The Skinny Post: Hard Knocks with the New York Giants looks ... interesting?

There is a lot happening in and around the NFL and we have it all covered in the latest edition of The Skinny Post.

We’re in the final week of June, which means we’re about to creep into the month in which NFL training camps are set to begin. Hitting July means the upcoming NFL season is right around the corner and we couldn’t be more excited.

In the meantime, we’re still here to give our two cents on all the latest happenings around the league because without specifically the two of us doing this exact post, who would be talking about football on the internet? No one, that’s who.

On the docket today is:

• Travis Kelce going on stage to support girlfriend Taylor Swift on her Eras Tour
• Rhamondre Stevenson’s new contract with the Patriots
• RJ did the Hot Ones challenge over the weekend and we all need to know if he threw in the towel before finishing

Let’s dive in.

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Chiefs TE Travis Kelce made a cameo during a recent concert for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. Was this the most wholesome act you’ve ever seen? Or was it cringey?

Michael:

There was obviously a large number of people who got pretty tired of seeing Kelce and Swift content during this past season. You couldn’t watch a Chiefs game without constant camera panning from the field to the suite. Back and forth. Back and forth. It definitely got a bit old but those of us who understand how television works, the network will 10 times out of 10 do what they believe will get them the most viewers. And why wouldn’t they tap into the attention gold mine that is the Swifties? If anything, it was a smart move by those in power at the time.

Now that we’re in the midst of the offseason, especially the dead period between minicamp and training camp, I don’t mind seeing more Kelce/Swift content across my social media feeds. It’s not that I really minded before, but at least now it’s not conflicting with and/or breaking up the action on the field.

In this case, this is actually really cool to see. I love this. Take away all the stardom from each of them and they’re just a loving and supportive couple like anyone else. Imagine if Kelce wasn’t a star in his own right, could you imagine having the confidence to go on stage and perform in a skit for your global icon of a girlfriend? This is incredibly wholesome from Kelce and I can’t believe I’m about to say this about a Chiefs player, but we “stan” this type of behavior.

RJ:

I’m not sure if I have ever said this before, but I have seen Taylor Swift in person before myself. It was at Minute Maid Park during the Speak Now tour and Nelly showed up. It ruled.

I say this to say that all Taylor performances are incredible so when you factor in the wholesomeness of involving her Chiefs superstar partner (which I guess served as the inspiration for this Hallmark movie involving the Chiefs?) then I am very much down for it.

Good for people doing things that make them happy. Cheers to Taylor. Cheers to Trav. Cheers to Michael. Cheers to you!

Rhamondre Stevenson just inked a four-year, $36 million contract with the Patriots. Is he worth the money?

RJ:

No offense to Rhamondre, but absolutely not.

Consider that I have spent a majority of my offseason writing about Ezekiel Elliott’s return to the Dallas Cowboys and how not great of a thing that is.

Now consider Zeke’s 2023 numbers with the New England Patriots and Rhamondre’s:

• 2023 Ezekiel Elliott (Patriots): 184 carries, 642 rushing yards, 3.5 YPC, 3 rushing touchdowns, 51 receptions, 313 receiving yards, 2 receiving touchdowns
• 2023 Rhamondre Stevenson (Patriots): 156 carries, 619 rushing yards, 4.0 YPC, 4 rushing touchdowns, 38 receptions, 238 receiving yards, 0 receiving touchdowns

Zeke is a beloved member of Cowboys history but words like “washed” are being thrown around here. That Stevenson was so close to him production-wise is troubling to say the least.

But go ahead Patriots. Do you.

Michael:

Yeah I was a bit surprised to see the Patriots hand him almost $10 million per year after he failed to eclipse 700 rushing yards or five rushing touchdowns. I love running backs as much as anyone. There’s nothing like a good one that can seemingly carry the team to new heights. Is Stevenson that type of player? As of now, I do not believe so. He’s had some good stretches across the past three seasons. I believe he is a starting-caliber back in this league, but that type of money they handed him makes him the sixth-highest paid player at his position. That’s over the likes of Joe Mixon and Derrick Henry, both of whom are/have been better than him for longer periods of time.

I’ve never loved the idea of paying people for what they MAY do as opposed to what they’ve already done. However, he’s already got a 1,000-yard season and he averaged 5 yards per carry that year while starting just seven games. I think he was worth locking down; I’m just not a fan of the total on the paycheck.

If he goes on to be a top-8 back in the NFL this year and next, well then I’ll eat these words.

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The trailer for the offseason edition of Hard Knocks with the New York Giants is out... what do we think?

Michael:

I’ve always been a fan of anything that takes us behind the scenes and shines a light on the aspects of the football world that anyone outside the building or organization doesn’t get to see. Usually these trailers are edited well and I find my heart racing a bit after watching them. This was a good one.

However, the Giants are a bottom-5 team in the NFL entering this season and I have zero desire to run and turn this on when it drops. I’m also salty they drafted Malik Nabers but that’s besides the point.

Anyway, if you’re going to watch a show like this, you either breathe and sleep football or there’s certain figures of interest that bring you in. There really aren’t any players on the Giants that are doing it for me. I’ll probably tune in out of curiosity for the draft week stuff, but that’s about it.

RJ:

Give me all of the football content possible, please.

Seriously though, while this is the New York Giants this is a type of Hard Knocks that we have never seen before. That in and of itself makes it interesting.

In the clip we get to see the Giants talking to Saquon Barkley in what we know is a conversation that ultimately leads to him joining the Philadelphia Eagles. I’m intrigued.

Unlike the traditional versions of HK, this one has the answer totally and completely known, so that we can reverse trace everything back and forth is a dynamic that I am here for.

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RJ did the Hot Ones challenge over the weekend. How was the experience and how soon did you throw in the towel?

RJ:

I spent this past weekend in Oklahoma visiting my wife’s family, and on Saturday my brother-in-law brought his Father’s Day gift... the Hot Ones sauces/challenge.

If you are unfamiliar Hot Ones is a talkshow in which guests (and host Sean Evans) heat wings throughout the questioning and they grow in heat/spiciness as they go along. People can (obviously) buy the sauces and partake in the experience themselves.

Here are the sauces we moved forward with and I will be honest and say that I used a cut up chicken tender (several of them) as my sauce transportation device.

Da Bomb is notorious for breaking people. I now understand why. I am not a huge spicy food person but everything up to that point was manageable. Sure it was hot, but it didn’t end my life. Plus I wasn’t being asked super invasive and personal questions while going through it and maybe that is part of the battle.

But life after Da Bomb was miserable. The following sauces may have been fine; they may have been terrible. I have no idea because Da Bomb ruined my sense of taste.

All of this being said, I would totally do the challenge again.

Michael:

So I got the chance to do the Hot Ones Challenge earlier this year in January with all of my siblings. We all got on a Discord call and had a book with like 1,000 good questions to ask. Every round we took our bites and then went around the circle giving our answers. We did not douse our wings in the sauce but had to at least use a dollop the size of a roughly a nickel on each bite. Things were actually smoother than I expected until Da Bomb. Then all hell broke loose. After that subsided as much as it could; the final two wings felt better than expected.

Since Da Bomb killed off my remaining pain receptors, I was even more confident to go back through the sauces to get better tastes if I did not get much the first time through. The Los Calientes Barbacoa was dynamite and there was another with maple and salt that really roused my tongue.

Overall I absolutely loved the experience and I would 100 percent do it again. Next time, however, I’ll probably toss my sauces as it really did seem much easier to handle than I would have thought. I know I’m not THAT strong of a spicy food eater so I personally need to make sure I’m put through the ringer next time.