Tag: Pat Hanlon

Elle Duncan fires back at Giants: ‘I stand by’ my mockery of Daniel Jones

Elle Duncan doubled down on her Daniel Jones disrespect as she and Stephen A. Smith completely unloaded on the New York Giants organization.

On Thursday night, after former New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones read an emotionally charged statement essentially saying goodbye to the franchise, ESPN anchor Elle Duncan decided to chime in.

Duncan changed the entire format of her segment in order to mock and belittle Jones, which she appeared to take great joy in.

“We normally reserve ‘Taking the Elle’ for Fridays but Giants quarterback Daniel Jones just did something so inexplicable that we made an exception,” Duncan said. “After being benched this week, Jones took to the podium to say goodbye to the franchise and fans but with, like, seven games left in the season.

“I’m sorry, you have to write this down? Didn’t you go to Duke?”

Duncan clearly missed the tone of the press conference, which was evident by Jones’ Friday release. Yet, she persisted.

“Do you guys think he had this saved in his notes since, like, 2020?” she continued. “In all seriousness, DJ, I could have saved you like 90 seconds. A re-write: ‘Sorry you paid me $180 million for one playoff win. And I look forward to reviving my career as Brock Purdy’s backup.’ The end.”

It was an undeniably classless and unfunny take by Dunne, which drew the ire of Giants senior vice president of communications Pat Hanlon.

After being called out, Duncan double-down on her flat-falling commentary, firing back at the Giants and Hanlon.

“You want to call me disrespectful to Daniel Jones? Am I more disrespectful than the Giants making him a scout team safety? Am I more disrespectful than all of those same fans that are in my mentions right now who booed him mercilessly for the last six seasons?” Dunne said on Friday. “I stand by everything that I said.”

Dunne played the victim after her unprovoked and immature attack, which was quickly defended by Stephen A. Smith.

“The New York Giants, respectfully, shut the hell up. Y’all are awful as an organization,” Smith said. “Y’all are sorry! Y’all are pathetic! The only reason why you get away with it is because the Jets have been worse. . . And you’ve got the nerve to sit up there and call the network because you want to whine and moan about your ineptitude being put on public display?”

Smith continued to rant incoherently while Dunne, exiled quarterback Cam Newton, and former Giants defensive back Ryan Clark laughed.

Perhaps it was lost on both Dunne and Smith that they weren’t bashing the Giants, they were taking personal public aim at Jones, who may not have been the best quarterback the Giants have seen but was a hard worker and beloved by the community he helped.

As Pat Hanlon said, Dunne, Smith, and ESPN are tone-deaf. And they clearly remain tone-deaf acting like victims after an unnecessary personal attack on a player, not the organization. It was immature and their defense remains immature. Full stop.

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Giants’ Pat Hanlon slams ESPN’s Elle Duncan for mocking Daniel Jones

ESPN’s Elle Duncan immaturely mocked New York Giants QB Daniel Jones in an unfunny segment on Thursday, which drew the ire of Pat Hanlon.

On Thursday, an emotional Daniel Jones read a prepared statement in which he essentially said goodbye to the New York Giants, acknowledging that his time in East Rutherford had come to an end.

Jones expressed gratitude for the organization and his teammates, many of whom have publicly stood up for him.

But it didn’t stop the vultures from circling. Almost immediately, Jones was mocked for being emotional and caring. Shade was thrown from every direction, including courtesy of ESPN.

Anchor Elle Duncan changed the entire format of her Thursday show in an effort to dunk on Jones in a segment that felt almost personal.

“We normally reserve ‘Taking the Elle’ for Fridays but Giants quarterback Daniel Jones just did something so inexplicable that we made an exception,” Duncan said. “After being benched this week, Jones took to the podium to say goodbye to the franchise and fans but with, like, seven games left in the season.

“I’m sorry, you have to write this down? Didn’t you go to Duke?”

Duncan continued to mock Jones with snide remarks, exaggerated facial expressions, and fake gagging sounds.

“Do you guys think he had this saved in his notes since, like, 2020?” she continued. “In all seriousness, DJ, I could have saved you like 90 seconds. A re-write: ‘Sorry you paid me $180 million for one playoff win. And I look forward to reviving my career as Brock Purdy’s backup.’ The end.”

Painfully unfunny. And sad that she didn’t even bother to fact-check the contract.

The awkward attempted comedy skit that fell flat was not well-received by the Giants as senior vice president of communications, Pat Hanlon, was quick to remind Duncan that neither she nor ESPN are in any position to throw stones from their glass homes.

Jones may not have become the franchise quarterback so many in New York hoped he would, but the punching down, mockery, and disparaging remarks directed at such a hard-working, community-loving player are bizarre. It wreaks of desperation and comes across as immature. It’s bully behavior but in the weakest sense.

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Giants players, radio announcer escape Mall of America shooting

Members of the New York Giants were believed to have been in the Mall of America on Friday night when shots rang out but are “accounted for.”

A shooting at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota left a 19-year-old dead and many others in fear on Friday night.

Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges told the Associated Press that an altercation between two groups preceded the shooting and that a bystander had also been grazed by a bullet.

The New York Giants, who traveled to Minneapolis on Friday ahead of their Week 16 game against the Minnesota Vikings, are staying at a hotel adjacent to the mall. Several of their players were believed to have been in the mall at the time of the shooting.

“Everyone is back in the hotel and accounted for now,” Giants executive vice president of communications Pat Hanlon told the AP.

Long-time Giants play-by-play announcer, Bob Papa, was also in the mall at the time of the shooting. He sent a series of tweets during the chaos.

General manager Joe Schoen may have also been in the mall at the time of the shooting and worked with team security to account for all of the players during the mall lockdown.

The suspect(s) remain at large.

The thoughts and prayers of Giants Nation go out to the victim, his family, and his friends.

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Giants’ Pat Hanlon rips ex-scout Steve Verderosa

New York Giants senior VP of communications Pat Hanlon took aim at ex-scout Steve Verderosa on Tuesday following some critical tweets.

Former New York Giants scout Steve Verderosa, who was fired by the team in 2020 after several decades of service, warned against the potential promotion of assistant general manager Kevin Abrams earlier this week.

“Kevin has been the one negotiating the bad signings (Nate Solder, Kenny Golladay, etc.). He is not a football guy — never played, coached or scouted. Need a football guy!” Verderosa tweeted.

It was just the latest of several critical takes on the Giants and their executives that Verderosa has shared in recent weeks.

On Tuesday, Giants senior vice president of communications Pat Hanlon had finally heard enough. He shot back at Verderosa in a series of tweets that seemed to indicate there had been a major falling out.

Although Hanlon tweeted Verderosa directly, the former scout did not reply directly. Instead, he sent out a standalone tweet.

Hanlon has never been shy about sharing his two cents and will chime in when he feels it’s necessary. In this case, he clearly felt Verderosa had some ulterior motives and wasn’t going to let the criticism go unchecked.

Still, with the Giants down and out bad, this sort of public exchange does not reflect well. And with another season circling the drain, optics are really all that’s left in East Rutherford.

It’s just been that kind of year for the Giants. And when we say “year,” we really mean “decade.”

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Giants shuffle communications department

The New York Giants have made a few changes to their communications department, including the promotion of Jen Escalante.

The New York Giants announced a few changes to their communications department on Tuesday, including the promotion of Jen Escalante to vice president of strategic communications. She had previously worked as a director in corporate and football communications.

The Giants say Jen will continue to contribute to the Giants’ football communications in her new role.

Meanwhile, the Giants also announced that Dion Dargin is now the director of football communications and will handle “day-to-day responsibilities of the team’s football communications.”

Finally, Maddi Harris has been hired as the team’s communications coordinator.

Pat Hanlon, who has been with the Giants for nearly 29 years, will continue to serve as the team’s senior vice president of communications.

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NFL teams will begin reopening facilities, but Giants will not be among them

The New York Giants will not be among the NFL teams reopening their facilities due to State and county regulations.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell sent a letter to all 32 teams on Friday granting them permission to reopen facilities, provided State and county regulations allow it.

In the memo, Goodell said that facilities will open in phases with the first allowing injured players back to rehab. Other coaches and players will not yet be permitted at team facilities, and no team is permitted to hold minicamps or OTAs.

Despite the first step towards reopening, the New York Giants will not be among the teams returning.

“It takes more time than four days to reopen a facility that has been shut down for two months. We are subject to state regulations,” Giants senior vice president of communications Pat Hanlon told NorthJersey.com and USA TODAY Network on Friday night. “Bottom line, when we are cleared on all fronts to go back, we will, in an orderly, systematic, safe way to protect those in our building. It has been a process and protocol we have been developing for the last month or two.”

New Jersey governor Phil Murphy recently extended the state’s public health emergency to June 6, which means the Quest Diagnostics Training Center in East Rutherford will remain closed for at least another three weeks.

The Giants closed their facilities on March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic, but employees of the team have been working remotely since. They have also held a virtual offseason program for the past three weeks via video conferencing, including a voluntary three-day minicamp.

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