Tag Archives: Roster Notes
Now that the Giants’ off-season conditioning program is over, it’s now time for the team to kick off their OTA program tomorrow.
For those who don’t know, the OTAs (Organized Team Activities) is the first chance for the rookies and veterans to get together and begin learning the fundamentals that they’ll work on during the mini camp and then training camp.
For those curious, the media access days are June 1, June 5, and June 9. The OTAs end on June 12 and are followed by the three-day, mandatory mini camp (to which the press gets full access).
Don’t forget to let me know what players you’re interested in hearing about. Your feedback will help me plan my blog entries and my “Tweets” accordingly.
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Speaking of your feedback, I’m looking for your memories of Giants Stadium. As you probably know, the building is set to close its doors forever after the 2009 season concludes (though hopefully the Giants will still be playing in January 2010.)
I’m going to be running a chronological list of my memories (both professional and personal) from the place starting the week after the veteran mini camp and leading up to the start of training camp. I have begun reading some of the submissions that have come in from the fans and I’m really enjoying the different stories people have been sharing. I hope you’ll consider sharing your stories with me as well.
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I posted a new edition of Letters to the Editor in my blog earlier this evening, and one letter in particular inspired me to do some further research on the current Giants roster. I’m currently developing an article about it, so I don’t want to say too much about what I’m writing, but I will share a couple of interesting facts that came from my research.
As of this writing, the average age of the Giants’ roster is 25.5 years old. That number will probably go up slightly once the free agent hopefuls are cut throughout the summer, but let’s say for argument’s sake the average age goes up one full year. That’s still a great average age for a football team because it means that most of the guys have at least four years of experience, which is around the time most players come into their own as far as making contributions.
Here’s even more good news. Of the 11 players currently on the roster who will be 30+ by the start of training camp, their average age comes out to 32, which means they’re still young enough to make at least another 2-3 years of contributions while the youth behind them develop. THAT is how you plan your football team, folks.
Further, if you look at the talent on paper, the Giants are loaded. I know you don’t award the Vince Lombardi Trophy in May, but unless massive injuries wipe out the depth on this team, I can’t see any reason why come January 2010 they’re not still playing ball.
Want another statistic to help you over hump day? This is a team that in four years under head coach Tom Coughlin has made the playoffs four times and has won two NFC East Division titles, one NFC Conference Championship, and one Super Bowl. That’s impressive!
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Last but not least, I received a very cool e-mail earlier today advising me that the book I edited on behalf of Inside Football, “Giant Journey: The Story of the New York Giants’ Road to Super Bowl XLII” is now available on Amazon.com! The book, which is a compilation of articles, tells the story of the Giants’ rise to Super Bowl XLII Champions.
Tagged Giants Stadium, Roster Notes |
