HBO will replay the entire "Hard Knocks: New York Jets" training camp series on Saturday, a day before the Jets and Steelers face off in the AFC Championship game in Pittsburgh.
And in a mild surprising twist, HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg has decided to air the uncensored version of the show, uncut with all of Rex Ryan's expletives — despite the fact that it will begin at 3:00 p.m. on HBO2, when younger Jets fans could, in theory, be watching.
HBO came under fire from parents that were apparently offended by the excessive vulgarity when the show first aired. So Greenburg cut a censored version that bleeped out Ryan's salty language, and showed that one when it re-aired during the day.
(Back in August, when I asked Greenburg about the controversy, including Ryan’s own mom’s assertion that her son was playing for the cameras, Greenburg said: “That’s real. That’s Rex. That’s the way he talks … I’d like to apologize to anyone that was offended by it, but that’s just how it is. That’s what is said in NFL locker rooms across the country.”)
Greenburg told WFAN on Friday that he made the decision to re-air the uncensored version this weekend — all five episodes — and just hoped parents would "DVR it" or watch it without their children.
When asked whether HBO would pursue having the Jets again for the next season of "Hard Knocks," Greenburg said, "That's like asking someone if they'd see the Rolling Stones or Springsteen twice."
But he said that while the network has already talked to Jets owner Woody Johnson about the possibility of a "Hard Knocks" encore, HBO might opt to give viewers a break from Ryan and co. for a season or two.
