Tag: Prince Amukamara

Former Husker All-American announces retirement from NFL

A former Nebraska All-American has announced his retirement from the NFL.

A former Nebraska All-American has announced his retirement from the NFL. Prince Amukamara announced his retirement after 11 seasons.

Amukamara played at Nebraska from 2007 to 2010. He was a unanimous All-American and the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year for the 2010 season.

He was taken in the first round of the 2011 NFL draft with the 19th pick overall. He would play for the Giants, Jaguars, and Bears during his professional career.

Amukamara appeared in 113 games, making 477 tackles with ten career interceptions and one touchdown. He also won Super Bowl XLVI with the New York Giants.

The cornerback signed a one-day contract with New York so he could retire as a member of the team that drafted him. Find a photo gallery of his playing career below.

Former Saints CB Prince Amukamara signs one-day contract to retire with Giants

Prince Amukamara signed a one-day deal so he could retire with the Giants, who drafted him back in 2011. His last NFL contract was with the Saints during their 2021 training camp:

Plenty of players have signed ceremonial one-day contracts so they could retire with the New Orleans Saints — Lance Moore, Jermon Bushrod, and Scott Fujita on top of a mountain in South America — but it’s not often that the inverse happens. Former NFL cornerback Prince Amukamara did just that, signing a one-day deal with the New York Giants so he could hang up his cleats with Big Blue.

It wasn’t a hard decision to make. Amukamara was drafted by the Giants back in 2011 and spent most of his career there, but his last NFL contract was with the Saints during their 2021 training camp. He wasn’t able to push then-rookie Paulson Adebo for the starting job so the Saints released him from his contract two weeks after he signed it.

Out of football for the rest of 2021 and 2022, Amukamara has now formally retired, and he’s done so as a Giant. New York picked him at No. 19 overall in the 2011 draft (out of Nebraska) and he’ll get to say he ended his career in pro football where he started it. Good for him.

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Prince Amukamara signs one-day contract to retire with Giants

Cornerback Prince Amukamara has signed a one-day contract with the New York Giants so that he can retire as a member of the organization.

Cornerback Prince Amukamara officially announced his retirement from the NFL on Thursday and signed a one-day contract so that he could go out with the New York Giants.

“I always thought retirement was you go to an island, you look at the ocean, and you have a cold beverage on your side,” Amukamara said in his retirement speech on Thursday. “But seeing guys like [Michael] Strahan, Eli [Manning], [Victor] Cruz, mastering something after football, I feel like as athletes, we’re used to routine, we’re competitive, and so we’re not meant to just sit down and do nothing.

“I plan on doing something purposeful. I’ve always lived by if being a football player was the only thing I was known for, then I haven’t really accomplished anything in life.”

Amukamara was a first-round pick (18th overall) of the Giants in the 2011 NFL draft and helped the organization pick up their fourth Super Bowl championship during his rookie year.

In total, Amukamara spent five years with the Giants before becoming somewhat of a journeyman.

“I have a lot of special memories here,” an emotional Amukamara added, making specific note of the 2011 team. “That was a special team. I haven’t been on another team like that since.”

After leaving the Giants via free agency in 2016, Amukamara had stints with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Chicago Bears, Las Vegas Raiders, Arizona Cardinals and New Orleans Saints.

Amukamara last played in 2019 but was part of multiple practice squads from 2020 through 2021.

Over 11 NFL seasons, Amukamara appeared in 113 games (99 starts), recording 477 tackles (417 solo, 11 for a loss), six forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, 78 passes defensed, 10 interceptions and one defensive touchdown.

Amukamara appeared in 55 games with the Giants, including 45 regular season starts. Seven of his 10 career interceptions came with Big Blue.

Amukamara, who has royal Nigerian bloodlines, and his wife, Pilar, have five children.

“I truly love the saying, ‘Once a Giant, always a Giant.’ It started here for me and I am happy it ends here,” Amukamara said. “I’m thankful and grateful to say I am going to be a Giant forever.”

Once a Giant, Always a Giant, indeed.

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Odell Beckham Jr. looked ready for his NFL comeback after impressing in private workout

Odell Beckham Jr. looks ready for a comeback.

While he didn’t play last season, free agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. put on a show for NFL teams at a private workout on Friday.

Former NFL cornerback Prince Amukamara was on hand for the day’s showcase, which featured Beckham making a very Beckham catch and very likely convincing at least a couple of NFL teams to send an offer his way once free agency gets going next week.

Beckham hasn’t played since the Los Angeles Rams’ Super Bowl 56 victory in February 2022 because of an ACL injury. He looks ready now for his professional comeback, and plenty of teams were in attendance for his workout.

Amukamara caught two of Beckham’s more impressive drills during the day’s workout.

ESPN reporter Jeremy Fowler heard from a source that Beckham looks more “noticeably muscular” than he previously has in his career and made comparisons to Saquon Barkley and Deebo Samuel.

No matter where Beckham lands, it does look all but confirmed that the wideout will be back on an NFL field this fall.

Loss of Evan Engram continues disturbing first-round Giants trend

Following the loss of Evan Engram, the New York Giants have now had 11 straight Round 1 picks fail to play on a second long-term contract.

As the league’s legal tampering period opened last week, New York Giants tight end Evan Engram was one of the more highly coveted free agents heading into the open tight end market.

Engram, of course, ended up signing with the Jacksonville Jaguars on a one-year deal, $9 million deal.

Engram’s departure puts the tight end in all too familiar territory for Giants first-round draft picks. Engram, like so many of the team’s recent Round 1 draft picks, will depart without getting a lucrative deal from Big Blue.

Though there are a few outliers, as Tom Rock notes, most players never even had the opportunity for a short-term contract after their rookie deal expired. Engram is the latest.

Aaron Ross, Hakeem Nicks, Kenny Phillips, Jason Pierre-Paul and Prince Amukamara all contributed to least one of the Giants’ recent Super Bowls. But, for the most part, their prime years were short-lived as the team moved on at the right time.

The sole exception is JPP, who is still playing at a high level but never got a lucrative long-term deal from the Giants before being traded.

David Wilson and Ereck Flowers were unlucky picks by the Giants as Wilson’s career ended early due to injury and Flowers was one of the biggest busts in franchise history. However, Flowers did go on to be a formidable option for other teams following his time with Big Blue.

The departures of Odell Beckham Jr. and Eli Apple were the most drama-filled on the list. And while Beckham still has some love for Big Blue, Apple can’t decide which one of his former team’s fan bases he hates more.

Of course, the Giants’ next shot at breaking the streak will be Saquon Barkley. After his rookie year it seemed as though he would be a Giant for life, but after the last few years of injury-filled football, Barkley may not be a Giant much longer — many speculate that he might currently be on the trading block.

After that it will be Daniel Jones and Dexter Lawrence from the 2019 NFL draft class — a class where the Giants already have a failed with one of their first-round picks (Deandre Baker).

Current general manager Joe Schoen obviously hopes to buck this trend.

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Ex-Giants cheering for Odell Beckham Jr. in Super Bowl

Several former members of the New York Giants admit they’re cheering on the Los Angeles Rams and Odell Beckham Jr. in Super Bowl LVI.

When the Las Angeles Rams take on the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI, there will be a distinct New York Giants feel.

On Cincy’s side, cornerback Eli Apple and defensive lineman B.J. Hill have been showing out. On their shoulders, the Bengals have reached their first-ever Super Bowl.

Across the field will be the Rams and superstar wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., whose career revitalization has been on full display. And his dream of winning a championship ring is just 60 minutes away.

For many current and former members of the Giants, that creates a rooting conundrum. On one hand, they’d very much like to see Hill win a title. On the other hand, many feel OBJ is the most deserving of all.

“Excited for him, man,” cornerback Prince Amukamara told the New York Post. “The thing with Odell is that he knew he still had a lot of ball left in him. I knew, most people knew. But, if we’re being real, his going from team to team and then the performance not being there, you kind of ask ‘Dang, is this it for Odell?’ And I’m sure Odell doesn’t want to just be known for ‘the catch,’ even though that’s not a bad thing to be known for. But to have ‘Super Bowl champion’ next to your name, it’s awesome. I’m sure excited for him.”

And Amukamara isn’t the only former Giant cheering on OBJ.

“I think he’s one of the guys that’s misunderstood in this league,” offensive lineman Justin Pugh said. “Definitely cheering for him this Sunday.”

Even defensive lineman Mathias Kiwanuka, who played for just one season alongside Beckham, is pleased to see how things are playing out.

“The lesson is that not everybody who appears to be divisive or not a team player is actually that way,” Kiwanuka said. “When I played with him he was young and you could say some of the things he did were immature but he’s grown a lot. I applaud him for being headstrong and figuring out a way to get himself and his family in the best situation possible.”

Winning the Super Bowl would be redemption for Beckham, who insists he’s not basking in the glory of proving so many people wrong. However he got to L.A. is irrelevant — he’s there now and one step away from fulfilling a life-long dream.

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Saints depth chart update after whirlwind of 15 roster moves in two days

The New Orleans Saints shuffled their depth chart during the first wave of roster cuts, with 15 different players coming and going. What does it look like now?

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The New Orleans Saints shuffled their depth chart during the first wave of roster cuts, with 15 different players coming and going the last few days. What does the team look like now? Here is a position-by-position review of all the latest changes, with more on the way:

2021 Saints roster cuts: Tracking the path to 85 players on Tuesday

New Orleans Saints roster cuts: Tracking the path to 85 players on Tuesday

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Like every other NFL team, the New Orleans Saints must complete the unpleasant process of trimming their roster down from 90 players to just 85 on Tuesday, before 3 p.m. CT. But they already got the jump on this by releasing two veterans and waiving three other players with injury designations on Monday, which we’ll get to shortly.

Here are the next deadlines to remember:

  • Tuesday, August 17: Down to 85
  • Tuesday, August 24: Down to 80
  • Tuesday, August 31: Down to 53

And here are the five former members of the black and gold:

Saints roster moves: K Brett Maher lands on injured reserve

New Orleans Saints roster moves: Brett Maher lands on injured reserve

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So that’s not ideal. The New Orleans Saints filed a flurry of roster moves with the daily NFL transactions wire ahead of Tuesday’s deadline to trim down from 90 contracts to 85, but their biggest loss is kicker Brett Maher.

Maher was signed a week ago following core muscle surgery for Wil Lutz, but he’s now going to be out of action after being waived with an injury designation. He’ll be reverting to injured reserve. Lutz is still recovering so look for more tryouts to fly in to New Orleans soon.

Additionally, the Saints made official the previously-reported releases of veteran defenders Noah Spence and Prince Amukamara. Both players struggled in the preseason opener against the Baltimore Ravens so now attention turns to their younger teammates.

And Maher isn’t the player waived with an injury designation: rookie running back Stevie Scott III, from Indiana, will also land on injured reserve. Scott was one of a handful of players who didn’t get on the field for Saturday’s exhibition game and this explains his absence.

So too was veteran offensive tackle Kyle Murphy. He initially went in with the second-string offensive line but exited with an injury, and now he’s going on injured reserve. His loss does create opportunities for other players like Landon Young and Ethan Greenidge, but we’ll see if the Saints bring in additional free agents to work out.

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Saints snaps counts notes and observations from Week 1 of preseason

New Orleans Saints snaps counts notes and observations from Week 1 of preseason

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The New Orleans Saints fell short in their preseason game with the Baltimore Ravens, but winning wasn’t really the point. These exhibition matchups are all about self-scouting and evaluating players in different roles and situations to see how they respond. And there’s a lot to like if you view the game from that perspective.

To that end, I reviewed snaps counts and took them all in context of what the vision may be for various players up and down the depth chart. Check out each position group and my notes below. All snaps via Pro Football Focus play-by-play charting (and rookies are italicized):