NEXT GENERATION
Giants legends of the past give their seal of approval to this new Big Blue Wrecking Crew and explain what it takes to be among the game’s greatest defenses
W HEN you speak to the players and coaches from the great Giants defenses of the past, you quickly sense the unmistakable and unbreakable bond they share. All these years removed from those championship teams of 1986 and 1990 — the first two of the four Super Bowls the franchise has won — players and coaches from those teams gather for reunions, for charity golf tournaments, for autograph sessions, for whatever.
“There’s a brotherhood that’s there, because you won a championship together,’’ former Giants linebacker and Hall of Famer Harry Carson said.
“When you win a championship, it’s there forever,’’ former Giants nose tackle Jim Burt said.
“We won championships together, we hung out together,’’ former Giants cornerback Mark Collins said. “When you win championships, you always check on your guys because they’re your guys for life.’’
Bill Parcells, the coach of those two Super Bowl teams, laughed over the phone the other day while speaking about the ongoing relationship the players from those teams continue to have.
“Those are my guys, and they always will be,’’ Parcells said. “It was a very, very close team, and they still are. It’s like nothing’s ever changed. I mean, I hear from them all the time — all of them. They call me more now because they think I’m getting old and something might happen. I like it.’’
Twenty years from now, will players from this Giants defense, which has the potential to be as special as any of those from the past, still share the bond the groups from the past continue to share?
Conversations The Post had with members of those past great Giants defenses about the current Big Blue defense, which ranked second in the NFL last season in fewest points allowed, revealed three common denominators.
Common denominator No. 1: This Giants defense has potential to be as good if not better than the defenses that led to those 1986 and 1990 Super Bowls.
“They have the most talented defense that they’ve ever had — and that includes us,’’ Burt said.
“I think they can be as dominant a defense as there can be in this era of football,’’ former Giants linebacker and current team broadcast analyst Carl Banks said. “I think they check all the boxes in terms of how they match up with different styles of offenses. Against a run-heavy offense, they check the box with ‘Snacks’ [defensive tackle Damon Harrison] and the guys up front. If it’s a spread offense, they’ve got cornerbacks and safeties. They’re a tough-minded team.
“Key factors come into play — health and the ability to work together as a team.’’
When asked how good this Giants defense can be, Parcells, who never has been known to freely throw bouquets of compliments, said, “I think they can be pretty good.’’
But that compliment came with a caveat.
“A defense is going to be tested no matter what you have on the other side of the ball,’’ Parcells said. “I’m just like everyone else that watches the Giants, I’m concerned — not worried — about seeing if they can run the ball and block for the passer. I know if they can do a little of both of those, I know their quarterback [Eli Manning] will execute, and it seems like their receivers will execute.
“That’ll allow their defense to be really good. But, if they’re three-andout, I don’t care who you’ve got on defense, if it’s always three-and-out it’s a tough test.’’
Al Groh, the linebackers coach on Parcells’ staff, said, “Those Giants teams had the type of defensive production that the team could win championships with. This Giants team has the chance to have the same type of results defensively. There’s a similarity in that respect. A little different style of players, but the overall skill level is similar.’’
Among the players to which Groh referred include the stars they brought in before last season — defensive end Olivier Vernon, cornerback Janoris Jenkins and Harrison. They’re the cornerstones on a defense that went from the sieve it had been in 2014 and 2015 to the force it was last season.
Common denominator No. 2: Safety Landon Collins is a stud, and should be the leader of this defense.
“The thing I like the most on that team is Landon Collins,’’ Parcells said. “That’s who I watch. He’s a terrific player and I think he’s just at his inception. It looks to me like he could have played in any era and played well. I’m a big fan of his. He seems to like football, and enjoys playing. I think they really have a good one there.’’
Said Groh: “Last season, you could see his talent really start to flow. He has such a versatile game. He made plays playing deep, he made plays when he was up close [to the line of scrimmage], he made plays on the ball, he made plays as a blitzer.’’
Carson has such a strong belief in Collins that, at the end of last season when he saw him at an NFL Honors event at the Super Bowl in Houston, he implored the 23-yearold to take more ownership in the defense, to become the leader.
“I told him he’s like the Ronnie Lott of the Giants,’’ Carson said. “I told him he needs to take charge of the defense, because the defense really needs someone who is going to be vocal and who is going to crack the whip on the field. Landon Collins I think is one of those guys who really can be a force and one of the great Giants.
“If he stays healthy and continues to grow — because he’s getting better and better with each year — he really could be the linchpin for that defense. The other guys on defense are really good, but they’re not vocal guys. You’ve got to have someone who’s willing to step out and rally the troops and get them going.’’
ITHINK THEY CAN BE AS DOMINANT ADEFENSE AS THERE CAN BE IN THIS ERA OF FOOTBALL. — Former Giants linebacker Carl Banks
LANDON COLLINS CAN DO ANYTHING HE WANTS TO DO. I THINK HE’S THE DEFENSIVE LEADER, NO DOUBT ABOUTIT. — Mark Collins
Banks: “In his rookie year, they threw Landon in there he played every position but defensive lineman, so he got a chance to see the offense at different angles. The next year [last season], he comes in at safety and plays at a whole different level because he understood the game so much better.’’
Mark Collins: “Landon Collins can do anything he wants to do. I think he’s the defensive leader, no doubt about it.’’
Common denominator No. 3: Win a playoff game before believing you’ve arrived.
“One thing about the defense I didn’t like coming out of camp is some of these guys, they know they have the potential to be good, but some of these guys think they’ve arrived already,’’ Mark Collins said. “And that can be very detrimental to a team. You can know you’re good, but when the live ammo flies you’ve got to start putting stuff together.
“Out at camp some of these guys were saying, ‘We’re great, we’re good.’ OK, cool, but dude, when the season starts, you’ve got to start putting some defensive wins together, like we put together — 7-3, 13-3 ugly wins. I don’t know if these guys can do that yet.’’
Burt, an unabashed supporter of his former team, asked this about the current Giants defense: “What have they done?’’
He referred to the Giants’ 38-13 wild-card loss to the Packers in Green Bay as a lost opportunity.
“Win that playoff game, get a feel of how it tastes to win, and all of a sudden you have a whole different perspective,” Burt said. “Instead, now they go into this season knowing, ‘We’re contenders and we’re good, but we don’t know how to win a playoff game yet.’ ’’
Banks defended this Giants defense for the loss in Green Bay, because it’s had only one year together.
“They knew they weren’t as good as they should have been against the Packers, but then again, how many games did they win the year before? Six?’’ Banks said. “They were five games better than the year before and they find themselves in the playoffs with a chance to win the game, but they just didn’t know how.
“Not that I’m suggesting they’re going to the Super Bowl, but I do believe they have the personnel on the team that will take that loss [in Green Bay] as a bitter pill and show up this year and see what happens. They learned a lesson. They should have, anyway.’’
Burt referred to the “grit’’ those past Giants defenses had and wondered aloud whether this group possesses the same attribute.
“We had a lot of gritty guys,’’ Burt recalled. “Banks was a very, very gritty guy. LT [Lawrence Taylor] was a very gritty guy. Collins was a gritty guy. It was very gritty the way Parcells coached. Parcells worked us. There were callouses on every part of your body we worked so hard.
“Parcells was a royal pain in the ass for a long time. He was full of himself. He was a tough guy to get along with — for the players, for everybody. But now that we’re settled into our lives and won championships, we all realize he maximized our talent and we love him for that. Now we realize what we did for each other.’’
Burt’s fear with this Giants defense is that it doesn’t fully realize its talent. He recalled the 1982 Jets, who made it to the AFC title game in Miami but lost 14-0.
“They had all the talent and they were never able to pull it together,’’ Burt said. “They had the best defensive line, the best offensive line, they had the best linebackers, they had great receivers, they had the best running back in the league, Freeman McNeil. Richard Todd was a very adequate quarterback I thought. They had the best talent, but they never won. But you need grit.
“These Giants have it all on defense. Do they have the grit to get through? Is this the Jets of the early 80s with the best talent that couldn’t get over the hump? Have these Giants done it yet? No. Can they do it? Absolutely, and I’m rooting for them.’’
If these Giants take that giant step so many expect them to take, which means winning another championship, they’ll etch yet another special defense into their rich history. And maybe 20 or so years down the road, Landon Collins, Damon Harrison, Olivier Vernon, Janoris Jenkins, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and crew will find themselves reminiscing about the good old times together the way their predecessors still do.
“I’ve got almost everybody in my phone and I call them just to see how they’re doing,’’ Carson said. “I text and call Parcells. I text [Bill] Belichick back and forth. We’ll all call each other just to see how we’re doing. There is a brotherhood that’s there, because as Parcells said, everybody who played on that ’86 team had the same color of blood running through their veins — and that’s blue.’’