Giant Football Blog

Big Blue blowup

If the Giants actually sign Simeon Rice to replace Michael Strahan, do not expect Osi Umenyiora to embrace the move by welcoming the former Buccaneer with open arms. Every day the Giants have been in training camp, Umenyiora has spoken with missing Michael. The two are fast friends and have the same agent, Tony Agnone. Connect the dots. Much of what Strahan is thinking and feeling, Umenyiora yesterday was saying and revealing.

"We're not talking about Julius Peppers," Umenyiora said, comparing Rice to the Panthers' stud defensive end. "Simeon Rice is an outstanding pass rusher, but that's what he is." Continue

Strahan hit by Giant fines

Michael Strahan's holdout already has cost him $57,152 in fines and will run him another $14,288 for every day he doesn't report. But that won't make a difference, according to his agent, because money has nothing to do with why the seven-time Pro Bowler is staying home. "I've never asked them for money," agent Tony Agnone told the Daily News yesterday. "We haven't talked money since March, when we discussed extending Michael's contract. That has not been the issue here in this situation."

Agnone was responding to a story in yesterday's Daily News that included some tough talk from Giants GM Jerry Reese and information from team sources that the organization believes Strahan is holding out because he wants a raise. Agnone vigorously disputed that notion, and insisted Strahan is torn about whether he wants to continue his 14-year career. Continue

Hall of Fame coach Walsh dies at 75

Bill Walsh, the groundbreaking football coach who won three Super Bowls and perfected the ingenious schemes that became known as the West Coast offense during a Hall of Fame career with the San Francisco 49ers, has died. He was 75. Walsh died early Monday following a long battle with leukemia, according to Stanford University, where he served as coach and athletic director.

Walsh didn't become an NFL head coach until 47, and he spent just 10 seasons on the San Francisco sideline. But he left an indelible mark on the United States' most popular sport, building the once-woebegone 49ers into the most successful team of the 1980s with his innovative offensive strategies and teaching techniques. Continue

Reese: Who needs ya, Mike?

The Giants are getting ready to call Michael Strahan's bluff. With many in the organization convinced that Strahan's training camp holdout is all about money, not a desire to retire, the Giants are making plans to begin this season without him. And if the 35-year-old defensive end thinks the Giants' flirtation with Simeon Rice is a bluff, he may be in for a rude awakening, according to Giants GM Jerry Reese.

"We're very serious (about moving on)," Reese told the Daily News during yesterday's afternoon practice. "We can't sit on our hands waiting to see if the guy is ready to return. "Do we want him here? Sure. But if he wants to retire, we'll wish him the best. We can win without him." Continue

Making Eli into The Man

At first it seems kind of superficial to fault Eli Manning for his lack of swagger, for the fact that he comes off more like a laid-back barista at Starbucks than a starting NFL quarterback.

But with Michael Strahan threatening to follow Tiki Barber into retirement, the Giants are facing a burgeoning swagger-deficit crisis. The team needs Manning, who is entering his fourth season, to eat, breathe and sleep the role of the visible leader. So much so that the Giants are addressing even his body language.

Manning has been encouraged to stop slumping his shoulders and looking at the ground after something goes wrong on the field. Instead of looking like a mope, he is being coached to look downfield after a broken play. The idea is to both give Manning a few more seconds to get a handle on what is going on and to bolster the perception that he is actually getting a handle on what is going on. Continue

It’s nip and tuck

Out of the muck, mire and silliness of the Michael Strahan holdout we bring you Justin Tuck, who as a contrast is delighted to be here and, he says, ready to become a starting defensive end once his surgically-repaired left foot fully heals. The Giants are taking small steps toward carrying on without the missing-in-action Strahan and Tuck is firmly in the plans.

“When Stray comes back he’s definitely our No. 1 end, for good reason,” Tuck said yesterday between practice sessions. “Luckily I’ve had three years under him to really watch him and how he prepared for games. Osi [Umenyiora] the same thing. You can really learn from guys like that.” Continue

Tom ducks no one

THERE is fire in Tom Coughlin’s eyes now and passion in his voice. “I’m not a lame duck,” Coughlin tells The Post in an exclusive interview. “All of my actions in the offseason, all of my energy, everything that I’ve put forth in terms of assembling this staff - I hired a new defensive coordinator, I promoted an offensive coordinator, I promoted a special-teams coordinator, I did some of the most difficult things that you do from inside an organization - it’s not something you take great joy in doing, but it’s something you have to do in this business.

“I do it for the long term, and I fully expect that I’m gonna be the head coach of the New York Giants for an extended period of time. We all know that regardless of what is said, we’re here to win. We’re one year at a time in this league, we all know that, but I fully expect for this to go much beyond that.” After last season, Coughlin was given a one-year extension through the 2008 season. Continue

Rice on menu for Giants

Simeon Rice always insisted he's a better player than Michael Strahan. Very soon, the Giants might find out for sure. Rice, the 33-year-old defensive end who has had a running feud with Strahan for the last nine years, is scheduled to come in and visit the Giants tomorrow, according to two NFL sources. With the 35-year-old Strahan holding out of training camp and threatening to retire, the Giants are exploring their options and want to see if Rice is healthy enough to take Strahan's place.

Rice became available Thursday when he was cut by Tampa Bay. The Bucs said he failed a physical due to a shoulder injury that limited him to eight games last season. But Rice claimed he was waived when he refused to take a pay cut from the $7.25 million he was due this year. Continue

Giants should re-do contract to keep Strahan

Tom Coughlin worked incredibly hard in the offseason to create Team Harmony in the Giants' locker room. Then he saw the entire plan run into a huge roadblock just minutes into training camp Friday when Michael Strahan failed to show up and strongly hinted he is ready to retire. Coughlin had been looking forward to a summer without the kind of distractions that have beset the team throughout his tenure, most notably last year, when Tiki Barber, Jeremy Shockey and Plaxico Burress took turns throwing gasoline on the fire with their assorted comments and criticisms.

And now Strahan pulls a shocker by not reporting, then playing phone tag with Coughlin as the coach tries to sort things out. Strahan's agent, Tony Agnone, told general manager Jerry Reese late Thursday that Strahan is seriously considering retirement, so now it's back-page fodder all over again for Big Blue. Continue

Toomer taking return from injury in stride

Amani Toomer stunned his coach on Friday afternoon with how well he did in the Giants' conditioning test. Then he surprised everyone again yesterday morning with a good performance in his first practice in nearly nine months. "I felt a little bit rusty," Toomer said. "But no pain, no swelling. I feel pretty good. I didn't really push it as much as I could have."

Toomer, who tore his ACL last November, will be limited to one practice per day at training camp for the foreseeable future, but he put on quite a show in his one appearance. The veteran receiver caught several passes, including a nice grab on the sideline where he stopped short, turned, snatched the ball and turned upfield. "Ol' 81, I haven't seen him in a while," fellow wideout Plaxico Burress said. "It's good to have him back. He's one of the guys that kind of keeps everybody upbeat. It's just good to see him out there running around." Continue

Wrong way for a Giant era to end

HIS is no way for a Hall of Fame Giant like Michael Strahan to go out. By leaving a message for Tom Coughlin some nine hours before the Giants officially opened what was supposed to be a distraction-free training camp designed to leave the 2006 soap opera in the rearview mirror. By dropping a bombshell on your team at the 11th hour that you are retiring.

If this is a negotiating ploy, then Strahan has done his teammates, his coaches and the organization that has made him a small fortune over the past 14 seasons a giant disservice. It would be the cruelest sack of his illustrious career, sacking his teammates, coaches and organization this way, and it will not count as the sack that gets him past Lawrence Taylor on the club's all-time list. If Strahan was unhappy with the direction of the team, he should have said something long before the eve of training camp. Continue

Brash Burress likes it that way

Tom Coughlin has told his players to pretty much shut up and play this year. Plaxico Burress said the coach isn't being very realistic. "He wants it to be a quieter year; we want a lot of things," the veteran receiver said upon arriving at University at Albany for the start of training camp. "But I guess we'll try to abide by keeping it quiet. That's just not the character of some of the guys that we have on this team. But I guess we'll try."

Burress, who called Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens a "coward" last year and then questioned the coverage ability of the Bears cornerbacks, said he will continue to boast this year. "A little bit of trash-talking doesn't hurt anybody," Burress said. "It adds a little added incentive to the game for me. We'll see what happens." Burress, who sat out minicamp after undergoing surgery to remove bone spurs in his ankle, said he wants to practice fully beginning today. Continue

Strahan contemplating retirement

Michael Strahan is officially a holdout, and his holdout might last forever. The future Hall of Fame defensive end is contemplating retirement, according to Giants GM Jerry Reese and a source close to Strahan. The 35-year-old has been pondering quitting for weeks, according to a source, but did not make up his mind on the holdout until this morning.

Strahan's agent, Tony Agnone, has advised him to take a few days to think about his situation. Strahan is not expected into camp until sometime next week at the earliest, if he comes at all. Continue

Eli has new QB coach seeing star

Chris Palmer has now had six months to study Eli Manning up close since being hired as the Giants' quarterbacks coach. They've spent 13 hours in the film room together and another two weeks or so working on the field. That's been enough, Palmer said, to convince him that Manning is still filled with potential. In fact, he's convinced that Manning is not only going to be a star in the NFL, but will lead the Giants to the Super Bowl someday.

"I think what I see from Eli is an excellent quarterback who'll be very, very good in this league," Palmer said yesterday at the Giants' training camp-opening barbecue, "and one who'll lead his team to the promised land." Continue

Kiwanuka’s LB move won't be smooth

The Giants are confident that Mathias Kiwanuka will be able to make a successful move from defensive end to strong-side linebacker, but first-year defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo yesterday admitted it’s not a routine switch.

“I’ve been involved with a number of these guys who were defensive ends in college that stand up in the league, and it’s not an easy transition,” Spagnuolo said. “It has not been easy for any of ’em. I don’t know of any that I’ve had that have been slam-dunk, no problem, he can do it. There’s always a growth process and that process is sometimes a little bit longer than we would like it to be. We obviously see something in him from an athletic standpoint that he can help us there, so we’ll stick with it, for now.” Continue

Giants sign 2nd round pick Smith

The Giants agreed to terms with their second-round draft pick, former USC wide receiver Steve Smith. That leaves the Giants with only first-round pick Aaron Ross still unsigned with players due to report to training camp at the University of Albany on Friday.Terms of Smith's contract were not available. (newsday)

Giants GM talks tough

Not many years ago, the Giants hit training camp determined to blunt the swirl of optimism surrounding a team characterized as a true contender loaded with talent. That surely will not be the case tomorrow when players report to the University at Albany. The Giants aren't anyone's darlings. Jerry Reese likes it better this way.

"I have things to prove," the first-year general manager told The Post. "The coach has something to prove. The quarterback has something to prove, as well as the running back. That gives you a little bit of an edge. A couple of years ago everyone was reading the press clippings. Now people are saying the Giants didn't do enough in the offseason. People are picking us probably third in the NFC East. That motivates me. That should motivate some people." Continue

Giants' top two on brink of deals

Giants general manager Jerry Reese and assistant GM Kevin Abrams will meet today with the agent for first-round draft pick Aaron Ross in a Giants Stadium discussion that is expected to produce a contract for the promising cornerback from Texas.

Of the eight Giants draft picks, six already are signed and set to report to Albany on Friday for the start of training camp. The two unsigned players are Ross and receiver Steve Smith, a second-round pick from USC. "I don't expect those guys to be out of camp," Reese said yesterday. Continue

As camp nears, Strahan status remains a Giant question

Michael Strahan almost certainly will report to training camp with the rest of his Giants teammates on Thursday morning. Probably ... at least, he will unless he changes his mind.

According to sources on both sides, there are no current plans for the 35-year-old Strahan to hold out in an effort to get an increase in his $4 million salary, despite months of rumors and reports. However, everyone acknowledges that Strahan is unhappy with his contract, not thrilled with the team's offseason activity, and is a wild card who on a whim could decide not to show up. Continue

In with the blue

No, the Giants do not head to Albany for the start of training camp instantly saddled with a losing record or already mired in last place. It only feels that way.

The Giants on Friday begin their month-long upstate stay on even footing with every other NFL team, eager and optimistic and ready to strap on the pads and commence with the heavy lifting and hitting. Every camp opens up with its own set of unique problems to get fixed and concerns to address. The Giants have more of these than most teams that want to believe they are playoff contenders. Continue

Tamer Tom has Giant task

Tom Coughlin, the hard-driving, rules-obsessed, arm-waving, often out of control on the sidelines Giants coach, has presided over three of the most chaotic seasons in the team's 82-year history. It placed him right on the edge of getting fired in January, but he's not expected to be granted another reprieve if the chaos isn't replaced this season by at least one playoff victory. The moment he steps on the practice field Saturday in Albany, the Coughlin Watch starts up again.

So do a ton of questions. Will this be a wasted year for the Giants? Should new general manager Jerry Reese have been allowed to pick his own coach? Is Coughlin a lame duck and did the Giants just put a one-year delay on the inevitable by bringing him back this year, with perhaps an all-star cast of Bill Belichick, Bill Cowher, Bill Parcells and John Fox available after this season? Continue

Fans' guide to Giants camp

Where

University at Albany

When

Saturday, July 28-Wednesday, Aug. 23

Times

Practices alternate between one and two per day; the two-a-days run from 8:40-10:40 a.m. and 6:10-8:10 p.m. One-a-days are 2:40-4:40 p.m.

Tickets

Admission is free and there are a limited number of bleacher seats around the fields for fans. PARKING $5 a day or $15 for the entire camp, which can be purchased through the university ticket office.

Giants preseason schedule

AUG. 11 CAROLINA, 8 p.m., Ch. 4

AUG. 19 at Baltimore, 8 p.m., Ch. 4

AUG. 25 JETS, 8 p.m., Ch. 4

AUG. 30 at New England, 7:30 p.m., Ch. 4

(Newsday)

Tom will hear gripes from players' committee

In an effort aimed at fostering a better flow of communication between players and head coach and nip any and all sniping in the bud, Tom Coughlin will assemble a Leadership Council that will come to him with grievances and/or suggestions not long after the Giants open training camp in Albany.

"It'll be comprised of different people in different stages, position-wise and number of years of service," Coughlin told The Post. "And hopefully that will be a means of communication between the players and myself." Coughlin would not divulge names, but Eli Manning, Michael Strahan, Shaun O'Hara and Antonio Pierce are certain to be members of the Leadership Council. "I think it could be anywhere from 8-to-12 [players]," Coughlin said. Continue

Big believer

They used to come from miles around to see the biggest thing in Louisiana in the tiny town of Napoleonville. Six days a week there were 700 people in town. On Friday nights, when Brandon Jacobs played football, the count would swell to 8,000 or more.

It was a big stage for a big kid, who put on quite a show, rushing for an unbelievable 3,022 yards and 38 touchdowns as a senior at Assumption High School in 2000. Even then, Jacobs believed he was destined for something bigger. Now the man who is charged with replacing the irreplaceable Tiki Barber believes his time is finally here. Continue

Giants agree with TE Boss

The Giants agreed to terms with TE Kevin Boss, the team's fifth-round pick, on a four-year contract, according to someone familiar with the details of the deal. The person requested anonymity because the contract won't be made official until today. Boss, a Western Oregon graduate, impressed the coaches during minicamp and might begin the season as the No. 2 tight end behind Jeremy Shockey. (star-ledger)

Nebraska lineman signed by Giants

With eight days remaining before players report to training camp, the Giants have invited one more player to Albany -- Nebraska lineman Chris Patrick. The team signed Patrick to a two-year contract after an impressive workout yesterday, his agent, Joe Linta, confirmed last night.

Patrick was not selected in last week's supplemental draft and was eligible to sign with any team as a free agent. He had drawn interest from a few teams, including the Jets, who were hoping to bring him in for a visit in the near future. Continue

Vick Indicted in Dogfight Investigation

The indictment alleges that Vick and his co-defendants began sponsoring dogfighting in early 2001, the former Virginia Tech star's rookie year with the Falcons. It accuses Vick, Purnell A. Peace, Quanis L. Phillips and Tony Taylor of "knowingly sponsoring and exhibiting an animal fighting venture," of conducting a business enterprise involving gambling, as well as buying, transporting and receiving dogs for the purposes of an animal fighting venture.

Telephone messages left at the offices and home of Vick's attorney, Larry Woodward, were not immediately returned. A woman who answered the phone at the home of Vick's mother said the family knew nothing about the charges. Continue

Call Coughlin cornered

Change. That was one of the prerequisites laid out to Tom Coughlin. Not his core beliefs about football. Not his hairstyle. Not his dedication to discipline or his abhorrence of tardiness or his old-school values. He had to change himself.

Giants ownership is not demanding a kinder and gentler Tom Coughlin, but it stipulates a more reasonable Tom Coughlin. The man in charge does not have to be revered, but the acrimony leveled at Coughlin down the stretch of last season did no one any good. The perception of Coughlin was as a beleaguered captain at the helm of a ship gone adrift, complete with the requisite mutinous crew. Coughlin enters his fourth season in New York with the gangplank waiting to be unfurled for that tortured walk into coaching banishment. Can he fend off what many believe is an inevitable conclusion? Continue

Sorry, but this just isn’t going to work

Tom Coughlin, undergoing churl therapy with the media, has decided to find patience only after any remaining for him has expired.

At the urging of the Giants hierarchy, the coach is saying hello when it’s almost time to say goodbye. Probability is, had his team not lost six of its last eight in 2006, Coughlin’s soul still would be unsearched. Or, if the Giants had notably improved themselves in the offseason, last year’s damage could still be controlled the only way things ultimately can be in the NFL, with a deep playoff run or the promise of one soon. Continue

Manning lobs barb at Barber

Eli Manning has been criticized for not being enough of a vocal leader during his three seasons with the Giants. Yesterday, however, the usually soft-spoken quarterback didn't hold back when asked about what he thought life would be like without newly retired running back Tiki Barber. "I don't think we're concerned," Manning said. "We're excited by the players that we have who wanted to return for this season, and who wanted to be a part of the Giants and play."

Barber, who will be a correspondent this fall for NBC, had a sometimes contentious relationship with coach Tom Coughlin over the past two years. And when word of Barber's retirement leaked out during last season, many in the media questioned Barber's dedication to the team. Manning's parting shot, however, is the first time a teammate has openly criticized the Giants' all-time leading rusher. Continue

Manning upbeat about Giants' 2007 chances

Despite a late-season swoon in 2006 and an uneven minicamp last month, Eli Manning expressed confidence about his team and his status. The fourth-year quarterback, who was in Grand Central Terminal yesterday for a charity putt-off, said that despite his struggles, he expects to be more consistent and deemed himself a team leader.

Like Manning, the Giants got off to a hot start (6-2) last season, then fizzled down the stretch. They limped to an 8-8 record before being ousted in the first round of the playoffs by the Eagles. During June minicamp, Manning threw six interceptions and struggled with accuracy. Continue

Muck stops here

As he finishes up a vacation in Amelia Island, Fla., just days after celebrating the marriage of his daughter, Keli, Tom Coughlin already knows the main theme he's set to hammer home once the Giants hit Albany for the start of training camp.

Coughlin said he's never before in his coaching career encountered as poisonous and harmful a sensibility as the one that developed last season inside his locker room, with players unwilling to keep internal matters in-house. Coughlin is determined to eradicate that mentality. Continue

Giants sign McMahan

The Giants yesterday added to their roster for training camp by signing Kevin McMahan, a wide receiver from Maine who owns the dubious distinction of being known as Mr. Irrelevant as the last player taken in the 2006 NFL Draft.

McMahan, 24, was selected a year ago by the Raiders, who cut him prior to the season. McMahan has desirable size (6-2, 200) and speed (4.34), but he is coming off a hamstring injury that caused the Colts - who signed him last January - to release him. Continue

Strahan realizes end is growing near

Michael Strahan laced up his golf shoes and grabbed his clubs, ready for a day of some friendly competition at the Century Country Club in Purchase, N.Y., with buddies Clyde Drexler, Tony Siragusa and Jamal Anderson. The Giants defensive end enjoys golf, but life in the NFL doesn't afford Strahan much time to play. Might that change next year? "I always tell them (media) I'm retiring every year," Strahan said. "I've been saying I'm going to retire for the past five years ... who knows, man. Every year I go day to day, game to game. Some days I wake up and I think there is no way I can do it. Other days I wake up and I think I can do it for another five years. We'll see."

The 15-year NFL veteran, who holds the NFL record for sacks among active players with 129 1/2, does believe his time in the league is winding down. "Fifteen, that is a long time, but I was talking to Tim Brown (former wide receiver for Raiders) and he was like, 'I played 17, you can do it,'" Strahan said. Continue