Gallman doesn’t need to be center stage
Giants running back Wayne Gallman walked the catwalk at a Grungy Gentleman fashion show in Tribeca in February, front and center as one of the faces of the menswear company's latest line.
“I was happy to do something like that,” Gallman, 23, said Wednesday, of a show that also featured NFLers Darrelle Revis, Kam Chancellor and Nolan Carroll. “It's crazy the amount of things you can do when you get out and meet people. I've always liked clothes; I like variety. It was a great opportunity.”
Still, from the outside looking in, in the Giants' running back room Gallman is more of a face in the crowd rather than its face. That blessing and burden belongs to muchhyped rookie No. 2 overall pick Saquon Barkley, seen by many as a savior for the running game, Eli Manning, and the team.
Gallman, however, says he is eager to be a part of a successful running back group and is not obsessing over his role or standing in a room headed by both Barkley and veteran Jonathan Stewart, signed in free agency from Carolina.
It certainly takes humility for a player like Gallman to score 36 touchdowns in 42 career college games, win a 2016 national championship with Clemson, play well as an NFL rookie, but still accept a potentially deep backup role in year two. But Gallman has bought in.
“That is an adjustment, but with the NFL you realize, man, I'm on a team with so many good players, and we've got to all come as one to get a Super Bowl,” Gallman said. “Because that's everyone's hope, ya know? With Saquon coming to the group, J. Stew here. I've learned a lot from J. Stew, a lot of things I've needed to learn: with pass (protection), life outside of football, relationships.”
Gallman is not naive; he knows what Barkley's selection means. But he's not going to short-change himself and accept that he won't be a major factor — not after showing well as a rookie with 111 carries for 476 yards (4.3 average), 34 catches for 193 yards and a touchdown grab.
“I don't really know about any role right now,” Gallman said. “I know Saquon's here. The pick and everything, that says a lot. But as for a role, those are figured out after preseason, once that first game starts. So right now it's about practicing, learning all the plays, having fun. And the time of you'll be doing this and that, that comes after the preseason.”
Craig Johnson, the Giants' running backs coach, said this of Gallman's situation: “If (your) role changes, that's fine, but when you're on the field, you're expected to play like a starter, and that's why I told them (all the running backs) to that standard.”
In the offseason, Gallman did more than just look pretty for the cameras at his fashion show debut. He bulked up at XPE Sports in Boca Raton, Fla., with trainer Tony Villani, gaining 10 pounds to weigh 220 up from the 210 he weighed in at the start of his rookie year.
Gallman already proved his toughness as an NFL runner last season, particularly on Christmas Eve in Arizona, when he got back up from several few jarring hits, eager for more. And so he's not afraid to back down, even in practice when teammates might cross the line, like when Olivier Vernon laid Gallman out with a surprisingly big hit on Monday.
Gallman threw the ball back at Vernon, prompting Eli Apple to retaliate and escalate the disagreement into a melee.
“I thought it was too much at that time,” Gallman said of Vernon's hit. “I'm treating the defense good, and they're treating us good back. But we're past that now. Me and O.V. talked about it, he understood, and I understood where he was coming from. We're past it … It's practice, and you want respect from your teammates, so in practice there are those times you have to step up for yourself. But of course I'd never do anything like that in a game.”
That is an appropriate image, then, for how Gallman is handling his standing in the running backs room: standing his ground. Simultaneously, though, Gallman recognizes that like last year's Philadelphia Eagles backfield of LeGarrette Blount, Jay Ajayi, Corey Clement and Darren Sproles (early season, pre-injury), the goal of the Giants' running backs will be to win exactly what the Eagles won last year — and to do it together.
“You've got to understand that,” Gallman said. “You can't be selfish, you know what I'm saying? And I learned a long time ago since high school, you can't be selfish. You've just got to take what God gives you, and you've just got to ride with it.”