Big Blue vet sets sights on Super season
IF THE Giants win the Super Bowl this season, Zak DeOssie knows exactly what he’s going to do with his championship ring.
“It will definitely go straight in the safety deposit box, that’s for sure,” DeOssie told The Post on Wednesday. “Any and all rings are going in there from now on.” DeOssie, entering his 12th season with the Giants, is still missing one of the two Super Bowl rings earned during the 2007 and 2011 seasons. Both rings went missing in June when the Giants long snapper thinks he placed them on the top of his car and drove off without retrieving them. The 2007 ring was later recovered, but the 2011 ring remains missing, though DeOssie is getting it replaced through insurance. “I’ve never been happier about paying my insurance premium for anything in my entire life,” DeOssie said. He wouldn’t mind adding a third piece of Super Bowl jewelry this season, a notion that might seem farfetched after the Giants suffered a franchise worst 3-13 record last year. But the hiring of Pat Shurmur as the new head coach and drastic changes to the front office and the roster has DeOssie, 34, encouraged about 2018. “I don’t like comparing teams, but what I can do is feel the pulse of the locker room and the level of excitement and the level of professionalism,” DeOssie said. “There’s many different ways to approach this game, but I think coach Shurmur is onto something and the players seem to be accepting and committed. I see a lot of the kids and how they’re approaching the game and caring about their craft. Also the level of accountability that we have to one another is very important. There’s a lot of transparency and a lot of communication and I think it’s good.” DeOssie, whose father Steve was a linebacker on the Giants 1990 Super Bowl team, is the second-longest tenured Giant behind Eli Manning, who is in his 15th season. Like Manning, DeOssie has enjoyed the highest of highs as a Giant. Last year was the lowest of lows, a disaster of a season that lead to the firing of general manager Jerry Reese and head coach Ben McAdoo.
“We’ve had down years in the past, but nothing like that,” DeOssie said. “The most disappointing thing is we couldn’t get out of our own way. It’s so hard to win in this league. We just made too many mistakes and it snowballed. The most disappointing thing is we couldn’t turn it around. There are ups and downs in this game, but if you can’t turn it around I think it’s the ultimate failure and that’s what I think you saw last year.”
Asked if there was anything to learn from last year, DeOssie didn’t hesitate.
“You look around the locker room at the new faces, that’s one way to learn,” he said.
DeOssie is the only given in the Giants current special teams unit. Punter Riley Dixon, in his third season, was acquired in a trade with Denver, while kickers Marshall Koehn and Aldrick Rosas are unproven free agents. DeOssie doesn’t mind playing the role of big brother.
“As a young specialist it’s easy to get down on yourself real quick,” he said. “I still have my demons I deal with in my 12th year. It’s all about managing thoughts and harping on the good things and adjusting to bad things. When we get into the weeds of kicking, it’s not the most exciting thing, but you learn to love it; you grow to be coachable; and then you sprinkle in a little fun on top of that.”
The Giants didn’t have much fun last year. Shurmur might help restore that.
“I’m not comparing him to coaches in the past,” DeOssie said. “I just feel there’s something refreshing about his approach. He knows how to communicate with the players. You look around the league and the best coaches know how to get utility out of their players. That’s what we’re hoping to do here.”
If it all works out, DeOssie could get a third ring for that safety deposit box.