First off...it appears talk really IS cheap!
The Giants are holding six OTA sessions this year.
Since the NFL only requires the teams to open the sessions to one third
of the sessions, reporters will only be able to see two of them. From what
I understand, today will be the first time that the sessions will be open to
the press so hopefully we'll get an idea of what's been going on by later
today. There is absolutely no news to report at this time regarding
OTA's.
Considering the lack of information coming out of OTA's,
maybe it's a good time to discuss something that's plagued the Giants after
both their previous Super Bowl victories and even following their Super Bowl
loss in 2000: The Dreaded and Oft Times Feared Super Bowl Hangover.
Following the 1986 season, the Giants stumbled out of the
gate at 0-2 before replacement players took over for three games during the
players strike. The "Giants" lost all of them, dooming any chance of
defending their championship as they ended the year at 6-9.
After the 1990 season, both Head Coach Bill Parcells and Boy
Wonder Defensive Coordinator Bill Belichick left the world champion Giants,
leaving them in the hands of Ray Handley. Although the Giants defeated
the San Francisco 49ers on opening night (in a rematch of the classic NFC
Championship that ended the three-peat bid of the 49ers), they finished at
8-8 and out of the playoffs again.
Continuing this disturbing trend, the Giants once again
could not build on a successful 2000 season that saw them in the Super Bowl
against the Baltimore Ravens. Although many people still view that season
as an improbable run that petered out at the end, the pieces were certainly
there to be a better team that they became in 2001. A 7-9 final record
once again left the Giants out of the playoffs after a Super Bowl appearance.
Will 2008 be any different than 1987, 1991, or 2001?
Once again the Giants are getting little respect from the national media
with regards to early rankings. That's okay, most didn't have the Giants
in the playoffs last season and certainly very few had them winning one playoff
game, let alone the Super Bowl. It could be said that the pundits are
taking the safe route this year regarding their ranking seeing as only the New
England Patriots and Denver Broncos have repeated as champs since 1995.
This morning on Sirius NFL Radio's "The Opening Drive", Bob
Papa along with Randy Cross and Peter King (of Sports Illustrated and other
outlets) were discussing this very issue. Papa recounted a story where he
was master of ceremonies at a charity event in New York City last night, and
the only celebrity in the crowd was Giants GM Jerry Reese. Reese was
sitting with friends, proudly wearing his Super Bowl ring, which is now one
week old. Attendees of the even were getting their pictures taken with
the ring, and with Jerry, and Papa described Reese as glowing, and obviously
basking in the glory of what his team has accomplished and rightfully so.
The discussion turned to wondering when you put this
accomplishment away and, in earnest, start focusing completely on the next
season. Cross, a Super Bowl champion three times over, said that the
toughest thing to do is forget and move on. The accomplishment is so great
and so rewarding and when you combine that with all the entrapments of fame
that accompany it, it's difficult to find your bearings and remember you're
starting over at 0-0.
So what do the Giants have in their corner this time that
they didn't have the last three times they made it to the Super Bowl?
Well for one, they have Tom Coughlin. Tom's ego is such that he
won't let this go to his or the teams' head. Coughlin is well known for
his motivational tee shirts and slogans ("Talk is Cheap, Play the Game") and
already this season has placed shirts in the players' lockers saying "It's a
Whole New Season".
They also have a number of players who didn't exactly
‘prove' themselves last year the way they'd hoped. Eli Manning did not
exactly statistically light up the league during the regular season and needs
to prove he's really the guy we saw over the last five games. Brandon
Jacobs missed more than 25% of the season due to injury. Plaxico Burress,
who had an amazing first 6 games, wants to be known as a Pro Bowl receiver and
was well on his way last year before injury hampered his production.
Ahmad Bradshaw, who I believe will push for the starting job by mid
season, wants to prove every team in the league that they were wrong at least
six times each last year. Mathias Kiwanuka, Jeremy Shockey, Michael
Jennings, and Derrick Ward also missed extended time, including the playoff
run, and have to be using that as motivation to get back to the playoffs.
Finally, we're not hearing a lot of "me, me, me" talk from
these Champion Giants. The only ‘controversy' has been the will he or
won't he discussion concerning Michael Strahan's retirement. The only
book coming out from a player is from Plaxico Burress, and it's not a ‘tell
all', or ‘dirty secrets' book. It's meant to be a motivational
book. It's a book about how the Giants came together as a team.
It will be interesting to see if they can maintain a solid
focus through the upcoming training camp, which will undoubtedly be a circus
atmosphere. Albany is expecting up to 250,000 extra visitors to camp this
season, basing their predictions on past Super Bowl appearances. Seeing
as this was one of those extremely rare and profoundly special seasons,
culminating in the defeat of the invincible Patriots, it's going to be a show
at camp, that's for sure!
So where does this leave us with our question? Do we
have probable cause to believe that the Giants can win in 2008, in spite
of their success in 2007? Time will tell, but it appears that the
Giants have the coaches, the players, the front office, and the attitude to
finally break the post Super Bowl blues that have plagued them in the past and
get into the playoffs in 2008 with a chance to defend their title.