None of HBO’s behind-the-scenes Giants ‘Hard Knocks’ footage from the spring can compete with a current video of first-round pick Malik Nabers at a Houston strip club.
The only true reality TV in the social media age is what is happening live. Right now. And unfortunately for the Giants, the primary topic about their team in the second week of July is their 20-year-old, first-round pick‘s presence at an adult entertainment venue.
No one is passing moral judgment on Nabers for ‘making it rain’ by throwing money into the air at a strip club and dancing. But perception is reality in the real world, including in the NFL.
And this is the bottom line: if that Nabers strip club footage had been included in one of HBO’s Hard Knocks episodes, the Giants — who had final editorial control of the show’s content — would have removed it.
It does connect to Tuesday’s second episode of Hard Knocks, though.
Giants college area scout Scott Hamel reviewed Nabers as a prospect this way to the front office during the pre-draft process:
“Malik: highly passionate, highly competitive kid, loves football. He will train hard, plays with a big-time chip on his shoulder. He’s a guy that always wanted the most targets. You’ll hear about it if he’s not getting his targets. We need to get around this kid and see if we can work with him, because there is a lot to the personality.”
Assistant GM Brandon Brown acknowledged at the NFL Combine in late February: “I just don’t know enough about the kid in general. I don’t view any of it as a negative. I just want to get around him.”
Then Brown added: “But this is the thing: name me a dominant player at that position or the corner position or pass rusher that was a quiet boy. I mean, sh–, like, he gives us something we don’t have. My biggest thing [with] him is, whoever the Q[B] is, will they be able to deal with it?”
GM Joe Schoen responded that he already had talked to Daniel Jones about Nabers and Jones “loves him.”
Head coach Brian Daboll, meanwhile, told Schoen at the NFL Combine: “I watched [film of] that Nabers dude. Dude’s a baller.”
When Nabers arrived for his interview with the Giants, Daboll asked Nabers how he handles not being involved in the offense early in a game.
“How do I handle it? I handle it pretty tough,” Nabers said. “Especially during the week, I’ve been in the offense in the week, putting in the work with the one offense, getting a lot of plays known to be called for me. So if I’m not in those plays and not getting the ball, I’m pretty hard on it.”
Daboll responded: “I don’t mind that. I want guys that want to get the ball. And I want guys that hate f—ing losing. But you gotta learn how to harness that a little bit. I don’t mind the competitive f—in’ juice, man. You need some dogs. I want guys that want the ball.”
Daboll then made an interesting allusion to his gameday eruptions that led to an offseason exodus on his coaching staff.
“Sometimes you lose it,” Daboll said. “I mean, sh–, I lose it, too, as a coach. But you gotta learn how to harness that good.”
Schoen then smiled and gave Daboll a one-armed hug, as director of player personnel Tim McDonnell smirked from the back row.
There will be plenty more revealed on Hard Knocks, surely, about the Giants’ scouting process with Nabers.
But for now, here in July, Nabers is still in the honeymoon, first impression stage as the new face of the Giants’ franchise. He entered the NFL Draft with questions about his maturity and personality. And videoed strip club visits just aren’t the kind of attention that benefits him or the Giants, a struggling franchise that is simply trying to get off the mat.
As it is, Instagram user ynhprimetime — who identifies himself as the musician ‘Primetime Hitla’ — shared the video over the holiday weekend. It got picked up by the @KayvonOjulari and @NFL_DovKleiman ‘X’ accounts. And now the top-of-mind topic about the Giants isn’t Brian Burns’ free agency signing but Nabers’ trip to a Houston VIP entertainment venue.
SAQUON STILL THE TOP STORY
Schoen might be the only NFL GM this offseason who did not retain, in his own words, his team’s “best offensive player.”
Schoen used those words to describe Barkley in a phone call with Barkley’s agent, as Hard Knocks revealed. But as the show has reinforced, Schoen nevertheless seemed invested in moving on from the now-Eagles running back.
Even Ed Berry, Barkley’s agent, seemed to understand Schoen’s intent when he asked the GM: “In your room at night, when you’re by yourself, are you like, ‘I wouldn’t mind if this kid bounced?’”
Barkley also did not seem to interpret Schoen’s decision for Barkley test the free agent market and bring his best offer back to the Giants as genuine interest from the GM in having Barkley back in New York.
Buffalo Bills GM Brandon Beane, Schoen’s mentor, did trade his best offensive skill player, Stefon Diggs, to the Houston Texans this offseason. But the Bills’ best offensive player, as everyone knows, is quarterback Josh Allen. And he remains.
TOO BAD FOR TOMMY
Tommy DeVito had a fortuitous little stretch last fall, but Tuesday night’s episode confirmed that’s all it was.
Schoen was recorded saying at the NFL Combine that if Jones can’t play in Week 1 coming off his torn ACL, “somebody’s gotta be able to win some games. We can’t start off 0-3 until he gets healthy. So I need to get a backup quarterback that can be available, or we look to draft one.”
Schoen was also shown walking over to the New England Patriots’ suite at the NFL Combine to ask GM Eliot Wolf to keep the Giants in mind if he was going to move out of the No. 3 overall pick, reinforcing that the Giants were in the market to trade up for a top QB.
