Mini Mac visits Giants, Big Mac at practice
For the first time, Giants coach Ben McAdoo and his pint-sized doppelganger — Mini McAdoo — met face-to-face. And except for a few inches, more than a couple dozen pounds and an octave or two, the preteen was a dead ringer.
Peter Costigan has the Big Blue coach’s look down pat, from the slicked-back hair, headset and shades, the blue Giants sweatshirt to the bushy brown faux mustache. The 12-year-old looked ready to bark out orders and oversee a few drills Tuesday at Quest Diagnostic Training Center.
“One day I came home from school and my dad [Mike] said, ‘Wow, you look a lot like Ben McAdoo,’ ’’ Costigan said. “Then he said, ‘Why don’t we dress you up as Ben McAdoo, take you to the game and sit in the front row?’ ”
They did just that, sitting front row for the Giants’ New Year’s Day game at Washington last season. A photo of him went viral, and thus Mini McAdoo was born.
McAdoo had given him a high five at that game — a 19-10 Giants win at FedEx Field to close the regular season — and the youngster made the trip from Wayne, Pa., for a meeting following Tuesday’s practice.
“My dad said we should go to training camp and dress you up as Ben McAdoo,” Costigan said. “Then we saw he had a new haircut, so I got the new haircut.”
He got the fresh cut, made the trip from the Philadelphia suburbs promoting a charity and bearing gifts. He pushed Natural High, a charity that promotes clean living and seeks to prevent drug and alcohol abuse. Costigan also gave McAdoo a gift-wrapped sign bearing one of the Giants coach’s own sayings: We Gotta Get GREATER at Gettin’ GREAT.
It was quite the show, especially from a young fan from the heart of Eagles country.
“Everybody there is like, ‘The Giants stink,’ or whatever,’’ said Costigan, who hopes to attend Big Blue’s game Oct. 1 at Tampa Bay.