What about Bob?

Just finished with Jessie Armstead retirement press conference at Giants Stadium. Great to see No. 98 one more time. Flanked by former teammates Michael Strahan, Amani Toomer and protégé Antonio Pierce, Armstead admitted it’s been tough not playing, but that the only place he every truly enjoyed was with the Giants.

“My blood always had New York Giants in it,” Armstead said. “I went to Washington, another good organization, but no organization is like the New York Giants. They say the grass is always greener, but there’s no grass outside new grass. Any time you get an opportunity to retire with a great organization … I’m thankful it came today. I’m blessed.”

Toomer offered a perfect anecdote about the first time he met Armstead as a rookie.

“I remember the first day here,” Toomer said. “I was a second-round pick, doing pretty good, and I ran a couple of routes. Jessie knocked the ball away from me, and he gave me a shove. I gave him a shove back, and the next thing you know, he’s in my face. I’m like, ‘This is a different league.’”

And Armstead was a different player. A former eighth-round draft pick – hey, they don’t even have eight rounds any more – Armstead combined a unique blend of speed, power and aggressiveness to turn into the Giants best outside linebacker since Lawrence Taylor retired in 1993.

Michael Strahan said Armstead’s passion for the game still motivates him.

“I was fortunate enough to come into the league with Jessie and play a long time with him,” Strahan said. “He’s still motivation for why I play the game now. I never had a chance to play with a guy that I look up to like this. He had the best football instincts I’ve ever been around. I’ll never know anybody quite like him.”

Strahan was asked about the time Armstead scored an apparent first-half touchdown in the Giants’ Super Bowl XXXV game against the Ravens, a play that was called back on a holding penalty by Keith Hamilton. The tide might have turned right there, but the Giants were eventually blown out.

“I remember hitting Dilfer, he dumps it off, and I look up and see it’s Jessie running like he stole something,” Strahan said. “That [penalty] definitely put a damper on our Super Bowl.”

Armstead keeps busy these days with two car dealerships he owns and a third in the works. But it can never replace football.

“Those things make money,” he said. “But money don’t mean nothing compared to this game. You’ve got to smell the grass every day.”

He smelled it one last day with the team he will love forever. There will not be another guy like Armstead for a long time.