Tag: Antoine Bethea

Former Cardinals safety Antoine Bethea announces retirement from NFL

He played two of his 14 NFL seasons with the Cardinals in 2017 and 2018.

The Arizona Cardinals got good production for two seasons from veteran safety Antoine Bethea, even though he was in his 12th and 13th season. Now 36 years old and a year removed from playing, Bethea made his retirement official.

He announced via social media he has retired from the league after 14 seasons, four teams and three Pro Bowl selections.

He made sure to thank the Cardinals organization and the Bidwills for bring him here.

Bethea, in two seasons with the Cardinals in 2017 and 2018, played in all 32 games, had 178 tackles, four sacks and five interceptions.

He was one of few bright spots on the 2018 defense as he had 121 tackles, four sacks, four pass breakups and a forced fumble.

Bethea was a good player, a good teammate and a leader. We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.

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Ex-Giant Antoine Bethea announces his retirement

Former New York Giants safety and defensive captain, Antoine Bethea, has announced his retirement from professional football.

Long-time veteran safety and former member of the New York Giants, Antoine Bethea, officially announced his retirement from professional football on Thursday morning.

In a Twitter post announcing that he’s stepping away from the game, Bethea thanked multiple franchises and executives from across the league, including Giants co-owners John Mara and Steve Tisch.

“Finally, to Mara and Tisch family and the New York Giants, thank you,” Behtea said. “Once a Giant, always a Giant.”

A sixth-round pick of the Indianapolis Colts in the 2006 NFL Draft, Bethea spent 14 years in the NFL and played for four different franchises (Arizona and San Francisco the others). He was named to three Pro Bowls and was a part of the Super Bowl-winning Colts in 2006-2007.

In 209 career games (200 starts), Bethea recorded 1,333 tackles, 9.5 sacks, 26 QB hits, nine forced fumbles, 85 passes defenses, 25 interceptions and one touchdown.

After signing with the Giants in 2019, Bethea’s teammates voted him a defensive captain. He started all 16 games that season, recording 110 tackles, six passes defensed and one interception.

It was a remarkable career for Bethea and as he says… Once a Giant, always a Giant.

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Report: Giants will not exercise option on Antoine Bethea

The New York Giants will not exercise the option on veteran safety Antoine Bethea, clearing an additional $3 million in salary cap space.

The New York Giants have made several adjustments to their roster in recent days and on Wednesday, finally made one of their most anticipated decisions of the offseason — declining the option on veteran safety Antoine Bethea.

The Athletic’s Dan Duggan reports that the Giants will not exercise the option on Bethea, thereby creating an additional $3 million in salary cap space and leaving no dead money.

Bethea will now become an unrestricted free agent.

More to come…

Giants’ Antoine Bethea donating outdoor basketball court to Newport News

New York Giants safety Antoine Bethea will be donating an outdoor basketball court to the community in Newport News, Virginia.

New York Giants safety Antoine Bethea, who graduated from Denbigh High School in Newport News, Virginia, will soon be giving back to his childhood community.

The Daily Press reports that Bethea approached Newport News City Councilman Marcellus Harris with the idea to build an outdoor basketball court in the northern part of the city — a proposal that was shared with the counsel on Tuesday.

Bethea told the city he wanted the courts to be visible and easily accessible. David Freeman, assistant to the city manager, said the selected location between the Denbigh Community Center and Stoney Run Park meets that criteria.

Michael Poplawski, the director of parks and recreation, said existing parking, restrooms, roads and other amenities from the two facilities will be easily usable for people using the new court.

The basketball court carries an estimated cost of $354,000, $320,000 of which will be provided by Bethea through the Antoine Bethea Family Foundation, according to city staff.

“We love free things,” Poplawski said in tongue-in-cheek fashion. “Something of this magnitude is something that’s really needed in the city.”

An early projection has construction beginning in April with an estimated date of completion sometime between June and July.

Bethea signed a two-year deal with the Giants in 2019 and led the team in tackles (101) last season.

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Giants could have more housecleaning to do

The New York Giants released a pair of linebackers on Wednesday, but that may only be beginning of their housecleaning.

The New York Giants released two veterans with bloated contracts on Wednesday, clearing approximately $13 million in salary cap space.

By cutting ties with linebackers Alec Ogletree and Kareem Martin the Giants freed up $8.25 and $4.8 million in cap space, respectively. That can be used to, let’s say, pay Leonard Williams’ salary this season. That is, if they can get Williams to agree to taking that amount.

The Giants may not be done cleaning house, however. There are several other players the team can release to gain some more valuable cap space.

After Wednesday’s min-purge, the Giants’ top three remaining cap hits are: Nate Solder ($19.5 million), Kevin Zeitler ($12.5 million) and Golden Tate ($10.5 million).

Don’t count on them releasing any of those three. Zeitler is a key cog on the offensive line and a piece the team plans to build around. Tate is only in the second year of a four-year deal. He is still a valuable receiver and built a rapport with rookie quarterback Daniel Jones last season.

Solder is grossly overpaid but the Giants may have no choice other than to keep him for one more season. They can save $6.5 million by cutting him, but will carry a dead cap charge of $13 million this season and $6.5 next season.

The only remaining cap casualty targets are: tight end Rhett Ellison ($5 million) and safety Antoine Bethea ($2.75 million).

Ellison missed six games last season with a concussion and the Giants like what they saw out of rookie Kaden Smith. The 35-year-old Bethea led the Giants in tackles (110) last year but that may not translate into a job on this year’s team.

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Antoine Bethea confident in Giants’ chances vs Eagles

Safety Antoine Bethea is more than a little confident that the New York Giants will beat the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 17.

Veteran safety Antoine Bethea is the latest New York Giants player to emphasize that the team intends to finish this season strong and take momentum into next season.

“We’re going out there to end the season on a three-game win streak,” Bethea said, via the the New York Post.

The Giants haven’t won three straight games since 2016 and see this as a sign they are turning things around. Heck, they might even manage to save the coaches’ jobs with a convincing win.

“We still have things to play for,” Bethea said. “This is our job. We’re playing for the names on the back of our jerseys, we’re playing for the Giants, for our résumés. We start the season and we talk about ‘We’re in it together.’ We’re in it together until the end. At the end of the day, all our jobs are going to be critiqued. We all want to come out on the positive side.”

Bethea, at 35, is the Giants’ leading tackler this with 104 (76 solo) and it’s not close for second as Bill Parcells would say. That speaks volumes for how devoid of talent this defense is. Safety Jabrill Peppers is second, by the way, with 76 tackles and he’s missed the last month with a back fracture.

The desire to finish strong here is great to hear. The players haven’t tuned out the coaches nor do they have one foot on the bus. But why does it seem to take this team so long to put anything together? We understand there’s a lot of new players and rookies on the roster, plus injuries et al, but other teams have similar issues and manage to overcome them.

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Giants injury report: Daniel Jones moves a step closer to return

New York Giants rookie QB Daniel Jones was a full participant in Thursday’s practice and moved one step closer to his return.

The New York Giants were back at practice on Thursday and once again, the central focus was on rookie quarterback Daniel Jones and how his ankle would respond to the first-team reps he had taken on Wednesday.

The result? A very positive step in the right direction for both the Giants and Jones, who was again participating with the first-team and did not appear to be hampered at all.

Barring an unforeseen setback, Jones will return as the team’s starter on Sunday against the Washington Redskins, meaning that Eli Manning has very likely taken his final snap in blue.

In addition to Jones, tight end Rhett Ellison (concussion) and rookie edge rusher Oshane Ximines (ankle) were also participating in the portion of practice open to the media for the second day in a row.

Offensive lineman Kevin Zeitler (ankle) once again appeared to be limited, but it’s clear he’s half man, half machine and should be good to go come Sunday.

Meanwhile, safety Antoine Bethea was once again among the missing, spending time with his family after he and his wife welcomed a new baby on Wednesday. He is expected to return on Friday.

Below if the official report with designations released by the Giants:

Full participant: QB Daniel Jones (ankle), LB Oshane Ximines (ankle)

Limited participation: G Kevin Zeitler (ankle), TE Rhett Ellison (concussion)

Did not participate: S Antoine Bethea (not injury related)

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Giants injury report: Daniel Jones back taking first-team reps

New York Giants QB Daniel Jones (ankle) was back at practice on Wednesday and taking first-team reps for the first time since Week 13.

The New York Giants returned to practice on Wednesday ahead of a Week 16 matchup with the Washington Redskins, and as expected, all eyes were on rookie quarterback Daniel Jones.

Will he play on Sunday or will Eli Manning get one more start?

While head coach Pat Shurmur has been relatively coy about that, the belief is that Jones will be ready to play after suffering a high ankle sprain in Week 13. And if Wednesday morning was any indication, that would be a solid bet.

During the portion of practice that was open to the media, Jones was on the field stretching with his teammates and then proceeded to take snaps from center Jon Halapio — a sure indication that DJ is nearing a return.

Meanwhile, offensive lineman Kevin Zeitler (ankle) also did some work during the open portion of practice, which is obviously good news for the Giants despite Nick Gates playing well in his absence.

Finally, neither safety Antoine Bethea nor right tackle Nate Solder were at practice. Both players were excused for personal reasons — Bethea’s wife had their baby and Solder was with his son.

Wide receiver Sterling Shepard, who welcomed his second child on Tuesday, was at practice and participating.

When the Giants release their official injury report with designations, we will update it below.

Full participant:

Limited participant:

Did not participate:

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PFF: Darius Slayton, DeAndre Baker among highest-graded Giants in Week 14

New York Giants rookies, WR Darius Slayton and CB DeAndre Baker, were among the team’s highest-graded players in Week 14.

The New York Giants fell to 2-11 on the season with a 23-17 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football, but despite the defeat, there were several reasons for optimism.

Chief among them was the play of rookie wide receiver Darius Slayton, who hauled in five receptions for 154 yards and two touchdowns. That performance earned him a 90.3 overall grade.

Pro Football Focus provided a little additional context in their ReFocused segment.

Wide receiver Darius Slayton had two long touchdowns on deep balls from Manning, but he too fell off in the second half. He had just two targets and zero catches in the final two quarters of play.

On the defensive side of the ball, rookie cornerback DeAndre Baker had another high quality game, allowing just one reception for seven yards in his rotation with Sam Beal, who did not fare nearly as well.

Veteran safety Antoine Bethea also drew a little praise for his work against the run, while several others defenders earned some kudos in the ReFocused segment.

Rookie Oshane Ximines got a second-quarter sack of Wentz after he slid inside of Jason Peters, the sack occurred in the red zone and forced a field goal. Ximines picked up a second sack in the fourth quarter after beating back-up left tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai inside.

Markus Golden had an unblocked sack to end the Eagles’ opening drive of the game. Golden picked up a hit of Wentz on the very next drive.

With all the praise being slung around, someone had to catch blame for the loss. And who else but veteran quarterback Eli Manning, who hadn’t played in 10 weeks and tossed two touchdowns and over 200 yards to his zero turnovers?

Yeah, makes sense.

Eli Manning started hot in his spot start for injured rookie Daniel Jones but faded in the second half as he struggled to move the ball. His drop-off in play ultimately resulted in another loss for the Giants.

Read that again — the Giants lost because of Manning’s drop-off in play during the second half when the Giants defense couldn’t stop anything, the offensive line couldn’t block anything, the receivers couldn’t catch anything and zero adjustments were made by head coach Pat Shurmur and defensive coordinator James Bettcher.

As many things change, so many stay the same.

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5 reasons Giants could upset Eagles in Week 14

The New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles square off in Week 14, and here are five reasons Big Blue could come away with the win.

The New York Giants are currently on an eight-game losing streak and are heading to Philadelphia (where they haven’t won a game since 2013) to take on the struggling Eagles on Monday night.

The Eagles are on a three-game losing streak of their own after an embarrassing 37-31 loss to the lowly Miami Dolphins last week. At 5-7, they are watching their divisional championship hopes dwindle away if things continue to trend in the wrong direction.

With the Dallas Cowboys in a rut of their own at 6-6, the Eagles absolutely need to win this game, which arguably makes the Giants even more dangerous in the role as spoiler.

Here are five reasons why the Giants can pull off an improbable victory in a city they haven’t won in since 2013.

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Eli Manning

Rookie Daniel Jones seemingly unseated Manning from his 16-year starting quarterback throne with the Giants for good in Week 3 when he took over. Unfortunately, Jones suffered what they are calling a high ankle sprain last week against the Green Bay Packers, despite finishing out the contest.

On Monday Pat Shurmur initially stated that Jones did not require any further tests on the ankle Monday expecting him to be fine. However, on Wednesday Shurmur announced that Jones would not practice while also revealing he suffered a high ankle sprain.

Paging doctor Manning, it now looks more than likely that Eli will start on Monday for the first time since being benched in favor of Jones in Week 3.

While Jones has shown promising signs this season, he still has the expected growing pains of a rookie quarterback. With Eli, the Giants get a veteran Hall of Famer, who has been around the block a few times and has battled it out with the Eagles for close to 20 years. He also eliminates the turnover issues that come with Jones in his first year.

It is expected that Eli will return with a chip on his shoulder and make the most of his surprise playing time. But, keep in mind that Manning has struggled against the Eagles in his career with a 10-22 record, and a 59.3% completion percentage. The Eagles have won their last five meetings with the Giants and nine of their last 10 games. Monday could give us a better idea of whether Pat Shurmur pulled the plug on Eli too early this season. We shall find out.

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