GM: I’LL ‘KICK’ START GIANTS
Gettleman makes Big Blue vow get team ‘back where it belongs’
Dave Gettleman inherited a franchise with pride and tradition that fractured and turned into a train wreck, and John Mara expects him to fix it right away.
“My plan is to come in here every day and kick ass,” Gettleman said. Welcome home, Dave. “I expect us to be a good team in 2018,” Mara said Friday after Gettleman was introduced as the Giants new general manger. “Going from last to first or first to last – teams do that every year. We do have some talent on this roster. We obviously have a lot of holes to fill as well. I don’t see why we can’t have a successful team next year.”
The Giants were an 11-5 playoff team in 2016 before setting a franchise record with 13 losses and counting this season.
Gettleman, who worked in pro personnel for the Giants from 1998 until he was hired as the Panthers GM in 2013, delivered a strong message Friday in his guy-hanging-around-the-bar style: He took the job to win and he doesn’t care whose feelings get hurt along the way.
“I don’t want guys that want to win,” he said. “I want guys that hate to lose.”
Then he said, “It’s my responsibility to protect this franchise. That’s my job. I will make the tough decisions and I will stand by it. And we’ll see what happens.”
And, “I’ve been hired to win. The only promise I can make is I’m going to do everything in my power to lead this organization back to where it belongs. That’s my goal. That’s my intention. It’s going to get done. So, just hang in there with us and we’re going to get it fixed.”
All that must sound good to Big Blue Nation after too much Jerry Reese and Ben McAdoo.
Gettleman’s first job will be hiring a coach, which he will do in conjunction with Mara and Steve Tisch. Mara will send in the consent forms Monday for permission to interview coaches on other teams. Playoff coaches on teams who have a first-round bye can interview next week, which surely means Gettleman will be meeting in Foxborough with Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia.
He will also spend a lot of time watching tape and evaluating the
roster.
“There are some very good players on this team,” he said. “It’s not crash and burn. It’s not torch the whole place and dump 63 and bring another new 63 in.”
Before Gettleman hits the road next week, he should give the pregame locker room speech Sunday before the Giants finish the season against Washington. They need to hear that the party is over, the in-fighting must stop and if Odell Beckham Jr. pretends to be a dog peeing in the end zone next season, he can bark all he wants but he won’t be getting anything close to a $100 million contract.
Gettleman ran into trouble in Carolina and was fired by Panthers owner Jerry Richardson – as it turns out, that’s a good thing to have on his resume – in part because he didn’t show enough loyalty to longtime Panthers. He got rid of Steve Smith and DeAngelo Williams and removed the franchise tag from the overrated Josh Norman.
And with negotiations approaching last summer with long-time Richardson favorites Greg Olson and Thomas Davis, the Panthers owner decided to fire Gettleman.
When he was asked why he was fired, Gettleman said, “As far as what happened there, give Mr. Richardson a call.”
Gettleman doesn’t show much loyalty or compassion when he comes to negotiations. He does what is best for the team. His first big test will be what to do with OBJ.
Mara said over the summer that Beckham would get paid, it was just a matter of timing. The Giants by then had already picked up his fifth year option at $8.4 million. But that was all prior to Beckham playing the part of the peeing pooch in the third game and then breaking his ankle in the fifth game.
Beckham said before camp he wants to be in the highest paid player in the NFL. Detroit QB Matthew Stafford is the highest paid player in NFL history with his fiveyear, $135 million deal.
“No. 1, who doesn’t want a lot of money?” Gettleman said. “Anybody in here not want a lot of money? I don’t know Odell. I’m looking forward to it. Obviously, he’s an extremely talented kid and makes stuff happen.”
In general terms, Gettleman explained his stance in negotiations.
“It’s what players don’t want to hear. They don’t want to hear the value you put on them because it hurts their feelings. They are sad,” he said. “This is a big boy league. You got to put your big boy pants on now. Nobody feels sorry for you. Nobody cares about your injuries. Nobody cares what you make, what you don’t make. So, I’ve learned that you have to be consistent, you got to be fair, and if the player is upset, so be it. So be it.” Remember, Gettleman had a close-up view of Beckham’s three-hour meltdown against Norman late in the 2015 season at MetLife Stadium. He saw what a great player Beckham is but also witnessed that he has an out-of-control side that is destructive. Will that game influence how he moves forward with Beckham? “I have no idea what was going on in Odell’s head in that game,” Gettleman said. “I have no idea why all that happened. So, I would want to sit there with Odell and say, ‘Why?’ The bottom line is shame on me if I have any preconceived notions about guys as people. I don’t know these guys. Everybody is going to get a H fair shake.” e did say that it made sense that Beckham would be part of the solution for getting the Giants turned around and referenced something Ernie Accorsi told him a long time ago. “Don’t quit on talent,” he said. Gettleman won’t worry about OBJ’s feelings. After this miserable Giants season, it’s time to put on the big boy pants and get this team fixed.