Category Archives: Interviews
Giants LT David Diehl – who I interviews last week – was on McDonald and Tierney’s show on ESPN Radio in NYC today.
Dave thought he might be ready to play last week vs Jacksonville, but his hammy would not allow. Maybe this week….
Tagged New York Giants Blogs |
I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with Giants Ring of Honor inductee and NFL Hall-of-Famer Frank Gifford Tuesday night in NYC…
Tagged Frank Gifford, New York Giants Blogs |
We were fortunate to talk to Giants safety Kenny Phillips who was promoting his new Reebok training footwear on Tuesday…
Part One
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Part Two
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Tagged New York Giants Audio, New York Giants Blogs |
Giants TE coach Mike Pope has been a respected tutor of tight ends in this league for decades. He is on his third generation of tight ends here with the Giants. His prior students include Pro Bowlers Mark Bavaro and Jeremy Shockey as well as Mr. Reliable – Howard Cross.
“He is the best tight ends coach in football,” Head Coach Tom Coughlin said. 
His top student right now is Kevin Boss, the talented, underused successor to Shockey who has been fighting through some injury issues the past year.
Pope was under the interview tent at the Indian Quad the other day discussing his newest class of students. He is a man who keeps a low profile and does not mince words. He seemed generally optimistic about the Giants’ TEs this year.
Q: How about the competition behind Kevin [Boss]?
A: We have three B’s and a BC. We have Boss. We’ve got Beckum and we’ve got this young kid from Ohio State (Jake Ballard) that we signed as a free agent. Then we have Bear Pascoe, who comes to us from another team. Then we have Chandler who was here a year ago. Went to Dallas and then came back to us. The kid, Jake, from Ohio State, studied some things in the spring. Unfortunately, because they’re on a different system, he wasn’t able to come for most of the minicamp, OTAs and stuff. But he caught up quickly. He’s a very bright kid. I’m very anxious. The fun part of this job for coaches that really enjoy coaching is to try to put the team together. To try to take the young guys and grow them. Some of them we don’t know very well at all. You can’t judge these guys without shoulder pads. We don’t know that much about some of them until we see these pads on them in a couple of days. It’s going to be fun to watch and challenging. No one around here is anywhere close to pleased with the way things finished. We absolutely have a rock in our shoe about this thing getting underway.
Tagged New York Giants News |
On the tar heels (see what I did there?) of the news that Hakeem Nicks has hyper-extended his knee, Giants fans are swiftly reminded of the main threat to their championship hopes year after year.
Injuries deteriorated a supposedly dream-team defense last season and dismantled a once formidable rushing attack. Aside from a minor injury to Nicks that caused him to miss a couple games during the cupcake portion of the season, the receiver corps was an oasis of production instead of another unit decimated by failing health.
So far, 2010 has not gotten off to the same start. By June, the team lost possibly the best reserve receiver (and undoubtedly one of the best return men) in the league when Domenik Hixon tore his ACL. Nicks may end up being fine after a couple weeks’ rest at most; but he may also be laid up long term. We won’t know until tomorrow.
Either way, it’s too early in camp to start filling the infirmary. The season ahead is long and a championship team on opening day may not be a championship team Divisional weekend when it’s forced to play with half of the original starters.
Enter Ramses Barden. Even if Nicks is given the OK to resume practicing before you finish reading this article, a healthy rotation of quality receivers will be needed all season long. The three pronged attack of Steve Smith, Mario Manningham, and Nicks stole the show in ’09. Since the Giants rarely venture to so much as a four receiver set, injury may be the only opening Barden and his fellow reserves have to see the field.
“I want to be heavily involved in the greenzone offense and also called upon when we need a big play or a first down.” said Barden in a recent interview with GFB. “And as my experience grows and the coaches continue to become more comfortable with me I definitely see myself filling a starting role.”
The reality of the situation is not everyone will be healthy every game and with Hixon no longer an option, Barden may just get the opportunity to start sooner than he had anticipated. Before that can happen, he’ll need to take a page out of a teammate’s book.
In 2008, it appeared that New York had squandered away a draft pick on a former Michigan star named Mario Manningham. His rookie year yielded merely 4 catches for 26 yards. 2009 saw Mario grab 57 receptions for 822 yards and 5 touchdowns. Do the math.
Barden has excelled on the pratice field but has yet to make plays in game situations.
Barden also had a wash out rookie season, seeing the field in only 3 games and hauling in only one pass for 16 yards. For optimistic fans, and clearly the organization, comparisons are inevitable.
“Mario made great improvements from his first to second year. It showed in practice, that’s where it always starts.” replied Barden when asked if he sees a similar sophomore break-out on the horizon. “I’ve had an entire year to learn and grow. I feel a lot more comfortable and I’m ready and excited to make a big impact when the season starts. Things are starting to feel natural and the game has started to slow down, the next step is just taking advantage of the opportunities as they come.”
If Nicks has to miss any significant amount of time, those opportunities are on their way. If Nicks is healthy, Barden can still make a much bigger impact as the fourth receiver. Unlike the three men ahead of him on the depth chart, Barden is over 6 feet tall. 6’6” in fact. Height like that is something the Giants have lacked at receiver since losing Plaxico Burress. Height like that undoubtedly played a major role in drafting Barden out of Cal Poly.
“Obviously I bring a very unique attribute to the team with my height.” said Barden. “However I believe once you look beyond the height you’ll see that I’m a complete receiver.”
“A complete receiver has dependable hands, great speed, crisp routes, great work ethic, and that special playmaking ability. I’ve got huge hands and I think I’ve shown I can catch consistently. My fellow receivers and DBs I’ve gone against will vouch for my speed. [insert chuckle] Now if we can only get the Madden game to get it right. Running better routes has been the focus of my game since I was drafted and I think its improved greatly and will continue to (improve) as I continue to work on it. I pride myself in my work ethic and making plays is what got me here and I’m excited to show I can be a premiere playmaking receiver at this level too.”
Is Madden’s rating system correct? We’ll find out sooner if not later. If this spring/summer is any indication, at some point this year a top receiver will be in sweat pants on the sidelines. Barden will be called upon to be a top three option. It’s only a matter of time.
NFL Notes-
- First, I would like to apologize for assuring the GFB/PFNYC community that Brett Favre would return. Actually, let me rephrase. I was GOING to apologize but this mistake is not mine. It is the Minnesota front office’s. If Favre’s retirement is legitimate (big if), than the Vikings deserve to go 0-16. How do you let yourselves be strung along by a player regardless of who he is (who he is by the way is a 41 year old man on a bum ankle). You have a championship contending roster at your disposal as long as a decent QB is at the helm. You clearly don’t have faith in your other two QBs yet you wait until August to find out if you have a capable player under center? Sorry Vikings fans, your team let you down.
-As for the news that Plaxico Burress may once again wear blue. I welcome the idea (understandably Barden may not). He’s got talent. He helped us win a Super Bowl. He is going to be humbled to the point that he can’t/won’t complain about a reduced role. There are those of you who will blast him for breaking the law or screwing up in his personal life. I never buy into that. Football is about football when all is said and done. How many Giants fans wouldn’t take a 25 year old LT back in a heartbeat? Exactly.
Tagged Brett Favre, Mario Manningham, New York Giants Blogs, New York Giants News, Plaxico Burress, Ramses Barden |
LB Michael Boley’s 2010 camp is a 180 degree difference from his 2009 camp. Last year, he was rehabbing from a hip ailment and facing a one-game league suspension.
Tagged New York Giants |
Recently we caught up with former Giants WR and special teamer Phil McConkey at a charity event in NYC. He was always a player that could get the team fired up. To this day, he is as animated and entertaining as ever…..
A lot of young guys with incredible potential. I think what you see out of Steve Smith, one of the best clutch guys in the league. They have Manningham on the outside and Nicks, he could be a beast. Ramses Barden, we haven’t even seen anything out of him
Phil Simms wishes he had some of those guys! (laughter) If Phil Simms had those guys he’d be off the charts setting records.
Tell us about getting traded to Green Bay and Bill Parcells getting you back.
Unbelievable. Forrest Gregg calls me in his office telling me they traded me back to the Giants. I about died. Parcells gets on the phone he says “those Packers drive a hard bargain. I had to throw in a couple of clip boards and a blocking dummy to get you back.” (laughter)
It wasn’t any great Knute Rockne speech. All I can remember him saying was ” fellas, I don’t mind losing but not that way.” Because we just didn’t play very well.
I think we were over-prepared. We were ready to play that game on Tuesday. That was our problem in the first half. Then we got our legs under us and we were OK in the end.
(Shaking his head) Nah, I was a role player. man, I was a special teams guy. I was a dirty work guy, go across the middle. You know I wasn’t a star, but you what? We had a team made up of the right guys.
Not everybody could be the greatest player of all time in Lawrence Taylor. Not everybody could be a Hall of Famer like Harry Carson. Or a Mark Bavaro or a Phil Simms or Joe Morris.
We had guys that played special teams. We had Maurice Carthon, we had Lee Rouson. We had these gritty guys. I consider myself one of the lunchpail guys. I was just an ancillary piece to the whole puzzle that fit together.
Ugh, the frustration yet elation of getting to a foot line and not scoring. But knowing we scored that pretty much clinched the game so that the gamut of emotions or the mix of emotions I had were incredible. And then when I got it off the tip, man, it was incredible. I was delirious. I was out of my mind at that point.
Tagged New York Giants, Phil McConkey |
Giants’ TE Boss Will Be Ready For Training Camp
Giants TE Kevin Boss was at Mini-Camp last week but could not participate in drills. Boss recently had bone spurs and bone chips removed from his ankle and should be ready to go by training camp in August.
He was out on the field, listening in on huddles and taking in the entire experience as if he were playing. He’s a dedicated guy and an excellent team player. 
His decision to have ankle surgery this off season was the right one. Last year, he was hobbled early on and was not the same player. His rehab was first listed at 4-6 weeks but Boss seems to be ahead of schedule at this point.
Last season, Boss had 42 receptions for 567 yards and 5 TDs – his best season as a pro. This year, he looks to improve on those numbers as well as his 13.5 YPC and his 5.8 YAC.
I was able speak with Kevin, after missing him at an event in Manhattan last month. I did, however speak with another Giant TE by the name of Mark Bavaro, who is a big fan of Boss’ ability.
JF: Mark Bavaro says that you are closest TE to his style the Giants have had in awhile. He is very high on your ability.
KB: That’s quite a complement
JF: Yes, it is. He also believes the Giants should be trying to get the ball into your hands more often.
KB: I wouldn’t be against it.
JF: I’m sure you wouldn’t. Have they discussed that with you at all?
KB: Every year I hope my numbers can increase .. it has so far ..every competitor,receiver or tight end wants to get the ball as much as possible so, I need to work hard, try to get open and the ball comes my way I need to make a play on it.
JF: Have they talked about increasing your role from last year into this year, or the TEs in general?
Rich Seubert (stopping by to have Boss sign a helmet): Tight end is a very easy position to play. You block the guy, you catch the football and you run.
KB: It’s actually the hardest.
Seubert: I played it in college, I know…(leaves)
KB: Sorry about that…where were we again…?
JF: Have they taiked about expanding your role….you being paired with another tight end, one blocking and maybe you split out as a receiver?
KB: I want to be able to do both. I want to be as equally as important in the pass game and the run game. I want to have the confidence of the coaches that they can run my side.
JF: When they talk about Yards After catch for receivers. You seem to have a knack for that. There was a play where you actually jumped over an opponent. Most TEs catch the ball and look for contact, you seem to be looking upfield .
KB I want to make the most out of every opportunity. I don’t get the ball a whole lot, so when I get the ball, I want to be able to make a play with it and a help the team out, get as many yards as I can.
JF: Thanks, Kevin. Good luck this season.
KB: Thanks, John.
Tagged Giants Training Camp, Kevin Boss, New York Giants, New York Giants News |
RB Andre Brown Is Ready To Fulfill Promise
At this year’s draft, there was a buzz that the Giants were going to take a running back high in the draft. C.J. Spiller of Clemson was a very tempting target and the rumors were that the Giants had coveted the speedster.
Those rumors may have been true, for all we know, but Spiller was long gone by the time the Giants were ready to make their first selection. They ended up not taking any running backs at all.
There are two theories behind that. The first is the fact that the RB pool in the draft this year was very shallow. The other is that the Giants were waiting to see how well second-year RB Andre Brown had progressed from Achilles’ surgery.
Brown blew out his Achilles’ in the last practice before the first pre-season game last summer. He’s never played in a game for the Giants. Outside of the TIMEX Center, very few people have ever seen him run, or even know that he exists.
That is all about to change for this humble 23-year-old from Greenville, North Carolina. This week at Giants’ mini-camp, it was hard not to notice #22.
Giants’ coach Tom Coughlin, always cautiously optimistic, says that Brown is doing better but by the tone of his voice he sounded like a man who has to see some more before he makes his final decision.
Coughlin did admit that Brown “runs with power” and “catches the ball well” out of the backfield. which was something the Giants have been working on during this mini-camp.
Since Brown hasn’t ever worn a Giants’ uniform in anger, he calls himself a “super rookie” because much of this process here is still new to him.
In an interview after practice yesterday, Brown was very candid with reporters about his injury and the disappointment of missing his rookie season. Brown suffered a rare injury for football players – a torn Achilles tendon – and his rehab was a lonely one with few players to commiserate with.
He said there weren’t any running backs any of the the trainers could recall that ruptured their Achilles’. There were some defensive players, but most of them were well into their careers when they got hurt.
By his actions, he’s seems to have studied and rehabbed very well. He looked like Terrell Davis on some plays, Adrian Peterson on others. No lie.
Even though Brown is still conscious of his injury, and admitted he was sore after the double-practice on Tuesday, he looked fine yesterday and claimed he’s not thinking about making cuts anymore. He just doing it.
Brown is currently fourth on the Giants’ depth chart at RB. He was asked if he thought there was a need for -and a role for – a third running back. He wouldn’t know the answer to that since he wasn’t here when Derrick Ward filled the role of change-up back / receiver.
“I think there is,” he said, “But I just want to get out there and hit somebody. Special teams, whatever. I don’t care where I’m at as long as I’m helping the team.” 
Brown is working on special teams as a kick returner. He may be tried out as a punt returner now that Domenik Hixon is gone for the season, but his name did not come up as an immediate candidate for that in Jerry Reese’s press session yesterday.
As for the third back in the offense, it’s Brown vs D.J. Ware, who also saw a lot of reps this week. Brown has the better upside and if he continues to build on his strong spring, it may be hard to keep the ball out of his hands this season.
Tagged Andre Brown, Giants Mini-Camp, New York Giants, New York Giants News |
Giants’ OLBs Looking For Fresh Start in 2010
Michael Boley came into Giants’ camp last season with high hopes. He had just signed a five-year, $25 million free agent deal to help bolster the Giants’ shallow LB crew.
But things didn’t shake out well for Boley once he became a Giant. Last June, he had to have surgery to repair a torn labrum in his hip, which kept him off the field all summer. Then he was suspended for the first game of the season by the NFL for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.
Early in the season, Boley injured his knee, causing him to miss four more games. In the 11 games he did play, he had 84 tackles, but on that decimated Giants’ defense his efforts were hardly noticed.
This year, Boley is a bit more prepared for the challenge of being a Giant linebacker. He has no issues with the league and he is fairly healthy, although he did sit out yesterday’s OTA with a sore hamstring.
In a session with reporters, he seemed upbeat and generally happy to be the focus of some positive attention, for once, even though injury talk was the first topic.
“It’s never fun to sit out, but I’d rather be cautious than crazy about it . Just want to take it slow, make sure everything’s covered.” When asked if his hamstring would keep him out of next week’s mini camp he said, “No, not really.”
Q. – This is when your hip started to bother you last year..
‘It bothered me last year at the beginning of OTAs last year. I tried to fight through it but it didn’t turn out too good.”
Q- What have you been doing and how will mini-camp be different?
“What we’ve been doing so far is red zone, green zone. Mini camp is going to bring everything together.”
Q – About the linebackers….since he is the only returning starter…how are things progressing?
“Pretty good. I’ve been pretty impressed with the progress we’ve made since day one. Its a learning process not only for us but for coaches. They kind of have to get a feel for us and how we all play together.”
Q- How do you fee about practicing in the new stadium?
“I think it will be fun. For us, it’s just practice. I’m sure there will be a lot of fans there but that’s not something we’re going to worry about. The stadium is pretty impressive. That’s to say the least. Its an unbelievable stadium and I’m glad we got it.”
Clint Sintim is going through similar circumstances. As a rookie last season, he missed a huge chunk of time battling through a groin injury. His staple strength is as a pass rusher but the Giants are molding him into an NFL SAM linebacker. The learning curve for Sintim has been a continuous one.
Sintim has stated that he will have a breakout season in 2010. Going back to his collegiate career at Virginia, he has had a different defensive coordinator every year. He hopes that Perry Fewell will be the one that helps him reach his potential.
Q- Last year…I don’t want to say you’re were an afterthought, but you didn’t get that much…
“I got expectations upon me now. People expect me to do things. They expect me to be a player. And that’s fine. I look at it as a great opportunity and a blessing, so I’m going to take the best advice I can from the older guys and make the best of this opportunity. Right now that’s what I’m trying to do.”
Q- Did Perry come up to you and say “we need you for this particular role?
“Not exactly, but when he got here I was already up here and I stopped by his office. I had actually met him prior to this through the recruiting process coming out of college so I knew who he was the the kind of system So, I came in to talk to him, asked him what he was trying to do and told him what I was trying to do and told him what my commitment was and we had a little bit of a discussion.”
“Ever since then its a bout me just proving myself. I know what I’m going to get out of him right now and he needs to know what he’s going to get out of me. He needs to trust me just like I need to trust him. So that’s what I’m trying to get done.”
Q – How’s the feedback going?
“Good and bad (smiles) That’s fine with me that’s why we practice. You practice to get better. More importantly for me the last few days have been more good than bad . That’s a plus for me.”
Q- Going into mini-camp, what are you’re goals?
“I just want to get better every day. Every day better than the last. Then at camp better day than last, then the season better game than last. I just want to continue to progress. I’m not dwelling too much on bad practices. I’ll just watch the tape, make corrections and try not to do it again.”
Knowing that these two are grounded and healthy should help the worriers ease their fears….
Tagged Clint Sintim, Michael Boley, New York Giants, New York Giants News | ← Older posts
