When the New York Giants hired Joe Judge they knew they were getting a coach that players would relate to and enjoy playing for.
You hear all time about players not wanting to play for certain coaches. Those are usually the businessmen who strap on the pads because it’s their job. Then there are others who simply do it for the love of it. Nate Ebner, who the Giants singed this past week, is one of those players.
Ebner is a special teams ace that built a rapport with Judge in New England and followed him here to East Rutherford because he believes in what Judge stands for as a coach and a person.
“Joe works extremely hard, I’m probably going to say that a couple more times. He is an extremely hard worker, he pays attention to the details,” Ebner said on a conference call on Monday with reporters.
“He really pays attention to the details. He comes to work with a lot of energy and he did that consistently over the eight years that I’ve known him. I think that is a genuine part of him. I think he is going to bring that same energy and hopefully that same attention to detail and work ethic. At the end of the day, he cares a lot about his guys, I can’t say that about a lot of coaches. I think that’s special and I think that’s hopefully going to want to make a lot of players play for him.”
Judge has displayed a genuine demeanor in his public dealings thus far with the Giants. His refreshingly frank approach has taken the Giants, their fans and the media by surprise. He is a no-nonsense guy. There is nothing phony about him.
Ebner cited his relationship with Judge as reason why he chose to take his talents to Northern New Jersey, but the lure of the Giants’ brand was a factor as well.
“I’m not going to act like he didn’t have a part in coming here. I obviously have built a good relationship with him and a rapport with him. Obviously (him) being a special teams coach, me being a special teams player over nearly a decade on the same team. We do have a relationship that definitely played a part in me being a Giant,” Ebner said. “Outside of that, it is a great organization that I am extremely excited to get to. It’s a great team, within a great city, with a great fan base that I’m juiced about.”
And the Giants are juiced about having him. You win football games with good football players and Ebner, a rugby player by trade who the Patriots found a niche for on special teams, is the type of player with the right perspective and attitude they want to help get them back on the winning track.
“I’m going to do the best that I can to do it to the best of my ability,” Ebner added. “Like I said, the best that I can. Whatever capacity they need me in, whatever I’m asked to do, I’m going to do it, and I’m going to do it the best I can. That, to me, is what I kind of watched in New England some great players do. That’s kind of a mindset that as a team, if we can all buy in together, then we’ll be in there playing for each other. That’s what great teams do, is play for each other. At the end of the day, I’m going to do what’s asked of me and I’m going to do it to the best of my ability.”
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