Tag Archives: Antonio Pierce
According to Newsday’s Bob Glauber, Antonio Pierce was less than impressed with the Giants when he visited camp last week. Most notably, he sensed a lack of energy.
“I didn’t get that training camp energy that I like from when I played and from being around training camps,” Pierce said. “I’m talking about the energy of ‘let’s go out and do this.’ Coach Coughlin talked about the steely-eyed focus. I didn’t feel that. There was just something missing.”
“The first day in pads, there should have been some screaming, guys getting after it. You’ve been away from the team for nine months, your season ended in December, you’ve been sitting around, no OTAs, no minicamps. Guys are fresh. I know it’s only one practice, but still . . . “
Pierce had a message for his former team.
“You should be [angry] that the Eagles are proclaiming themselves to be the Super Bowl champions. The Jets are now the baddest team in New York. If I was on that [Giants] team, I would be [angry]. Our hair would be on fire. It would be a different atmosphere. I thought I’d see more smoke coming out of their ears and off the top of their heads.”
“I don’t think it’s the most talented team that’s been there the last six or seven years, but they have to make up their minds that this is going to be a successful season. It starts with the top guys and the head [coach]. He has to make those guys believe and feel like they’re going to be winners, because right now, for the first time in a long time, nobody’s talking about the Giants. They’re not talking about them because they don’t think they’re going to have an impact on the season. That’s why I expected to feel a certain buzz in the air. I didn’t really get that.”
Tagged Antonio Pierce, New York Giants, New York Giants Preseason |
Antonio Pierce, now working for ESPN, usually has plenty to say. After visiting Timex on Wednesday night, the former Giant weighed in today on the ongoing Osi Umenyiora saga.
“I don’t see it getting any prettier,” Pierce said per ESPN New York’s Ohm Youngmisuk. “Obviously this is a situation where Osi, he’s had enough of the New York Giants and everything that has been going on with these contracts and trades. I think it is just time for Osi to get a fresh start. You could sense yesterday that there was some frustration amongst a lot of people in that organization.
“This thing hasn’t been resolved yet,” Pierce added. “Osi wants to play ball and he wants to be paid to play ball at a very high price. I don’t think the Giants are going to give him that deal that he wants. And to me it would be in the best interest of everybody, you got an unhappy player in that organization in this time, in that Giants franchise, that they need to move forward with that and maybe let Osi go.”
Pierce said the situation will only get worse if the Giants don’t trade Umenyiora.
“Because you know why?” he said. “It’s in New York. The media is going to pound on these guys every day. Coach Coughlin is going to have to answer these questions every day. Justin Tuck, Eli Manning, Osi himself, they are going to answer this question every day until it is resolved.”
Tagged Antonio Pierce, New York Giants, Osi Umenyiora |
2007 was a defining year for the New York Giants. They came away from the NFL Draft with eight players, all of whom would make the team and contribute to the Super Bowl run later that season.
Giants CB Aaron Ross
But in reviewing that draft here in 2011, I can’t help but catching myself on the glaring error the Giants may have made in the first round.
At the time, the Giants had Antonio Pierce at MLB and were not looking to daft an heir apparent to him. In retrospect, maybe they should have. At the time, though, it may not have been wise.
Pierce was signed to a five-year, $26 million dollar deal that would make him a Giant through 2009. He played well for the Giants, and fans have no regrets over his Giant career other than it was cut short by a neck injury.
That does not change the fact that they passed on Miami LB Jon Beason with the 20th pick to take Texas CB Aaron Ross in Round One. (Beason was taken five slots later by Carolina).
Tagged Aaron Ross, Antonio Pierce, Brian Urlacher, Corey Webster, Jon Beason, New York Giants, New York Giants Blogs, Patrick Willis, Terrell Thomas |
Former Giant Linebacker Is Now TV Analyst
Tagged Antonio Pierce, New York Giants, New York Giants Video |
Defense Aware Of What Is At Stake in 2010
After a disappointing end to a promising 5-0 start last year, and an epic collapse in the final month of the 2008 season, the Giants recognized that changes needed to be made; one of which lead to the release of former Giants’ linebacker 
Antonio Pierce.
Although Pierce may have exited the New York spotlight, that didn’t stop him from grabbing some of its headlines this off-season when he publicly stated both player and coaching personnel within the Giants organization were on “high alert”; the fascinating part about all of this is that he is not alone.
“I think he’s right on key with that,” Giants defensive back Terrell Thomas said. “The last two years have been very disappointing, coming off a Super Bowl win, coming back with a 12-win season, and losing in playoffs early on, and then coming back the following year going 5-0, and then pretty much going on a roller coaster ride ever since then, its been up and down since then. We have to find a way to overcome that.”
Thomas was not the only Giant who could relate to the comments Pierce made, however, according to Giants defensive end Justin Tuck, the words high alert don’t mean much to him.
“I’m not on high alert, not at all, said Tuck. I have nothing to be on high alert about, but I understand where he is coming from. We didn’t have, by our standards, a successful year last year. There are 16 other teams in the NFL that would have loved an 8-8 year, but you know for us that is unacceptable.”
The Giants have already experienced quite the personnel shakeup with a new defensive line coach and coordinator, roster additions such as Antrel Rolle, and a draft filled with rookies who will undoubtedly be competing for playing time.
With that said, if New York experiences another disappointing season, Giants co-owner John Mara has certainly shown he is not afraid to make any necessary changes he sees fit.
Tagged Antonio Pierce, Antrel Rolle, Giants Defense, Justin Tuck, New York Giants, New York Giants News, Terrell Thomas |
Brother of Kiwanuka Hurt in Cycle Accident
The older brother of Giants’ DE Mathias Kiwanuka is in critical condition this morning. Benedict Kiwanuka, 32, was thrown from his mortorcycle after colliding with a car on an Indianapolis street yesterday.
According to FOX News……
Mathias, 27, riding alongside his brother, was not seriously hurt, according to reports.
The player’s agent sent a text message to NJ.com that said, “his client ‘said he is okay but his brother is not. … He is worried about his brother.’”
The television report said, “Investigators said they were told by witnesses that the brothers were speeding prior to the crash.”
A police spokesman told the Indianapolis Star , “Benedict was not wearing a helmet. … A helmet was found at the scene, but police think it was buckled to the seat.”
Television station WTHR said Mathias “did not hit the car and pulled over to help.” The driver of the car had minor injuries.
Kiwanuka, drafted by the Giants in 2006, is an Indianapolis native.
Pierce: “Everyone is on the hot seat…”
In an interview on the NFL Network , former Giant defensive captain Antonio Pierce made a few statements about many current Giants coaches and players’ job stability. 
“When you talk about a team three years removed from the Super Bowl, to a team that the year after the Super Bowl was the No. 1 seed in the NFC East, then to a team that was 8-8 and out (of) the playoffs, there’s some fires lit underneath some people’s butts now in that locker room and in that organization……You’ve got an owner that spoke out very vocal and verbally to the rest of the team and to the media, showing that he was displeased by what was going on…”
He’s not wrong….
Jacobs Looking Forward to a Big Season
RB Brandon Jacobs played most of last season with a sore knee, which seriously diminished his capacity to be the Giants’ battering ram on offense. All three of the other main backs – Ahmad Bradshaw, DJ Ware and Andre Brown – were also injured and missed time.
This year promises to be different says Jacobs…
“We have a lot of talent from the first to the fourth guy….the coaches know what we can do when we’re healthy. They know what went down with us last year and are just giving us another opportunity to get out and prove that we can play at the level we know we can play.”
Tagged Antonio Pierce, Brandon Jacobs, Mathias Kiwanuka, New York Giants, New York Giants News |
The news today that the Giants parted ways with MLB and defensive captain Antonio Pierce should come as no surprise to anyone.
Pierce’s neck injury is possibly a career-ending one, depending on who you talk to. With one year to go on his contract, it was a 50-50 chance that he could play this year anyhow.
Questions about Pierce’s range arose last season only to be pooh-poohed by the Giant coaches, but it was apparent that “AP” was slowing up. The Giants also could not have been pleased with Pierce’s role in the Plaxico affair, which makes this move less stinging.
That being said, this was expected especially when you see potential depth charts drawn up by pundits that did not have Pierce on them.
Tagged Antonio Pierce |
New York Giant DT Fred Robbins had a new post on his blog FredRobbins98.com today.
In it, Fred talks about his training camp prep for what is now less than a month away.
“It’s important to be in the right state of mind mentally. Before training camp you want to spend a lot of time with your family and friends because once training camp starts that’s all over for a while. Just try to do your day to day activities, some of your hobbies, prepare yourself and get your mind prepared,” said Robbins of his time leading up to training camp.
To read the rest of his blog post, and other posts, go to FredRobbins98.com.
And if your a twitterhead, here’s a list of all the Giant players you can follow.
Michael Johnson
Michael Matthews
Danny Clark
Sinorice Moss
Danny Ware(also has a blog at DannyWare28.com)
Tagged Antonio Pierce, Danny Ware, David Diehl, Kevin Boss, Kevin Dockery, Sinorice Moss, Steve Smith |
