re going to capture.

“I think people are going to enjoy watching and seeing the characters we have on the team and also the character that we have on the team.”

Said coach Robert Saleh, “They’ve been great. Like I’ve said, we’ve had ‘One Jets Drive’ [a Jets-produced show], so there’s always cameras around anyway.

“Granted, it’s a few more, but I think they’ve been great. They’ve communicated very well. We’ve communicated back with them well. I guess you’d have to ask them if it’s been good. I feel like it has.”

It has, according to Furman and Harris.

“It’s hard to not come in with uncertain expectations when you hear everything about them being forced to do it,” Harris said, “but they welcomed us with open arms from the first meeting.”

He said access has been like any other “Hard Knocks,” with no special restrictions.

“With access, shooting meetings and everything, what our expectations and hopes were, the result has been higher than that,” Harris said.

Said Furman, “There was a lot of talk leading up to everything, but it’s been better than I could have expected it to be.”

Both praised Rodgers in particular for his cooperation. “He’s been awesome,” Furman said. “I don’t know how else to describe it.”

That is crucial, because he will be the main attraction on the show, just as he is on the field.

“He has been awesome. I don’t think anyone really knew what to expect, but he has been just a normal person, which has been great,” Harris said. “He’ll introduce himself to crew members just on a whim.

“You get a little star-struck when you first meet him, knowing you’ve seen him for so many years. I grew up watching him. But he’s very normal. And he seems at least curious about what we’re doing and how our operations work.”

It is quite an operation. There are about 36 NFL Films staffers at camp daily, with seven camera crews shooting practices.

Many more NFL Films people work on the show curating the footage, of which there is about 300 hours’ worth for every one-hour television show.

The NFL and HBO hope it leads to the kind of hit the Jets were the last time they were on the show in 2010, when coach Rex Ryan embraced the spectacle.

So far, so good, despite the rocky courtship.

For the crew, it is an all-consuming experience. They stay together at a nearby hotel and were to travel together by bus to Canton for the Hall of Fame Game.

“We’re a family,” Furman said.

When is her next day off?

“Sept. 5, I think,” she said. “Whatever the day after Labor Day is, it’s that. I talked to my mom this morning. I said, ‘34 more days.’ ”

By Neil Best

neil.best@newsday.com@sportswatch

Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.