T-Rock's Take: Inside the Giants

This is the blog post I was hoping not to write. Not that it has anything to do with content. It just means that I missed the earlier flight out of the Washington DC area and now I have an hour and a half until the next one. Man, that DC traffic is ornery. Especially in the area that they euphemistically refer to on the nightly news as "just outside our nation's capital."

Anyway, the Giants were at the White House today. Well, most of the Giants. Shockey, Strahan, Osi, Steve Smith, Aaron Ross, those were the exceptions I noted. No stoping in the rose garden for Michael.

Click below for the transcript from the ceremony. The President spoke -- he seemed in a pretty good mood, happy to have someone around to talk sports with I guess -- followed by Tom Coughlin. As you can see, there was even a cameo by Lawrence Tynes. There are no small roles, just small kickers.

I also got to sit in on the daily press briefing in the White House, which was pretty cool. I asked Newsday if they wanted me to write a sidebar on the report from the Commerce Department, but they said to leave that stuff to the pros. I also learned that tomorrow is the fifth anniversary of the "Mission Accomplished" banner. Yes, that "Mission Accomplished" banner, which one did you think I was talking about?

At least the Giants accomplished their mission.

Remember, click below for the transcript.

There were new T-shirts in all the lockers at Giants Stadium today proclaiming “It’s a whole new season.” But before they can put those on, there’s a little business to take care of from last season. Namely, a visit to the White House to meet the President.

For some players, it’s an experience they’re looking forward to. Sinorice Moss said he can’t wait to one day tell his kids about the experience. Others have a history with the Prez. Lawrence Tynes has met him twice, both times, oddly, when Bush visited a Kansas City training camp in River Falls, Wisc. (Maybe Bush heard "Hail to the Chief" so much he finally wanted to meet them?)

And word is that the first professional paycheck ever earned by Kay-Jay Harris was signed by George W. Bush (when Bush owned the Rangers and Harris was drafted out of high school by the organization).

Still, some people let politics creep into their experience a little. Asked if he was excited about meeting the President, Justin Tuck replied: “I’m going to see the White House.”

The Giants just used their final two picks, and unless the trade one of next year's selections to grab another team's seventh rounder (ha ha), they've assembled their incoming draft class.

The final two elements were Andre Woodson, the QB from Kentucky, and Robert Henderson, a DE from Southern Miss. Look for Woodson to wind up being the No. 3 QB behind Manning and Carr, taking the place of a fellow Kentucky hurler.

To recap the Giants' picks:

31: S Kenny Phillips, Miami
63: CB Terrell Thomas, USC
95: WR Mario Manningham, Michigan
123: LB Bryan Kehl, BYU
165: LB Jonathan Goff, Vanderbilt
198: QB Andre Woodson, Kentucky
199: DE Robert Henderson, Southern Miss

Your thoughts are always appreciated here!

The Giants drafted another brainiacker, er, linebacker. Jonathan Goff out of Vanderbilt was selected with the 165th overall pick. That makes two selections in a row that are additions to the linebacking group (and four of five on the defense) and the second time in a row they have taken someone who had a stellar academic history.

Perhaps they are planning on surrounding Manningham with enough high-character picks to avoid any pitfalls.

They moved from 130 to 123 -- unsure of the deets yet but it appears to be the sixth rounder that they got from Green Bay (194) -- to select OLB Bryan Kehl out of BYU. All arrows point to him being a heady, grounded kid who was recruited by Harvard, Yale and Penn before attending BYU.

So now the Giants have three picks remaining: 165, 198 and 199.

Here’s my first interaction with Mario Manningham on this morning’s conference call. It did not go well.

Me: Did you feel like you had to sell yourself more than maybe other players did when you came in here and other places for an interview because of …

Mario: I can’t hear you. You sound so far away.

Me: I’m sorry. Did you feel like you had to sell yourself more than maybe other players would have because of your past when you came in for an interview?

Mario: I can’t hear you, what’d you say?

Me: (Clears throat) Do you feel like you had to sell yourself to the Giants or other teams you met with because of your past?

Mario: I can’t hear you, you sound so far away.

Me: That’s fine. I’ll ask you at minicamp.

Thanks, by the way, to RV from the DN who jumped in and asked my question for me. Eventually Mario gave a somewhat decent answer, probably one of the most coherent of the interview.

"I don't think I had to sell myself, I just had to be myself," he said.

No, no, no, not that stuff. Manningham, of course, is mostly known for having sent a letter to all 32 NFL teams after the combine explaining that he lied about ever testing positively for marijuana and that he actually tested positive twice at Michigan. His name also popped up for reportedly scoring a 6 out of 50 on the Wonderlic test.

But the Giants took a chance on him in the third round -- even though Jerry Reese said he'll lay down the law from the get-go and tell him that he could be out the door if he screws up. "A short leash," Reese said. Unlike Kenny Phillips, Manningham is a guy the Giants did extensive research on. They had him in for a workout, conversations, some blackboard work and even had a private agency administer a psychological test.

Reese did say that the Giants had him in their first row, meaning he could have been a first-round pick for some team. "He's got a strong skill set for that position," Reese said. You guys will see, this guy's got the stuff."

The Giants picked a guy like that last year in the seventh round when they grabbed Ahmad Bradshaw. He had been arrested for underage drinking, was kicked off the University of Virginia football team, and wound up playing at Marshall. And then he was the team's leading rusher in the Super Bowl.

I wrote a story in today's paper about how the Giants kept their distance from Kenny Phillips during the evaluation process. And it's true that they had very little direct communication with the player. They considered him a slam dunk and didn't worry about digging. Jerry Reese called him a "clean" pick. In fact, Phillips himself said he was surprised to be taken by the Giants (even though nearly every writer in this room and many of the mocks I read had him coming here). "I haven't talked to them a lot, so I definitely was suprised," he said.

But director of college scouting Marc Ross said the Giants were keeping a close eye on Phillips in recent weeks.

"Kenny, we were looking at him, he just didn’t know," Ross said. "The kids, sometimes they have no idea what is going on. It is just like this, there is a room full of scouts that they don’t know, but we are always evaluating throughout the whole process."

As for the pick of Terrell Thomas in the second round, Ross said he had no hesitation due to his injuries. "We have a top-notch medical staff here and when Ronnie Barnes says the guy is okay, I trust him 100 percent," he said. As for whether the Giants asked WR Steve Smith for an evaluation or any input on Thomas, Ross said he was not. "We didn’t call Steve up and ask him what he thought about Terrell," Ross said. "I asked Terrell about Steve and he said he shut him down every day in practice, so I figured that would be good enough."

Giants picks remaining for today:

A third (95), fourth (130), fifth (165) and three sixths (194 from Green Bay in the Ryan Grant trade, 198, and a compensatory pick at 199).

He's a hard-hitting CB who some scouts projected as a safety and even played some linebacker at Southern Cal. He's got two surgeries on his shoulders after dislocating each of them during his college career and a knee surgery to prove how physical he can be. The Giants took him in the second round with the 63rd overall selection. It was the second pick for the secondary on the day. As Mike G pointed out, they drafted a safety-type player to play cornerback and a cornerback-type player to play safety.

And that's all for today. I'm on the road to try and get home before midnight and then get back here tomorrow morning. There are a few funny observations and quotes to blog about from today, but I'll save those for Sunday morning.

Oh, and thanks to Glauber and all the people who were reading his live blog for allowing me to butt my big bald head in with Giants perspective throughout the day. That was a lot of fun!

Just got off the call with Kenny Phillips. He says Coughlin "seems like a real cool guy" and he's been told that the Giants expect him to make an immediate impact. "Of course guys will be bigger and faster and stronger, but I'm not slow, I'm not small. I defeinitely feel like I can make an impact."

With the 31st pick the Giants took S Kenny Phillips from Miami. He's the guy they had targeted and he's the guy they got.

Still waiting on something concrete regarding Shockey. Giants brass will head down in a few to brief us and brag about Phillips.

Just heard that the Saints-Giants deal that could send Shockey from NY to NO is still kicking even though the Saints traded their 3rd rounder to the Pats. They still have their second pick, which is critical to the deal. Stay tuned -- especially by reading Glauber's cool live blog.

Wednesday will be a busy day at the White House. That's the day No. 43 has a photo op with the 2008 National and State Teachers of the Year in the Oval Office followed by some remarks to the group in the Rose Garden, and he'll also attend a National Republican Congressional Committee Reception in Fairfax, Va. later in the eveing.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. That's also the day that he'll meet with the Giants to congratulate them on their Super Bowl victory. It's scheduled for 3:20 p.m. on the South Lawn. There's a south lawn at my house too. I dethatched it last weekend.

So far since taking over the Giants' beat I've written about the design of the championship rings, prepped for the draft, will cover the draft this weekend and will be in D.C. next week for the White House ceremony. Maybe I'll stay around long enough to actually cover a practice one of these days. Or even a game.

I attended a very interesting function last night: The NFL Network upfront in which the network tries to sell advertisers on selling to you though them. Anyway, I'll let Neil Best handle what happened at the function. Here's what I will tell you: the Roseland Ballroom was decked out to look exactly like the Giants' locker room. And when I say exactly I mean right down to the signs on the walls that have the same typos and punctuation errors as the ones in East Rutherford. And there were lockers for all of the Giants players set up with clothes, toiletries and other things in them to give the place a real locker room vibe.

Wait, did I say all of the Giants players? Hmm. Wasn't there one missing? Oh, yeah.

Funny, but there was no Jeremy Shockey locker.

That's something only a weasely sports reporter like myself might notice, but I triple checked and sure enough, there was no No. 80. Now, it could be that the NFL was worried that the tight end could be traded this week and didn't want the set to look dated. And it could also be that the place was supposed to be the post-game locker room after the Super Bowl, and Shockey was not active for that game. Still, you don't have to be Oliver Stone to come up with two or three really good conspiracy theories to explain the oversight. If, in fact, it was an oversight. Maybe they know something we don't (or won't until Saturday afternoon). Maybe they had to move Shockey out in favor of Adam Shefter or Rich Eisen or the other NFL Network chatterers who had "lockers" set up.

Strahan, who missed a chance to run around and play flag football in Central Park with kids earlier in the day, was on hand for the NFL Network shindig. He made a few jokes about his retirement -- even said he told his teammates that he might be putting his jersey on for the last time when prepping for the appearance -- but didn't commit to anything. Brandon Jacobs was there and didn't have a cast on his wrist post-surgery, although he kept rubbing the wrist. Oh, and Brett Favre was there. Asked point-blank if he could see any circumstance in which he would return to the Packers, he said: "No, unless I come back as a coach." Geez, this guy just can't say "No. Period."

Defensive end Osi Umenyiora, who hinted at a possible holdout for a new contract when he spoke at the end of the season, said he has decided not to pursue that negotiating tactic and will honor his current contract. Umenyiora said that while it is difficult for him to watch players he considers of lesser value than him earn more money than he does, he believes the Giants will take care of him when the time is right -- whether that is next year, the year after, or further down the line.

Umenyiora, who hasn't been participating in voluntary team workouts, was speaking today at an event in Central Park for NFL Play 60, a program that tries to get kids off the couch and into athletic endeavors for 60 minutes a day. Michael Strahan was supposed to show up for the event, too, but he backed out at the last second.

One surprise who did show up, however, was Brett Favre. He didn't speak with reporters and didn't play flag football with the kids like Umenyiora did. But he did take advantage of the, um, facilities. It was certainly odd to see Favre step into one of the port-a-potties set up in the park.

UPDATED!!!

By the way, Osi spoke about the retirement decision facing fellow DE Michael Strahan.

"I talked to him after the season and I thought he was going to retire. I talked to him a month ago and I thought he was coming back. And then I talked to him maybe a week ago and I thought he was going to retire. It just changes day to day with Michael," Umenyiora said.

Looks like B-Glaubs is muscling in on T-Rock's turf here, but that's because he sat down with our Web guys to talk about the NFL Draft and they wrangled him into doing an extra video just about the Giants. Here it is. Let's see if he knows what he's talking about.

Kevin Boss vented a little bit this afternoon when talking about Jeremy Shockey. Essentially he said he doesn't like the way that the media is treating his mentor and that it must be tearing him up to read about those trade rumors. To be fair, for every trade rumor there is a team on the other end who WANTS the guy, but that's not my point here. No, I just want to make it clear that I'm new around here and haven't had much of a chance to take any pokes at Shockey.

So if Boss wasn't talking about me, to whom was he referring?

Oh, probably this guy.

David Tyree underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair his right knee last week and will likely be shelved until at least the start of training camp.

The receiver who made one of the most remarkable catches in Super Bowl history said the injury had been present in the past as a “rubbing” but recently “locked up.” After an MRI, he underwent surgery last Tuesday.

“We could do it now or take the chance of going into the season and having something else happen,” he said on Tuesday, walking through the Giants locker room on crutches with his right leg heavily braced. “I’m not the least bit worried about it and I’ll be ready for training camp.”

Tyree is one of two players to undergo recent surgery. Running back Brandon Jacobs underwent surgery on his wrist to clean bone chips and is also expected to be ready for training camp.

As if being the daughter of an NFL coach and married to one of his players wasn't grueling enough, Kate Snee decided to run 26 miles and 385 yards through Boston today. It was the first marathon for the mother of two (and, in case you haven't put the pieces together, daughter of Giants coach Tom Coughlin and wife of guard Chris Snee) and she finished the Patriots Day extravaganza with a time of 4 hours, 3 minutes, 48 seconds.

It wasn't a perfect run, but then again (cough, cough) so few things in New England are.

According to the Giants' PR staff: "Needless to say, her father is beaming with pride as he prepares for this weekend's NFL draft." In case he had trouble taking time away from his draft preparation, we'll do the math for him and put things in more suitable football terms (and because underneath that gleaming sportswriter facade we are a math geek):

To finish the race in 4:03:48, Kate would have averaged 12.68 seconds per 40 yards.

Click below if you care to see how we came to that number or to double-check my calculations.

In case you missed some of the Giants draft stories in Newsday over the weekend, you can check them out online. On Sunday I wrote about how Reese's second draft as GM is a bit different for him than his first, and in Monday's paper I wrote about how talk is cheap when it comes to Giants draft plans.

Up next will be a look at one of the Giants' needs: linebackers. Coincidentally, Glauber also picked today to run through his list at the position.

The Giants lost two of their LBs in free agency, Kawika Mitchell and Reggie Torbor, and they brought in Danny Clark. Right now Mathias Kiwanuka is penciled in as an OLB, but getting a play-maker for the position is probably a priority on the Giants' shopping list. I've really liked Jerod Mayo out of Tennessee for a while, but I'm not so sure he'll last until the 31st pick (assuming that's when the Giants make their first selection).

So, pilfering from Glauber's list of LB prospects, give me the three guys you would want the Giants to take to fill the position. Click below for a list of candidates (write-ins are welcome) and let me know what you are thinking.

Jeremy Shockey's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, was on ESPN this afternoon talking about (or more accurately, talking around) the swirl of trade rumors and reports that the tight end wants out of NY. His basic pretense was that he wasn't going to negotiate or deal with the Giants through a television lens. In other words, no pushups in the driveway for Jeremy. But he did drop this interesting line:

"In terms of Jeremy's feelings as relating to the Giants, that's something that we've communicated to the Giants and the ball's going to be in their court."

Now, those feelings could be anything. But if they were something along the lines of "I'm happy and can't wait to get started on the '08 season," why would they have to be communicated to the Giants, and why would the ball be in their court?

This situation is quickly getting more fiery than smokey.

The good news for the Giants is that Rosenhaus said Shockey is 100 percent healthy, has been cleared, and is running and ready to play. Then again, that could just be an agent trying to appease potential suitors.

The NFL announced a change of plans today and the Giants will not open their preseason defense of the Super Bowl title against the Panthers on Aug. 9. Rather, they will be at the Lions on Aug. 7 at 7 p.m.

There's speculation that the move has something to do with TV broadcasting of the game on NBC-4 and a conflict with the Olympics. Maybe Neil Best can check that out. Or maybe not. It's preseason, after all.

Big deal? Not really (except for the loonies who book travel plans to attend preseason games). But it does mean that the Giants can open their training camp two days earlier. Right now it seems they are looking at a July 23 start in Albany.

Someone call Strahan and let him know about the change.

Here's a really insightful read from a long-time NFL insider about mock drafts, the surprising impact they once had on teams' draft strategies, and some clues into war room politics.

Two items at the end of the article jumped out and pertain here (but you should still click above and read the whole thing):

"With one week before the draft, never believe any team officials' quotes, especially what direction they may be headed with their selection. It is not in their best interest to let anything out." This is very encouraging since Jerry Reese will be addressing the media for his pre-draft press conference tomorrow.

And,

"The Giants, Raiders, Dolphins, Jaguars, Cowboys and Packers are size/speed teams. They will pick players that fit the size and speed profile for the position. So think "big and fast" before putting a name in for these teams."

Maybe this will help you a few blogs over where Glauber is still running his Mock Draft contest.

Dang! I was hoping to be out of Minnesota by the time November rolled around to avoid headaches with winter travel. But no, the NFL is clearly out to get me. The Giants will be in Minny on Dec. 28. Which means I can't even do holiday shopping at the Mall of America! Maybe I can do some holiday returning.

Anyway, here's the schedule. Four prime-timers plus the possibility of two more in the second half of the year.

Any road trips for you this season?

Sept. 4 (Thurs.) Washington Redskins 7 p.m.
Sept. 14 at St. Louis Rams 1 p.m.
Sept. 21 Cincinnati Bengals 1 p.m.
Sept. 28 Bye
Oct. 5 Seattle Seahawks 1 p.m.
Oct. 13 at Cleveland Browns (Mon.) 8:30 p.m.
Oct. 19 San Francisco 49ers 1 p.m.
Oct. 26 at Pittsburgh Steelers 4:15 p.m.
Nov. 2 Dallas Cowboys 4:15 p.m.
Nov. 9 at Philadelphia Eagles 8:15 p.m.
Nov. 16 Baltimore Ravens 1 p.m.
Nov. 23 at Arizona Cardinals 4:15 p.m.
Nov. 30 at Washington Redskins 1 p.m.
Dec. 7 Philadelphia Eagles 1 p.m.
Dec. 14 at Dallas Cowboys* 8:15 p.m.
Dec. 21 Carolina Panthers 1 p.m.
Dec. 28 at Minnesota Vikings 1 p.m.

Glauber's got a great idea: Let's all close our eyes and pretend to be general managers of NFL teams and make picks in the same order as the draft! Then, when the draft comes around, we can see who got the most guesses right! Whoever does must be the smartest football person in the world!

Yes, that's right. I'm mocking the mock. It's more effective when I say it with the soft, high-pitched, condescending preschool teacher voice in my head ... but you get the idea.

Anyway, go tell him what you think about the upcoming talent pool by clicking here. I think the game is to pick 1-10 and then have the Giants' pick at 31 for a tie-breaker. That assumes, of course, that the Giants will pick at 31.

Gotta bring the laptop in for an oil change this afternoon, so I'll be off the blog for a while. Today, of course, is the day that the NFL will announce the whens of the 2008 schedule (the whos and wheres have already been assigned).

Come on, Minnesota before November!

Here's a story that may or may not make the paper, depending on space restrictions. But through the miracle of the Interwebs, you can read it anyway.

It's a story about Eli Manning once again addressing his "hopes" that Jeremy Shockey returns to the Giants for the 2008 season. Eli was being feted by the Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York on Monday night at the Waldorf-Astoria and looked pretty spiffy in his tuxedo. I suggested that the Super Bowl MVP should receive a new tuxedo for the banquet circuit ahead of him rather than a truck. He laughed politely.

We always hear about teams bringing guys in for workouts, but what exactly goes into a workout? I had a chance to speak with Gian Villante recently. He’s a linebacker from Hofstra who was at Giants Stadium on Friday for a look-see. I covered him at Hofstra and also when he was playing at MacArthur High School and won the Thorp Award as the county’s top player (a year after Jets LT D’Brickashaw Ferguson won it, by the way), so we go way back.

Villante has been to several workouts for teams – including the Jets, Eagles and an event for the Colts – and he said they are pretty much the same. Some teams try to check on conditioning by running the players ragged, but he said the Giants took it easy on him from that standpoint. Mostly, the Giants wanted to check his athleticism.

“They want to see how you move and react to thing you might not have seen in college,” Villante said. “They want to see how fast you can turn your hips and run with somebody, how well you can catch.”

It's basically doing the same drills the players have been doing in practices all of their lives. The Giants workout lasted for about 40 minutes he said. That may not seem like a long time, but with only two linebackers in the mix for the exercises, Villante said it was pretty tiring.

Villante weighed in at 252 and runs in the 4.5 range. He played outside linebacker for two years and then moved inside for two years at Hofstra, so he has some versatility. Now all he has to do is sit and wait for the draft next weekend to see if his name is called. If it’s not, then he’s hoping he’ll get an invitation to someone’s camp. Maybe even the Giants’.

LaMonica, who knows more about the Internet than I could ever Google, said it was OK for me to put this here in both a legal and ethical sense. Enjoy.

As of today the Giants have the final pick in the first round of the draft. Something about winning some game in February set that up. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be picking there 12 days from now when all the mocks fly out the window and the real deal begins.

What makes this year’s draft so fascinating is that so few of the teams at the top want their picks. Believe me, I was just there. Almost every team in the top seven or eight slots is looking to wheel and deal out of that pick, or at least entertaining offers. There was even a story in the Sun-Sentinel this weekend about how the Dolphins would be within the rules if they PASSED on the number one overall pick. Imagine that!

The point here is that there could be a firesale at the top. Throw that old draft pick value chart out the window. If the Giants want one of the guys projected by the experts to go in the first 10 or so picks, it wouldn’t be too hard to go up and grab him. But who? Who would the Giants want at the top of the draft?

So here’s the first question for you, not-quite-yet-loyal readers. If the Giants do jump up to the top third of the first round, for whom should they do so? McFadden? Dorsey? Long? No, I mean the other Long.

Forget about value for now. All I want to know is who you think is worth targeting at the top – if anyone at all.

It was pretty stunning to see the progress of the construction at Giants Stadium this morning, and by stunning I mean difficult to get around and park. Seriously, though, Cranes and trucks and just about every Tonka toy imaginable was on the scene putting together the skeleton for the new place, which is scheduled to open in 2010. It seemed to me that the framework was about halfway to the full shape of the building – it kinda looks like an amphitheater now – and they were putting up new pieces of steel while I drove away. At least I hope it was steel because I’m going to have to sit on top of that thing when it’s done.

While it was encouraging to see the new building take shape, I couldn’t help but imagine the chaos that looms for the next two years of autumn Sundays. I, of course, will have my pass and be able to park relatively close. The bidding for my pass, by the way, will start at $10,000.

Just kidding. Ha ha. (Unless you’re paying in cash.)

David Tyree used to brag to teammates about his invisibility, how he could walk down the street or hit the market and not be approached by fans. That, of course, ended when that fourth-quarter pass stuck to his Velcro fingertips behind his helmet. Even now, the sudden start said, he gets uncomfortable when people approach him when he’s out in public. He has to remind himself that he’s famous now and that people who are staring at him aren’t doing so maliciously.

One of the annoying things, however, is that somehow his home telephone number leaked into the public and for a while he was receiving phone calls. Most of the calls seemed to be coming from young kids and teenagers, and while they weren’t malicious, they were a bit of a nuisance. Some people called up and didn’t know quite what to say. Others called and asked for an autograph. I didn’t know they made phones that could do that now.

The calls have subsided considerably as of late.

Intrepid reporter that I am, I asked Tyree for the phone number that was causing the trouble so I could publish it in the paper and tell people not to dial it. It took him a second to get the joke. Being famous does take a period of adjustment.

Shaun O’Hara also said he was out to dinner recently with Eli Manning when they were approached by none other than Yogi Berra. The Yankees great wanted to congratulate them on their Super Bowl victory. (O’Hara said “congratulate us” but come on, do you really think Yogi recognized a CENTER (edited)? He came over to say Hi to Eli and O’Hara was there too!)

Anyway, Eli asked Yogi how many championships he had won. The answer, of course, is 10. Eli turned to O’Hara and said that they only had nine more to go.

Shaun O’Hara said it was unfortunate that an email from Ravens kicker Matt Stover found its way to the public earlier this week, suggesting that the message which pushed for finding a successor to NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw and called for a change in leadership (eventual or otherwise). O’Hara, the Giants’ player rep, said he is comfortable with Upshaw heading the union’s negotiations in any upcoming battles with ownership.

Still, O’Hara said it is sometimes difficult to defend Upshaw’s statements about former players and some recent swipes at backup quarterbacks.

“In this day and age you have to be able to handle the media and not let your ego get in the way, especially when as a lot of people feel, he is our mouth and our face of the players association,” O’Hara said. “I think there are some players who are disappointed with the way he's reacted to them and with some of the comments he's made. Whether we can put those personal problems aside and focus on what's really important, that's yet to be determined.”

Eli hopes so.

That’s what he said when asked if Jeremy Shockey is looking forward to being a Giant for the 2008 season.

“I hope so,” said the quarterback, who has swapped voicemails with the tight end. “I hope he understands we would like him back.”

Shockey was one of three prominent Giants who are not participating in the offseason workouts (which are – cough, cough – optional). He’s down in Florida rehabbing and getting in shape for the season, as is his wont. Osi Umenyiora and Michael Strahan are also skipping the rigors. But it’s Shockey who has been involved in trade rumors recently, and it is Shockey who was on the sidelines while the Giants made their playoff run last season.

The Giants say they aren’t shopping Shockey. But they aren’t stopping customers from making offers, either. If the right deal comes along, don’t be surprised if the Giants make it.

There were a few other tidbits from today’s media availability at Giants Stadium, the first since the post-Super Bowl celebrations. But since things have been pretty quiet on this blog for so long, I figured I’d play some catch-up and put them all in their own posts. Makes it look like I’m doing more work that way!

By Tom Rock

When the Newsday brass asked me if I wanted to cover the Jets or the Giants, the decision was pretty simple. I mean, how could I turn down a chance to rub elbows and chat with Manny Wright on a regular basis. "Wherever Manny is, that's where I want to be," I said.

And wouldn't you know it, a day before I head out to cover the Giants for the first time, they go and cut Wright. Sigh.

I suppose I'll keep trudging forward in the Manny-less mess I've created for myself.

By the way, thanks to everyone for their patience while this blog was collecting cob(worldwide)webs the last few weeks. The Stapler, as you may have noticed, has moved onto bigger things, writing columns and covering college hoops. One Super Bowl was enough for him, I guess. As for me, I was busy keeping tabs on the Jets and their busy offseason. But now I'm officially here to serve as your Giants beat writer. Well, it'll be official on Monday, actually. But I just couldn't wait to mourn Manny Wright's career with the Giants.

More tomorrow when the Giants have their first media availability since they spent the afternoon picking confetti from their hair in the Canyon of Heroes.