Judge’s pals from Philly are ready to cheer him on
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The city of Philadelphia’s loosening of COVID-19-related crowd restrictions doesn’t just mean up to 7,500 fans now can attend Eagles home games at Lincoln Financial Field.
It also means Giants coach Joe Judge can have family and friends in the stands next Thursday night for his first game as an NFL headcoach in his hometown.
Judge’s close friend Tim Stairiker told the Daily News on Wednesday that a group of Judge’s Lansdale Catholic High School friends already are planning to go to the game.
“Normally we would all go over to Joe’s after the game and cook cheesesteaks and hang out,” said Stairiker, who grills the cheesesteaks himself.
“This year is obviously a little different, and we are all in agreement that social distancing after the game is the best practice in this environment. But we’ll be out there for Joe if we can be.”
The Eagles still aren’t allowing tailgating outside the stadium. Stairiker said all of Judge’s friends will take every safety precaution before they attend the game.
“We’ll do our due diligence, check our temperatures,” he said. “We all have families [so] we’re not gonna go to that game unprepared.”
But even in these unusual circumstances, they’ll be grateful to watch in person Judge manning an NFL sideline as a head coach for the first time. His family and friends haven’t been able to attend Giants home games at MetLife Stadium due to the pandemic, and their road games have been in Chicago, Los Angeles and Dallas.
“I’ll definitely be doing a double-take,” said Steve Mocey. “I can’t unsee him as my high school quarterback, but he’s earned his way to the pinnacle of the coaching profession. And that’s so amazing.”
Judge has his Giants (0-5) focused on Sunday’s home game against Washington (1-4) seeking their first win. So he hasn’t addressed his Philadelphia homecoming just yet.
That includes whether his wife, Amber, and their four kids will make the trip from North Jersey on a school night, as well as other family members including mother Denise, the principal at Mary, Mother of the Redeemer School in North Wales, Pa.
But The Linc promises to have a significant pro-Judge contingent for Week 7’s installment of “Thursday Night Football,” including Stairiker, whohas known Judge since 1995.
Ratley released: “Do your job” is a Patriots mantra Judge brought to the Giants. Damien Ratley didn’t do his job Sunday at Dallas, so he was cut.
Ratley wasflagged for an offensive pass interference penalty in the third quarter that negated a Daniel Jones touchdown pass to Darius Slayton. And it turns out Ratley collided with Slayton’s man on an inadvertent pick because he rushed his route and ran it incorrectly.
“Coach Judge says all the time: it’s not what it is, it’s what it looks like,” wide receivers coach Tyke Tolbert said. “And it looks like he’s trying to pick the guy when he’ s actually not .”