The novelty wore off over time.
The intrusion became less noticeable, the vibe less invasive.
Still, a featured subject in the upcoming “Hard Knocks’’ series never fully embraced having his every word and action chronicled for possible public consumption.
“It was a little uncomfortable at first,’’ Giants general manager Joe Schoen said. “We were able to get used to the cameras being around. You’d be in your office and I’d look and it hadn’t moved yet today or we’d have a conversation with somebody and next thing you know you see the camera moving and zooming in on somebody.
“I think NFL Films does a great job, I think it’s going to be a good project but I never fully got comfortable with the cameras being around you the whole time.’’
Starting Tuesday, the curtain will be pulled back — somewhat — on the Giants as they make their debut on HBO’s ground-breaking docuseries.
Cameras and microphones were part of Schoen’s daily life as the Giants navigated their business through free agency, the protracted NFL draft process and the spring practices and minicamp.
Schoen and his front office staff were central figures, given that a general manager makes his bones in the offseason.
There will be plenty of Brian Daboll and his coaching staff.
Daniel Jones’ rehab from ACL surgery will be a storyline, as will the trade for Brian Burns.
The buildup to and eventual selection of Malik Nabers in the first round of the draft will be detailed in the five-part series.
There will not be anything revealed in the series — the first-ever “Hard Knocks’’ following an NFL team in the offseason — that the Giants do not want out there, as they were given final edit control.
As such, there will be no audio of Schoen disparaging a potential free-agent target or draft prospect.
There were plenty of discussions about medical concerns or character issues with prospective draft picks or why the Giants ranked one player over another at the same position but those discussions will not make it to the air.
Context will be an important companion to keep close.
In a clip the Giants revealed recently during their gala event promoting their 100th season celebration, defensive coordinator Shane Bowen was seen explaining a role for linebacker Isaiah Simmons.
Bowen detailed that Simmons could be used in the nickel package on first and second down and in what he called a “Money’’ role on third downs.
Seemingly, this indicated Simmons will be a big part of Bowen’s first defensive unit with the Giants but this is likely deceiving.
The clip is from a February meeting, prior to the start of free agency, prior to Simmons re-signing.
Bowen was in his first offseason with the Giants and his comments on Simmons were speculative, projecting how he might be used on defense, basically giving the front office a lesson on what he wants and needs to make his system work.
Simmons dealt with an injury all spring and did not do much of anything on the field.
The first trailer for the series raised expectations when Schoen was seen with a phone at his ear, saying “Saquon, can you give me your word on that, or are you not going to give us a chance?’’
Presumably, Schoen was speaking with Saquon Barkley and the conversation was about whether or not Barkley would give the Giants a chance to match any offer he received in free agency.
A few things here.
The upshot of this series is not going to have the Giants bashing their former running back.
Nor are they going to allow themselves to be portrayed as the aggrieved party as Barkley signed with the rival Eagles.
Barkley after moving on said the Giants this time around never made an offer to him.
Once the 2023 season ended the Giants realized Barkley’s days with them were coming to an end, unless Barkley did not garner much outside interest and wanted to return on a modest deal.
Figure there will be plenty of hype when it comes to Nabers and that Schoen will come out of this looking in charge, well-prepared and confident in his decision-making as he built his third Giants roster.
Also figure that Daboll will be seen, somewhat reluctantly, during the series as he hired several new assistants, including Bowen to run the defense, but do not expect any inside dirt on former defensive coordinator Wink Martindale cursing out Daboll on his way out the door.
Daboll likely will be a strong supporting actor to Schoen’s leading role despite his best attempts to limit his screen time by messing with the audio recordings.
“Joe had the cameras in his office,’’ Daboll said. “I figured out pretty early on in the process I could bring my phone, put some music on, go into his office and they couldn’t play it without me listening to whatever music I was listening to, I’d be talking to Joe and I knew that part wouldn’t be on the show.” So for me it was great. Those cameras were kind of everywhere but not as much in the coaching offices. It was great for Joe.’
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