Giant Football Blog

Harry Hall-bent on Fame protest

Harry Carson, an all-time great Giant, plans to stage an unprecedented protest if this is the year he makes it from finalist to enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He insists he will be a no-show in Canton for the Aug. 7 induction.

It will be humiliating for the Hall of Fame and subject Carson to ridicule. But he's not backing down. He's faced enough rejection from the Hall and is prepared to dish it right back. His bronze bust might be in Canton, but not him. He received the overnight letter last week from Canton informing him he's made it to the final 15. It's the sixth year in a row. Continue

Lewis in 49ers' sights

Giants defensive coordinator Tim Lewis is turning into a very hot offseason commodity. He's already interviewed for two college jobs, and now he's on the San Francisco 49ers' short list, too. Lewis will interview for the 49ers' head coaching job tomorrow, just four days after he interviewed for the Syracuse University job. He also interviewed at the University of Pittsburgh, though Pitt eventually hired Dave Wannstedt.

The 49ers called the Giants late last week to ask for permission to speak to Lewis, which Giants GM Ernie Accorsi quickly granted. It is not clear where the 43-year-old Lewis falls on the 49ers' list, but he appeared to be a leading candidate for the Syracuse job, until they reportedly hired University of Texas defensive coordinator Greg Robinson last night. Sources close to Lewis say his preference is to be an NFL head coach - he interviewed for the Atlanta Falcons' job last season - but would take a college job if nothing else was offered. Continue

Mann who changed it all

No one really knows what was going through Tom Coughlin's mind on the plane ride back from Phoenix on Nov. 14, but it's a good bet that he spent most of the five-hour flight thinking about the biggest decision he would make in his 10 months with the Giants. His team had lost two straight games, but they were still 5-4 and very much in the thick of an unexpected playoff race.

The next morning, he would hand the ball to a 23-year-old rookie quarterback who had played exactly one minute and 59 seconds in the NFL.The biggest decision of the Giants' season was a controversial one that probably will benefit Manning and the Giants in the future, but likely cost them a shot at the this year's playoffs. The quarterback switch was supposedly made because Coughlin thought the Giants' chances were better with Manning than with struggling veteran Kurt Warner. But Manning struggled even more and the Giants lost his first six games. Continue

Jints start quickly in '05 rebuilding

The season's over, but the Giants are already making plans for their mini-camps and next summer's training camp. The team signed nine players this week, adding depth to the roster and competition for jobs.

Four players who ended the season on the practice squad were signed: WRs Jason Geathers of Miami and Michael Jennings of Florida State, DE Claude Harriott of Pittsburgh and DB Art Thomas of Virginia.

Also signed were WR Ataveus Cash of Hampton, who was with the Giants in training camp last summer, Tony Johnson of Penn State, kicker David Kimball (a seventh-round draft pick of the Colts last year) and CB Lamont Brightful, a return specialist from Eastern Washington. Continue

Orange has crush on Lewis

Giants defensive coordinator Tim Lewis is a candidate for the head coaching job at Syracuse University, and will probably interview with school officials next week.

Daryl Gross, Syracuse's new athletic director, called Giants GM Ernie Accorsi on Thursday and formally asked permission to speak to Lewis. A few days earlier, a search firm representing Syracuse made contact and let the Giants know Lewis was on SU's list.

The Giants granted permission for Lewis to interview for the job, even though they would prefer not to lose him. Beginning today, all the Giants' coaches have a week-long vacation, which gives the 43-year-old Lewis plenty of time to meet with Gross. Continue

Giants Free Agents 2005

Unrestricted free agents

K Steve Christie
RB Mike Cloud
RB Ron Dayne
T Ed Ellis
FB Jim Finn
DL Lance Legree
QB Jessie Palmer
TE Marcellus Rivers
DE Regan Upshaw
QB Kurt Warner
DE Chuck Wiley
T Brandon Winey

Restricted free agents
S Jack Brewer
LB Nick Griesen

Big Blue holes to fill

When GM Ernie Accorsi surveyed the damage of the Giants' 6-10 season, he did not see the disaster that he saw a year ago. He didn't see a reason to fire his coach, change the quarterback or turn over half the roster. He didn't see the "franchise in trouble" that John Mara saw at the end of 2003.

"A year ago, I don't think we were close to anything," Accorsi said. "There were no indications in any of the games down the stretch last year that in any way were similar to the last three weeks (of this season). We have a lot of good young players to build around, and I think most of us felt, even before (Sunday) night, pretty optimistic. I think that the players feel fairly optimistic about next year." Continue

Jim Fassel to coach 49ers?

Jim Fassel is a lock to interview for the 49ers head coaching job. Fassel is an offensive minded coach who took his team to a Super Bowl. He is also considered a QB guru. He would be in a position to groom Matt Leinart, the likely number one draft pick from USC. Stay tuned.

Time for Coughlin to be less of a tyrant

T IS not inconceivable and even likely that at this time a year from now, the Giants will be prepping for a playoff game and not scattered for the offseason. Much needs to happen to get from here to there. Most of all, the trust factor between players and Tom Coughlin must improve.

With money to spend, the Giants will be active and successful in free agency. They have an enticing group of young players and a budding star in Eli Manning. The holes they have can be filled. But none of this will matter much unless Coughlin becomes more a coach and less a commander. Continue

Patriarch wants results

Not 12 hours earlier, the Giants enjoyed a raucous celebration in the same locker room. But now Wellington Mara stood near the showers and offered a jolt of reality with characteristic bluntness.

Asked yesterday if there is anything about the 2004 season he is happy about, the 88-year-old co-owner said, "I'm happy it's over."

It was typical Mara, who always is sensitive to his team's demanding but loyal fans and who knows 10 victories over two seasons is not what they have in mind. Continue

The education of Eli

His rookie orientation complete at last, Eli Manning looked back yesterday at an eventful season in a phone interview from his Hoboken, N.J., apartment with Newsday's Neil Best. Seventh and last in an occasional series.

What is the single most important thing you learned since April?

I'd say just how to prepare for a game, what it takes to be successful and how much you to have to put into it.

What teammate did you learn the most from?

Probably Kurt [Warner]. We spent time watching film together, and I asked him questions about our offense and about defenses, just continued to learn from him about coverages, fronts. He knows the game. He has obviously been around to where he sees things quicker than what I see. Continue

Glass half full

If you didn't know any better, the sights and sounds filtering out of the Giants locker room yesterday morning could have been the reflections of a team leaving behind a successful season. Optimism. Encouraging signs. Strong sentiment about the future. It was as if the one victory they attained in the regular-season finale, which snapped a reprehensible eight-game losing streak, wiped away much of the debris from the 2004 wreckage.

Leave it to a wizened and inside observer to make the most salient point about the fact the Giants followed up a 4-12 year for Jim Fassel with a 6-10 showing in Tom Coughlin's first season as head coach. I'm very concerned, I'll tell you that," co-owner Wellington Mara said. "But what can we do? I don't know. Get better players, I guess." Continue

Luke: new tackle had better be good

Of all the moves the Giants can make for next season, signing a marquee left tackle would likely make the biggest impact, unless they break with tradition and land a star receiver such as Plaxico Burress. The incumbent left tackle, Luke Petitgout, sees the logic in this, within reason. "Unless you get a Walter Jones or an Orlando Pace, somebody like that, you might as well just keep me at left," Petitgout said yesterday as the Giants cleaned out their lockers following a 6-10 season. Both Jones (Seahawks) and Pace (Rams) might become unrestricted free agents unless their teams re-sign or slap franchise tags on them.

Both will cost huge bucks but either would instantly solidify an offensive line that bore the brunt of the criticism for the team's struggles. Petitgout played right tackle in 2000 and 2001 and said moving back wouldn't be a problem. "If they can find a better left tackle, then I'll move," Petitgout said, "but they're not going to just go out on the street and pick somebody up and say, 'Play left tackle.' It's not like left tackles fall off trees." Continue

Happy ending for Giants

Wellington Mara was proud of the way his undermanned Giants beat the Dallas Cowboys Sunday night. He said it made a bad season seem "not as bad" and gave him "hope for the future." If nothing else, it certainly seemed to lighten the mood in a locker room that has been overly tense for months.

Yet when Mara was asked to list the good things about the 2004 season, the things that made him happy when he looked back, the 88-year-old co-owner only mentioned one. "I'm happy it's over," Mara said. Continue

Manning passes final test

Ernie Accorsi insists he never needed the confirmation. That he didn't require Eli Manning's last three games, in general, or Sunday night's game-winning drive, in particular, to justify his belief in the signature move of his seven-year tenure as Giants GM.

But plenty of other people did. Including several inside the locker room who now go forward far more convinced of what Accorsi says he never doubted: that Manning is the quarterback who can lead the Giants back to the top. Continue

Ike realizes there's a catch to Giant career

Ike Hilliard made it through a full season relatively intact for just the third time in his eight-year career. And he realizes that might have been the last chance he will have to do that with the Giants.

Hilliard's future with the team is definitely in doubt and he could become a salary cap casualty before the free-agent signing period begins March 2. He's coming off the least productive season of his career, is due a $750,000 roster bonus in mid-March, and plays a position where the Giants may want to get younger and faster. Continue

Eli & backups like quarterbacks passing in night

At 11:29 p.m., Sunday, not a minute too soon, Eli Manning made the right decision with a football and the Giants' annual eight-game losing streak was over. And the rookie quarterback made the substantial leap from looking pretty darn good the last few weeks to actually winning a game.

A dozen hours later, the players were packing, saying their goodbyes, retiring the cliches of a 6-10 season. And we were being assured that next year, which is only nine months into this year, the quarterback will continue to win. The glorious dream: He'll win for another 10, 12, 15 glorious years. Win a Super Bowl ring for every finger and another for his eyebrow. (Left or right, an ESPN poll will decide.) Continue

Will Tom turn free agents off?

The Giants need help, and one way to get it is by luring veteran free agents. One of the most important questions of the offseason is how coach Tom Coughlin's reputation will affect that pursuit. The concern is that the impatience of some of his current players with his assorted rules, or with his stern demeanor in general, will turn off their colleagues around the league.

Take what left tackle Luke Petitgout, 28, said yesterday: "It gets tedious. You're a grown man. It's like a parent yapping at you all the time.'' Not exactly a ringing endorsement. But Petitgout added that he does not believe Coughlin will deter free agents. "The most important reason guys go to a team is money," he said. "I think that supersedes anything else." Continue

Record forgotten with game on line

Did Tom Coughlin or Tiki Barber know how close Barber was to Joe Morris' team rushing record before the Giants' final play Sunday night? No. Coughlin had someone keeping track of Barber's pursuit during the game.

But during the frantic final minute, the record was the last thing on their minds, even as TV viewers heard Barber needed two yards as he set up for a first-and-goal at the 3. The touchdown run on the season's final offensive play capped Barber's extraordinary year and was set up by Eli Manning's smart audible. It was the latest the Giants have come from behind to win a non-overtime game since 1953. Continue

Giants go out with Big bang

In a season filled with things the Giants would rather not remember, they finally had a moment they will never forget.

On the Giants' final play of the season, with just 11 seconds remaining, Tiki Barber rushed his way into the record books at the same time that he carried the Giants to their first win since Halloween. He powered his way for three yards up the middle and into the end zone for a game-winning touchdown that gave the Giants a dramatic 28-24 win over the Dallas Cowboys. And in the process he broke the franchise single-season rushing record by a single yard. Continue

One-two punch

They were headed nowhere but home. The Giants knew that, but with 16 seconds left in a game they were losing 24-21, their final destination didn't matter. They needed to end up in the end zone to salvage something from this lost season and to grasp what's been so difficult for them to achieve, the Giants relied on Eli Manning's head and Tiki Barber's legs.

At long last, they broke through with a victory last night, in the process allowing Barber to break a storied franchise record and giving the best evidence yet that Manning will be the star quarterback they need him to be.

Manning's savvy and Barber's skill combined on the decisive play, with the rookie calling an audible on the line of scrimmage and Barber gliding in on a 3-yard touchdown run, nearly untouched, for the game-winning points with 11 seconds left, giving the Giants a 28-24 victory over the Cowboys to end an eight-game losing streak and create something positive to carry into the offseason. Continue

Thin blue line in finale

he Giants last night entered their final game of the season against the Cowboys without the required number of bodies they're allowed to have in uniform. Yes, they fielded a team. No, it was far from a complete team. But it was enough to gain a 28-24 victory to snap an eight-game losing streak.

How dire was the health situation last night for the Giants? They had only 43 available players instead of the standard 46. Two players with virtually no NFL experience, Davern Williams and Damane Duckett, started at defensive tackle. Needless to say, it was the first career start for both youngsters. Fred Robbins was forced to start at defensive end, as Lance Legree was still ailing with a strained thigh and did not play. Continue

Ernie must arm QB with help

One dramatic last-second victory may have salvaged some pride for the Giants, but it hardly salvaged the season. It did allow Tom Coughlin to smile after a game for the first time in two months and prevent the Giants from going into the offseason with a franchise-tying nine-game losing streak.

"It was very important for our players," Coughlin said. "We haven't had that taste in a long time. It's a great feeling and great taste." There was huge relief in the locker room - this might have been the happiest 6-10 team in NFL history. They desperately needed a victory. It was their first since Halloween as this season that wouldn't end finally did. Continue

1 night, 2 marks for Tiki

It's not often two record-breaking efforts by one player in a single night are overshadowed by the game's outcome. But that's how desperate times had become for the Giants as they entered last night's game against the Cowboys.

Tiki Barber broke Joe Morris' single-season franchise rushing record on the final play of the evening when he scampered for a game-winning, three-yard score. Earlier Barber passed Rodney Hampton as the team's all-time leading rusher. Continue

Tyree's debut at WR special

s if the Giants weren't hampered by enough injuries this season, Eli Manning was forced to go into last night's game without his top two receivers. But no Amani Toomer and no Jeremy Shockey turned out to be no problem for the Giants, thanks to an impressive performance by special teams ace David Tyree.

Tyree, who had three catches all season, started in place of Toomer and caught seven passes for 71 yards. He also caught a touchdown pass - the first by a receiver since Tim Carter caught one in Week 2, and one more than Toomer and Ike Hilliard all season long. Continue

Best part is that it's finally over

The best thing the Giants can say about the 2004 season - besides thank God for Tiki Barber - is it's finally, mercifully over. No more nasty speculation about whether coach Tom Coughlin has or hasn't lost the team. No more Giants' injury list that kept growing longer by the week. No more incessant rehashes of how the Giants started this season 5-2 and went into a death spiral so irreversible, it didn't matter - not really - that rookie quarterback Eli Manning finally got his first win as a pro last night, or that the Giants snapped their eight-game losing streak and finished with a 6-10 record.

No matter what the Giants did against the visiting Dallas Cowboys or said afterward, there will be no carry-over from last night into 2005. Despite changing quarterbacks and head coaches this past offseason - the two most important positions on the team - the Giants again face an offseason that will be full of foment. Last night's 28-24 win was a nice little wave goodbye but it settled nothing, and foreshadowed little beyond what we already knew. Continue

At last second, joy

At the time, Tiki Barber dismissed it as a somewhat corny rallying cry, one he barely considered during the game. "Are you ready for a storybook ending tonight?" center Shaun O'Hara said before the Giants faced the Cowboys last night at Giants Stadium in the NFL's regular-season finale.

Several hours later, Barber showed that he was. "It actually happened," he said, marveling at O'Hara's foresight. Said O'Hara: "I had no idea he was going to play it out like he did." It played out with Barber rushing up the middle for a 3-yard touchdown with 11 seconds remaining to give the Giants a 28-24 victory. It also gave a beleaguered team a positive sendoff into the offseason. Continue

Giants' last licks

No one needs to remind the Giants how long and miserable an offseason can be. They remember what it was like last year when they had to spend eight months pondering an eight-game slide. For an entire winter and spring they had no good memories to lean back on, no recent wins to remember, and very little reason for hope.

They don't have much to savor heading into this offseason, either. But that could change tonight, when they face the Dallas Cowboys, if they can find a way to pull off just one little win. "We just want to get that feeling back," said rookie quarterback Eli Manning. "We want to end the season on a good note, to go into the offseason after playing a good game and getting a win." Continue

Last from the past

The Giants tonight can match a team record for futility that they want no part of, a record 30 years in the making that no one associated with the team wants to achieve.

There's been no talk about this, for good reason. If the Giants lose to the Cowboys in the finale at Giants Stadium, it will close out a 5-11 season. Coupled with last year's 4-12 record, it would give the Giants a two-year loss total of 23. The only other time in the 80-year history of the franchise the Giants lost as many games over a two-year span was 1973-74, when they went 2-11-1 in Alex Webster's last season and 2-12 in Bill Arnsparger's first. Continue

Defense needs turnover

WHEN the turnovers shriveled up, the Giants died. They lost their pass rush, three safeties, a mentality and eight straight games going into a finale that tonight can't come soon enough. "Teams knew we weren't moving the ball and they didn't have to take chances on offense," linebacker Carlos Emmons said. "When they run play-action, it's hard to cause turnovers because practically everything is a safe throw."

The Giants, once 5-2, lost their winning combination when opponents played it safe. And there is no safety in assuming healthy safeties and Michael Strahan can make a superior defense next season. Injuries always happen. Teams overcome them with guys who make things happen. Continue

Kurt wants win for Eli

Kurt Warner suits up tonight for the last time in a Giants uniform, and soon he will fade out of the picture, his one year with the team best remembered as Eli Manning's first NFL season. Before Warner leaves, he says he would like to see Manning, 0-6 as a starting quarterback, finally break into the win column.

"Even in this situation now with Eli, just the fact of getting over that hump and getting a victory," Warner said. "You see his play continually improving week in and week out. You just know he just wants to get a victory, wants just something to go in our favor, us to make that one play that makes a difference in the game." Continue

Never too late to give Eli a spring in his step

Eli Manning won one game in 2004. It happened in Dallas, but not against the Cowboys. One year ago today, Manning helped Mississippi to a victory over Oklahoma State in the Cotton Bowl to close out his college career. Tonight, the Giants' quarterback will mark the anniversary of that victory by facing the Cowboys at Giants Stadium, desperate to conjure at least a sliver of the winning magic from his Ole Miss days before it is too late.

If the Giants lose, Manning will spend the next eight months saddled with an 0-7 record as a starter - not what the team had in mind when it mortgaged a chunk of its draft and financial future to get him. Manning has insisted that he is more concerned about getting a victory for the sake of the team than for himself, but he conceded it would be nice personally, as well. Continue

Accorsi sees bright future

No matter what happens tomorrow night against the Cowboys in what mercifully is the final game of this season for the Giants, a 6-10 or 5-11 record will feel far different than last year's 4-12 nightmare. So says Ernie Accorsi, the Giants' general manager. "There's going to be a totally different attitude Monday morning this year than there was last year," Accorsi said.

One of the key reasons why a front office that's watched the Giants lose eight straight games can envision brighter days ahead is that the feeling is the roster is well-stocked with depth. None of their marquee players are headed toward free agency, allowing the emphasis to be on pursuing talent from the outside rather than first keeping their own house in order. Continue

Giant road to ruin begins at home

When Jim Fassel was fired last year, it was the fans who finally forced co-owner Wellington Mara's hand by walking out of Giants Stadium during a late-season loss to the Bills.

When Mara addressed his team at the conclusion of the season, at the top of his gripe list was a "shameful" home record of 1-7.

Tom Coughlin's job may not be in danger, but if the Giants should lose their season finale to the Cowboys tomorrow night, it would leave them with a 2-6 home record for 2004. The combined 3-13 two-year home mark would be the worst the team has ever compiled in 28 seasons at Giants Stadium. Continue

Shockey, Toomer latest casualties

The Giants still intend to take the field Sunday night, as NFL rules require. But the team fans see in the home blue uniforms will only vaguely resemble the one that ran into the same stadium for the opener Sept. 12.

The already long list of injured players that has helped ruin the season expanded again Friday with the news that receiver Amani Toomer and tight end Jeremy Shockey have been downgraded from questionable to doubtful for the finale against the Cowboys. Coach Tom Coughlin said Toomer finally succumbed to a hamstring injury that has nagged him most of the season. He said Shockey has been bothered by a back injury for a month but no longer can play through it. Continue