Archive for the ‘Jeremy Shockey’
SportingNews.com Ranks Giants
SportingNews.com has been busy ranking players:
The first article is titled, Ranking the top 25 NFL wide receivers. Only Plaxico Burress of the G-MEN made the list at No. 9. Here is what they had to say about Burress, “What Burress did last season despite struggling through a myriad of injuries is nothing short of remarkable. Blessed with unbelievable skills and physical tools, he is definitely a top-10 receiver when his head is on straight.” It seems about right when you look at the players on the list ahead of him.
The second article is titled, Ranking the top 20 NFL tight ends. Only Jeremy Shockey made the list at No. 5, and they wrote, “Shockey’s greatest weaknesses are his head and his mouth. If he would just stop complaining long enough, he would be recognized for the outstanding receiving threat he is. He is also a better blocker than most think — he just doesn’t like to block.” It seems about right, but I never saw Kellen Winslow of the Browns play. Winslow is hogging the No. 3 spot so I’m not sure if he deserves it or not.
Last, Clifton Brown made his NFC predictions. Brown has the ‘Girls winning the NFC East with a 13-3 record, but he has the Giants with a 13-3 record but making the Playoffs as a Wild Card. Brown made all of his NFC picks in the article, plus who’s beating who in the Playoffs, and he has the Chargers winning the Super Bowl over the Cowboys.
Shockey and Bradshaw on PFT’s All-Turd Team
Our boys over at ProFootballTalk.com assembled their 2008 All-Turd Team (Offense). The requirements for consideration are one or more arrests, one or more violations of the league’s substance abuse policy, one or more violations of the league’s steroid policy, one or more holdouts while under contract, one or more flagrant acts of rudeness and/or stupidity, and/or anything else that makes us think that there’s good cause for the player to be included on the squad. A couple Giants made the list.
- Jeremy Shockey - “He can blame the team for not letting him on the sidelines for the Super Bowl all he wants, but we’ll never forget that image of Shockey double-fisting cocktails while his teammates pulled off one of the biggest upsets in NFL history. The fact that the Giants came of age without him is strong evidence of how much he was holding the franchise back.”
- Ahmad Bradshaw - “Plenty of NFL players are arrested; few spend 30 days in jail.”
Congrats to Jeremy and Ahmad for making the 2008 All-Turd Team. That’s quite an achievement. I can’t wait to see who makes the Defense team.
Jeremy Shockey’s Sticking Around?
According to The Record, Jeremy Shockey is going to continue to make a mockery of himself and of the New York Football Giants as a Giant because “a source that has been accurate much of the time says the Giants have given up efforts to try to trade the tight end, and that Shockey will stay put.” The Record suggests that maybe Jerry Reese could not get back in return what he wanted for Shockey. What a shame. That is what I’ve been writing because by the time Shockey acted a fool, it was too late for Reese get something in return.
If Shockey participates in training camp and plays in the games then he won’t be penalized. However, if he continues not to participate then this will backfire on JR because the Giants would have to suspend him without pay which would be a wasted roster spot. Since Jeremy doesn’t even want to be here anymore, we don’t know what type of effort he will play with. Are we going to get 25% Shockey, 50% Shockey, 75% Shockey, or 100% Shockey?
Strahan: Jeremy Shockey Wants Out
It only took until Fox introduced Michael Strahan as the newest member of “NFL Sunday” during a Press Conference yesterday for Strahan to confirm that Jeremy Shockey wants out of New York, according to Newsday. Michael didn’t even wait until the season begins. Here’s what Strahan had to say about Shockey…
He doesn’t want to play here; that’s obvious with everything that’s going on.
I don’t think you gain much by keeping a guy around. Regardless of how well he plays for you, there’s always that tension, and that’s one thing you can’t have if you’re expected to go back and repeat.
You don’t need that out of one of your leaders. So I think the best thing for them and for Shockey is if they have the opportunity, let him go.
The good news is that my love for Shockey has already been gone. I know that there are still plenty of Shockey supporters out there. We all know that Shockey’s a stud when he wants to be, but you never know when you’re going to get that out of him. The talent is there, but there is something wrong with this guy. He’s still a child mentally and cries like a kid at the check-out in the supermarket who didn’t get candy. Shockey jumps up and down screaming his way is the best way. Jeremy hasn’t done much right for the organization since the Giants lost to the Seahawks in the 2005-2006 Playoffs.
Even the Giants admitted that they may have to suspend him this season if Shockey tries to stronghold the team. That’s how serious this has gotten. The problem is that Jerry Reese had the opportunity to trade Jeremy to the Saints for Draft picks prior to the Draft, but he declined because he didn’t like the offer. Reese is going to get a lot less in return now he has to trade him.
J.P. Pelzman of The Record pointed out that the Jets have a disgruntled Tight End named Chris Baker so maybe the Jets and Giants should swap TEs. My problem with this is that Baker is nowhere near as good as Shockey, but even Shockey isn’t as good as the Shockey of old. Baker is a much better blocker, but Shockey is a much better receiver. At this point, the talent level needs to be overlooked a little bit because the Giants need a player that wants to play for the Giants. Last season was Baker’s best year receiving wise, and he ended up with 41 receptions for 409 yards with 3 TDs. Shockey had 57 receptions for 619 yards with 3 TDs, and he didn’t play the last few games. Also remember how many times Shockey dropped passes and drew huge personal foul penalties in the red zone which costed the Giants points. I do not believe that the Giants can swap these players straight up, but maybe if the Jets threw in another player or two then it could work. What we saw last year was that the Giants can win the Super Bowl without all of the Pro Bowlers because they gelled as a team. So if the Giants trade Shockey for somebody that wants to play TE for the Giants then we are already in better shape than we are now. What good is Shockey going to do if he is suspended and on the bench?
Donovan McNabb Relates to Giants’ Issues
Donovan McNabb says he understands how difficult it is to make it back to the Super Bowl after playing in one, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of the New York Daily News. After McNabb led the Eagles to the Super Bowl in 2005, Youngmisuk reminds us of how McNabb watched Terrell Owens, another Drew Rosenhaus client, shred the Eagles with his contract demands and ego. We all know the story. T.O. did just about everything wrong until he eventually got suspended by Andy Reid. The Giants have their own problems with Plaxico Burress and Jeremy Shockey. Donovan had this to say about the Giants…
It is something that won’t die down depending on how everyone handles it. I don’t know if it will tear them apart. They have enough guys in the locker room that they won’t have to worry about it. But when people start taking sides, that is when it becomes a problem. That was definitely a major problem with what happened to us.
A lot of people learned from my situation and know how to handle it differently. I tried to do the right things. When it comes to business situations, it’s tough. I think the Giants will try to keep it low-key and keep it under wraps. I am anxious to see how it all plays out.
Plax is one of the top wide receivers in the NFL. He wants to be paid and all these wide receivers are getting new contracts.
As usual, McNabb fielded the questions with class so it’s no wonder that the Eagles kept him and let Owens walk. Donovan already went to three NFC Championship games without T.O. I can only hope that Big Blue will own the division for three more years.
Father’s Days’ Giants News
Die Hard Giants Fan would like to wish all of you a Happy Father’s Day. There isn’t too much fresh content out there today.
New York Daily News:
Giants have issues after Super season - In case you haven’t been paying attention to the news about the Giants every day, Ralph Vacchiano summarizes the stories that surfaced this week.
Giants must get rid of Jeremy Shockey before training camp - We know this already, but Gary Meyers made a good point about Jeremy Shockey in this article. “The Giants have lost their leverage with teams knowing they have no choice but to trade him.”
On TV, Michael Strahan must tackle feelings toward Giants - Bob Raissman asks if Michael Strahan will have the balls to criticize the Giants if need be when he is a reporter. Raissman reminds of us of how Tiki Barber was “unfairly vilified for his commentary”. I didn’t think that there was anything unfair about it. Did the Giants just win the Super Bowl without Tiki? I believe they did. The part of the article that quote my attention the most had nothing to do with Strahan or Tiki. Instead, Bob noted that Joe Buck and Troy Aikman are the No. 1 NFL team on FOX Sports. That’s funny because I think that they are the worst NFL team on television. How did that happen? Who voted for this pair? I wish FOX Sports would include my opinion in their poles. I wish that I can watch Giants games with Giants broadcasters whenever that pair broadcasts a game. The only broadcaster worst than Joe Buck in MLB is Joe Morgan.
The Star-Ledger:
Strahan never led astray by father - Mike Garafolo put together a Father’s Day story for us.
Video: Carl Banks Talks NYG to ESPN
Carl Banks talks to ESPN about the NY Giants. Topics covered include Strahan’s retirement, Plax’s hold out, and Shockey’s antics.
Shouting Match Between Shockey and Reese
Vinny DiTrani of The Record reported that Jeremy Shockey and Jerry Reese got into a huge shouting match during the tight end’s “visit” to minicamp. DiTrani recalled that, ”Shockey said last week he was upset the Giants did not allow him to stay on the field during Super Bowl XLII and instead sent him up to coowner Steve Tisch’s luxury box. He also blamed the Giants for spreading the rumors that he was upset and wanted a trade.”
First of all, I would like to thank Vinny for bringing this to the forefront. Giants.com is not leaking these types of stories, and they should be. I’ve been complaining about what a spoiled brat Shockey has been for a few years already. I’ve been writing that he needs to go since a year ago when we created Die Hard Giants Fan. The Giants just won the Super Bowl without you. Give it up chump. Right now, Jeremy should be kissing all of the players who made it happen where the sun don’t shine. Show some damn respect already. They’re the Champs, and you’re the Chump so make amends and kiss their rings. Instead, this dude comes in to mandatory mini camp and pretends he cannot participate. Then he starts shouting at JR. JR should have told him he’s fired on the spot and told him ‘don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out’. What a classless bum. I’m done with him. I never want to see him wearing blue again, that’s for damn sure.
Friday’s Giants News: Will Plaxico Get Suspended?
Apparantly, Chad Johnson is doing the same thing in Cincinnati as Plaxico Burress is doing here in New York. The only difference is the reason why they said they haven’t been participating. Ocho Cinco claims he is injured like Jeremy Shockey rather than saying he wants more money. Mike Florio of SportingNews.com wonders if these tactics will backfire and if either one of these players will get suspended. Florio pointed out that:
Though the NFL’s club discipline schedule does not expressly allow teams to fine players for refusing to practice, the collective bargaining agreement permits a team to fine or suspend a player for engaging in conduct detrimental to the team. Surely, refusing to practice when otherwise healthy constitutes detrimental conduct.
Refusing to practice is, in fact, the essence of conduct detrimental to the team because it defies the entire concept of “team,” in which each member has a job to do and does it.
Under Article VIII, Section 1 of the CBA, the maximum permissible fine for conduct detrimental to the team is one week’s pay. The maximum permissible suspension is four games without pay.
In addition to (and separate from) any fine or suspension for conduct detrimental to the team, refusing to practice also jeopardizes the player’s signing bonus, if the player’s contract contains appropriate forfeiture language. Though recovery under contracts signed after February 2006 is limited to 25 percent of the current year’s signing bonus allocation, it’s still a significant amount of money.
Regardless of how the Giants and Bengals deal with their rogue players, any failure by teams to take a stand against such disruptive behavior will result in more of it, and players who want more money will look for more ways to pressure teams into caving.
Now that was a very intersting article by Florio. It seems like only the stars are trying to pressure the organization they work for to give them more money. Since the stars are producing at a higher level than the rest of the team, the team’s record will suffer if the organization takes a stand. The organization doesn’t have as many options now as they did when Free Agency began. Who is the best receiver that the Jints can obtain now if they have to suspend Burress? They won’t get anybody who is nearly as talented as Plaxico right now. If Big Blue caves in then it says that they will cave in to others which isn’t good either. If you remember from yesterday then you will remember that Mike Garafolo of The Star-Ledger wrote that Shockey could get suspended also. The Giants do not have enough talent to have a successful season if they suspend both of them. That’s for sure. So which one do they suspend, the disgruntled one or the greedy one? I say Shockey because his issues have been going on for years.
Giants.com:
centerXchange w/ Shaun O’Hara (Video) - John Schmeelk has an exclusive sitdown interview with Giants Center Shaun O’ Hara.
Mini Camp Report - Day Two (Video) - John Schmeelk and Michael Eisen report on yesterday’s Mini Camp.
The Star-Ledger:
Drew is in the ‘haus - Mike Garafolo pointed out that Drew Rosenhaus is at Giants Stadium today. He believes that Rosenhaus is there to try to smooth things over with the organization about Jeremy Shockey and Burress.
Shockey’s spot still has spark - Mike Garafolo provides the latest status on Shockey and discusses the current TE position.
