After Giants’ loss in Philly, doubts hover over direction of the franchise

After the latest New York Giants loss, questions about the long-term direction of the franchise loom large.

For the New York Giants, the faces change but the results don’t. They have been losing for years and continue to do so regardless of who makes the personnel moves, mans the sidelines, calls the plays, and puts on the blue and red helmet.

They lose football games. That’s what they do now. They are 1-6 and in last place in the NFC East. They are falling further into an abyss that they should not be near to begin with.

Fans from the days of the 60s and 70s know to be patient but the younger generation does not. They have Yankee-itis aka ‘win now and keep on winning,’ meaning rebuilding isn’t in their vocabulary.

Giant fans have become more like Met fans, aka ‘learn how to lose and like it.’

How can the Giants be so bad for so long in a league that basically forbids it? The NFL used to be a league where it took teams decades to get out of the cellar. There was only the draft (two-dozen plus rounds of it) and trades at a general manager’s disposal. There was no free agency the way we know it, no salary cap and no balanced schedule based on performance. If you were bad, it took eons to catch up.

Today’s NFL is different. Teams should not lose for more than three years. In most cases, teams go from worst to first, or at least worst to median. They don’t become perennial doormats, the system — if played accordingly — is designed to correct that.

So, why have the Giants been losing for seven of the past eight seasons? Bad luck? Stupidity? Both? It’s an interesting question.

First, they stuck with Jerry Reese at GM for way too long. Reese should have been let go along with Tom Coughlin. That prolonged the drought by two years at least. Sure, they went 11-5 in 2016 but that team was a paper tiger. They went right back to the basement the next season. And they’ve stayed there.

Why? No direction.

Since Coughlin’s termination at the end of the 2015 season, the Giants have had four head coaches: Ben McAdoo, Steve Spagnuolo (interim), Pat Shurmur and now Joe Judge. Four lifelong assistant coaches, although the jury is still out on Judge (pun intended).

They keep tooling around with assistants who might blossom into the next Bill Parcells. This is New York. Get yourself a headliner, not an understudy.

Dave Gettleman is a seasoned football man but this is 2020 not 1970. Take a look at his three drafts. In 2018, he chose running back Saquon Barkley in a quarterback-rich draft. In 2019, the strength of the draft was defense. Gettleman took a quarterback, Daniel Jones. This year, he selected an offensive tackle, Andrew Thomas, over three other tackles and a load of other talented players. He chose not only the wrong player but the wrong tackle.

Barkley, after a smashing start, is now facing a long rehab on a torn ACL, an injury that has ruined many a running back’s career. Jones has been erratic, making spectacular plays one moment and then implodes on the next. Thomas has been a disaster. He can’t seem to block anyone. He’s made Nate Solder look like Anthony Munoz.

It’s no wonder they can’t put it all together. They don’t have strategy. If building around Jones is the strategy, it isn’t working. He can’t score points, and therefore can’t win games. Their defense has a nice core but still allows teams to walk right down the field on them.

My suggestion remains clear. Get a 21st Century thinker in the big chair and start playing the system the way it’s supposed be played — with the head and not the heart. Until then, enjoy the silent Januarys.

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Ex-Giants GM Jerry Reese will be a presenter at Quarterback Coaching Summit

Former New York Giants general manager Jerry Reese will serve as a presenter at the 2020 Quarterback Coaching Summit.

Former New York Giants general manager Jerry Reese will participate in the third annual Quarterback Coaching Summit, a joint venture between the NFL and the Black College Football Hall of Fame, which will be held virtually from June 22-23.

The NFL describes the event as follows:

The Quarterback Coaching Summit is one of several NFL programs intended to build the coaching and personnel development pipeline and strengthen diversity across the league. In its third year, the program will feature sessions and panels led by NFL owners, current and former NFL coaches, and college football coaches.

Reese will be a presenter at one of the sessions which will include “building a coaching staff, quarterback position fundamentals, and other best practices for career advancement.”

Reese was the Giants general manager from 2007-2017, overseeing the franchise during two Super Bowl runs in 2007 and 2011. He was responsible for drafting many of the team’s iconic stars such as Jason Pierre-Paul, Odell Beckham Jr. and Hakeem Nicks, but his tenure as GM will be remembered by many of the his draft failures and the team’s nosedive in the standings over his final five seasons. He was replaced by Dave Gettleman in December of 2017.

Also expected to present at the summit are Pittsburgh Steelers president and NFL Workplace Diversity Committee chair Art Rooney II, Buffalo Bills president Kim Pegula, Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh and Buffalo Bills assistant head coach and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier.

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Dave Gettleman appears to be on thin ice with Giants

Jay Glazer reports that the New York Giants are giving GM Dave Gettleman just one more season to turn things around or be fired.

The New York Giants have not been good for a long time and there is plenty of blame to go around. In recent years, we’ve seen an uncharacteristic shuffling of staff as ownership tries to steady course, but those rough seas may not have passed just yet.

Following the conclusion of the 2019 season, the Giants fired head coach Pat Shurmur and the majority of his staff, and they nearly parted ways with general manager Dave Gettleman as well.

Gettleman managed to talk his way back into the fold, but he hadn’t exactly been given a long leash.

In a Monday column for The Athletic, NFL insider Jay Glazer noted that Gettleman was nearly sent out to pasture earlier this year before being given one more season to turn things around.

“I don’t know if he’ll end up retiring but yeah, I think he was close this year. He made a case to ownership to come back. He presented a plan for how he’ll turn it around in a year. That needs to happen. If it doesn’t happen, he’ll be gone and rightfully so. If he doesn’t follow through, it’s time to go. I would hope that Gettleman has also learned a bit about himself and his interactions with people during this process. Anytime you’re on the hot seat, you have to look inside yourself and say, ‘What’s my responsibility in this?’ and make changes,” Glazer wrote.

One of the major knocks on Gettleman isn’t necessarily his ability to evaluate talent or his roster building skills, but his interpersonal skills. He’s not well-versed in the societal subtitles during conversation and that tends to rub people the wrong way — other executives, players and especially the media, who hang on his every word.

Of course, Gettleman also completely overhauled the team’s roster and left glaring weaknesses at several positions, but Jerry Reese deserves a part of that blame as well.

Ultimately however, the onus of success falls squarely on the shoulders of Gettleman, who campaigned to replace Reese in the first place, so at this point, there are no other excuses to be had.

As Glazer alludes, if Gettleman is unable to up his batting average, as co-owner John Mara put it earlier this year, then he’ll end up riding pine right alongside Reese.

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Former Giants DE Dave Tollefson ‘not a fan’ of Jerry Reese, Marc Ross

Retired New York Giants DE Dave Tollefson admits he was “not a fan” of former GM Jerry Reese and his right-hand man, Marc Ross.

Retired defensive end Dave Tollefson helped the New York Giants win two Super Bowl titles from 2007-2012 and was a key role player in their impressive rotation of pass rushers.

Tollefson recorded 10 sacks in five seasons with Big Blue, half of them coming in 2011 when they won Super Bowl XLVI.

Unlike the coaching staff, certain members of the Giants front office did not value what Tollefson brought to the table, specifically former general manager Jerry Reese.

“I am not a big fan of Jerry. I don’t think he liked me and that’s why he signed me to five straight one-year deals. I wasn’t too upset when [Giants ownership] moved on from him,” Tollefson told Giants Wire.

However, Reese wasn’t the only one who questioned Tollefson’s worth. Vice President of Player Evaluation and Reese’s right-hand man, Marc Ross, was not on great terms with the defensive lineman, either.

“Marc used to go around telling people it was going to be easy to take my spot, which I heard from several reputable people in the building,” Tollefson said.

Ross interviewed for the Giants’ general manager job after Reese was let go, but once the team brought in current general manager Dave Gettleman, Ross was let go from the organization.

Since his firing, Ross has appeared numerous times on NFL Network to bash Gettleman, Eli Manning and the Giants organization rather than take any accountability for the disappointing draft classes both he and Reese brought in from 2008-2017.

“When they let us all go after 2011 and 2012, Jerry Reese didn’t give me close to a respectable offer after being third on the team with five sacks,” said Tollefson, who believes the team still had a chance to be playoff contenders had Reese kept the group together for another season or two.

Of course, Tollefson is referring to Reese letting go of some of the key contributors to those winning rosters including himself, Brandon Jacobs, Mario Manningham, Ahmad Bradshaw, Justin Tuck and Chris Canty, among others.

The Giants won two Super Bowls and were consistent playoff contenders from 2005-2012 going a minimum of .500 in each season. Obviously, the group was starting to age by the end of their run, but the cupboard was so bare due to their poor draft classes that they had no one to step up and replace the veterans they moved on from.

Speaking of Manning, Tollefson also expressed his displeasure about how the former regime wasted the two-time Super Bowl MVP’s prime years following Super Bowl XLVI. Tollefson feels the roster they surrounded the quarterback with from 2013-2019 was inexcusable and hurt Manning’s legacy.

The Giants are 51-77 with only one playoff appearance since winning Super Bowl XLVI. The team fired Reese and Ross in 2017 after their questionable draft classes from 2008-2017 and 2016 free agent spending spree left the team lacking depth and paying expensive veterans, who won all of three games in their final season.

The team is now on their fourth head coach since 2015 following Tom Coughlin’s 12-year run in blue.

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Jerry Reese, Roger Goodell congratulate Eli Manning on his retirement

Several big names chimed in on the retirement of New York Giants QB Eli Manning.

New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning retired from football on Friday and accolades from around the football world have come flooding in.

“Eli Manning leaves an indelible imprint on the New York Giants, their fans, and the NFL,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “His passion for the game, intense preparation, and ability to rise to the occasion were the hallmarks of his career. Eli holds a special place in history, not just for the hoisting the Lombardi trophy and being named Super Bowl MVP twice, but for how he transcended the game with the way he carried himself around teammates, media and – most importantly- fans. That’s one of the many reasons he was named Walter Payton Man of the Year. On the field and in the community, he was a champion. He was also a true competitor and held himself to the highest standard in everything he did. We know he’ll carry that same spirit with him into the future.”

Former Giants general manager Jerry Reese, who has rarely been heard from since being dismissed by the Giants during the 2017 season, had this to say about his former star QB.

“One of the all-time great faces of the New York Giants franchise. It was an honor to work with him. Congratulations, and Godspeed to him and his family.”

Philip Rivers, who the Giants drafted with the fourth overall selection in the 2004 NFL Draft and traded to the San Diego Chargers in exchange for Eli, also chimed in:

“Congratulations, Eli, on an awesome career. I always admired your steadiness and dependability over the 16 years. And of course the two unbelievable Super Bowl runs you led your team on. Congrats on a Hall of Fame career.”

Notice that Rivers said, “Hall of Fame career”.

Tom Brady was defeated twice by Manning’s Giants in the Super Bowl. He is a gracious loser it seems as he sent in these remarks.

“Eli was a great competitor and champion. Playing his teams became some of our most challenging moments. We got our share, but they got the most important ones. It’s a credit to his leadership and determination and it was an honor to share the field with him.”

Giants general manager Dave Gettleman drafted Eli’s replacement, Daniel Jones, also knows Eli’s value having been with the team in Eli’s early days with the Giants as well has his final ones.

“To be with the New York Giants to see the beginning and end of Eli’s career has been a blessing. The grace with which he handled all situations on and off the field is something for us all to admire and emulate. Eli is a leader and winner who showed all his teammates and future Giants what it takes to win. I certainly thank him for all that he’s done for the New York Football Giants. We wish Eli, Abby and the children all the Lord’s blessings.”

New York Giants: 11 defining moments of the decade

As the 2010s come to a close, here’s a look back at the 11 defining moments of the decade for the New York Giants.

The 2010s were a decade of highs and lows for the New York Giants. Unfortunately there were much more lows than highs.

But we here at Giants Wire have compiled the top 10 memorable moments of the decade, some of them not in any particular order.

Andrew Mills/THE STAR-LEDGER via USA TODAY Sports

Victor Cruz’ 99-yard TD vs Jets

On Christmas Eve 2011, the Giants came into the game with a 7-7 record and needed a spark to help jettison them past Gang Green and keep their playoff hopes alive.

Trailing 7-3 in the second quarter and facing a third-and-10 from their own one-yard line, Eli Manning hit Cruz underneath. Cruz then broke several tackles and raced 99 yards for the go-ahead score.

That play spring-boarded the Giants to a 29-14 victory. They carried that momentum the rest of the way, defeating Dallas the next week for the NFC East title and then ran the table all the way through Super Bowl XLVI.

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